What advice would you give a leader to help him/her demonstrate he/she

is a moral person? A moral manager?

I would first start with a quote from Trevino, Hartman, and Brown (2000), which
states that A reputation for ethical leadership rests upon two essential pillars:
perceptions of you as both a moral person and a moral manager (p. 128). I think it
is important for a leader to understand that just being a moral person or just being
a moral manager alone is not enough, but a marriage of the two is whats key. A
moral person is characterized by personality traits that have been identified with
morality, most notably honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness (Trevino et al., 2000).
Whereas a moral manager displays these same characteristics, but also helps put
ethics and values at the forefront of their leadership.
I would encourage a leader to first identify what they hold dear as to their own
morals, ethics, and values. I would encourage the leader to determine how these
can be referenced at work and encourage them to let their moral compass show at
work. I would also advise a leader to ensure they are following the same moral
temperaments at home and at work to ensure there is no mixed message to their
constituents.
To help demonstrate that he or she is a moral manager, I would encourage a leader
to reflect back on previous leaders who they felt modeled ethical leadership well
(Brown & Trevino, 2006). It is possible that the leader may be able to model their
own management or leadership style after that leader. I would encourage the leader
to be vocal about their personal ethics as a manager, but also to verbalize the
ethics of their organization and how their constituents could play into those ethics. I
would encourage the leader to identify ways of highlighting good moral behavior
and ways to diminish poor moral behavior. I would advise the leader to work with
their constituents to think beyond themselves to identify who they are serving and
how ethical decisions might impact that service.
If the leader is struggling in knowing whether they are truly demonstrating their
morality as a person or manager, I would encourage them to ask those around
them. A good judge of someones moral compass might be those they spend the
most time with, like family or close friends. A good judge of managers morality
would likely be a close constituent within the work place. Getting a real sense of
how they portray themselves may provide the ammunition necessary to help the
leader make some changes in their personal or work lives. Likewise, getting some
feedback as to what constituents within the leadership relationship want from a
moral manager will likely give the leader some direction as to how to improve their
leadership or management on the moral level.
Works Cited
Brown, M.E., & Trevino, L.K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future
directions, Leadership Quarterly, 17, 595-616. doi:
10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.004

Trevino, L.K., Hartman, L.P., & Brown, M. (2000). Moral person and Moral Manager:
HOW EXECUTIVES DEVELOP A REPUTATION FOR ETHICAL LEADERSHIP. California
Management Review, 42(4), 128142. Retrieved from