From a firm perspective, how would you rank in order of desirability of the different types of leaders presented in the moral person and moral manager matrix?

What will be an ideal response?

Of course, the highest ranking order is the easiest since it would automatically be the ethical leader. One of the foundation points of this textbook is to stress to the students that they have the control over how they manage others. By assuming an ethical leadership role as is highlighted with the ethical leader, these managers guide both themselves and others by the ethical standards established within them.

The next most desirable leader would be the inconsistent leader. This type of leader could be considered a transition ethical leader. An inconsistent leader has the tools to become an ethical leader since he or she has the strong ethical values of a moral person. As a result, the only problem with the inconsistent leader is that he or she has not been able to transfer these traits to others via their management role. Therefore, it is desirable and feasible for an inconsistent leader to move and become an ethical leader.

The third most desirable leader would be the hypocritical leader. Although the hypocritical leader has strong ethical management skills, he or she does not have strong individual ethical skills needed to become a moral person. This type of leader is dangerous to a firm because a hypocritical leader is not trustworthy. As a result, creditability and believing the manager is telling the truth is met with skepticism. Therefore, as was the case of Martha Stewart, a hypocritical leader must build back trust in their relationship with the subordinates before he/she could move to become an ethical leader.

The fourth and last most desirable leader would be the unethical leader. An unethical leader neither has the traits of a moral person nor the ethical management skills of a manager. As a result, it would be highly unlikely that an unethical leader would ever become an ethical leader.