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1. Chapter 2. Stepping Out of the Shadows
This chapter looks at why leaders cast shadows
insight of light and how they can master these forces.
Shadow casters include
 1. unhealthy motivations
 2. faulty decision making caused by mistaken assumptions and
failure of moral imagination
 3. lack of ethical expertise
 4. contextual (group, organizational, societal) pressures that
encourage people to set their personal standard aside
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

2. Shadow Casters
Unhealthy Motivations
 Internal Enemies or Monsters
 Monster 1: Insecurity
 Monster 2: Battleground Mentality
 Monster 3: Functional Atheism
 Monster 4: Fear
 Monster 5: Denying Death
 Monster 6: Evil
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

3. Shadow Casters
Unhealthy Motivations
 Selfishness (manifests through pride, greed, narcissism, and
Machiavellianism)
 Pride: proud of themselves and their accomplishments; lack
empathy for others and cannot see their points of view or learn
from followers
 Greed: driven to earn more and to accumulate additional perks,
focuses attention on making the numbers
 Narcissism: in love with the image of himself, are self-absorbed
and constantly seeking positive feedback
 Machiavellianism: skilled at manipulating others for their own
ends; engage in lots of self-promotion, are emotionally cold, and
are prone to aggressive behavior
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

4. The Susceptible Follower
A group of scholars from Penn State University
argues that we can gain a better understanding of the
process of destructive leadership by identifying the
factors that make followers susceptible to the
influence of destructive superiors.
They place susceptible subordinates into two
categories: conformers and colluders
Conformers engage in destructive behavior while
obeying their leaders. Colluders actively support or
contribute to the leader’s destructive mission.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

5. The Susceptible Follower
Conformers: Lost Souls: these individuals are needy
and are vulnerable to destructive leaders because
they have basic unmet needs
 Conformers: Authoritarians: authoritarians believe
that leaders have a right to demand obedience and it
is their belief in the legitimacy of the leader that
triggers their obedience.
Conformers: Bystanders: bystanders, perhaps the
largest group of susceptible followers, are generally
passive and motivated by fear.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

6. The Susceptible Follower
Colluders: Opportunists: opportunists carry out the
destructive directives of their leaders because they
believe that they will be rewarded for doing so; they
are ambitious, greedy, and manipulative, lacking in
self-control
Colluders: Acolytes: acolytes are “true believers;”
they actively partner with the leader because they
share the leader’s goals and values.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

7. Focus on Follow Ethics
Follower Motivations and the Dangers of Toxic
Leadership
 A Need for Parent Figures: negative role models (authoritative,
abusive, demeaning) often encourage followers to seek out
similar toxic leaders later in life
 Exchanging Freedom for Security: insecure followers often give
up their freedom in order to join unethical leaders and
destructive causes
 The Need to Feel Chosen: bad leaders take advantage of the
need to feel special convincing followers that they are part of a
unique organization or cause that is better than all others
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

8. Focus on Follower Ethics
Follower Motivations and the Dangers of Toxic
Leadership (cont’d)
 The Need for Community: people will sacrifice to belong to a
group including enduring abusive treatment from their
leaders, obeying unethical orders, accepting low wages and so
on
 Fear of Ostracism, Isolation and Social Death: speaking out
against an unethical leader, organization, or cause brings
ostracism (social death) that keeps followers from dissenting
 A Sense of Personal Weakness and Powerlessness: followers
who otherwise feel competent find it intimidating to challenge
a toxic leader
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

9. Faulty Decision Making
Mistaken Assumptions
 Theories About How the World Operates: these assumptions
have to do with determining the consequences of choices,
judging risks, and identifying causes
 Theories About Other People: ethnocentrism and stereotyping
are particularly damaging
 Ethnocentrism: the tendency to think that we are better than
“they” are, that our way of doing things is superior to “theirs”
 Stereotypes: our beliefs about other groups of people
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

10. Faulty Decision Making
Mistaken Assumptions (cont’d)
 Theories About Ourselves:
 Faulty theory that involves self-perceptions
 Executives tend to think they are superior and can control
events
 Overconfidence is a problem
 Likely to interpret new information according to their existing
biases
 Unrealistic self-perceptions of all types put leaders at ethical
risk
 They may justify immoral behavior
 Powerful leaders are particularly likely to think they are godlike
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

11. Faulty Decision Making
Failure of Moral Imagination
 Many ethicists believe that moral imagination—
sensitivity to moral issues and options—is key to ethical
behavior and works hand in hand with moral reasoning
in the decision-making process.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

12. Faulty Decision Making
Failure of Moral Imagination (cont’d)
 Three-part definition of moral imagination:
 Reproductive imagination is being aware of elements of the
context (participants, setting, etc.), what schemas (scripts,
ways of thinking) are operating, and what ethical conflicts
are present.
 Productive imagination is reframing the problem from a
variety of perspectives and revamping one’s current
schemas.
 Creative imagination is coming up with new and morally
sound solutions that can be justified to outsiders.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

13. Faulty Decision Making
Moral Imagination:
 Facilitates ethical reasoning because it helps leaders step
away from their typical mental scripts or schemas and to
recognize the moral elements of events.
 Moral imagination enhances moral reasoning by
encouraging the generation of novel alternatives.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

14. Moral Disengagement
Moral disengagement helps account for the fact that
individuals can have a clear sense of right and wrong
yet engage in immoral activities
These individuals convince themselves that their
immoral conduct is moral, they minimize their role
in causing harm, and they devalue the victims of
their destructive behavior
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

15. Turning Immoral Conduct into Moral Conduct
1. Moral Justification: Leaders persuade themselves that
their harmful behavior is actually moral and beneficial
2. Euphemistic labeling: Euphemistic language has a
sanitizing function, making harmful behavior appear
more respectable and reducing personal responsibility.
3. Advantageous comparison: Contrast involves
comparing unethical or criminal acts with even worse
activities, thus making them appear more tolerable.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

16. Minimizing Harm
4. Displacement of responsibility: These individuals
often put the blame on someone else so as to
minimize their responsibility for doing damage to
others.
5. Diffusion of responsibility: Diffusing or spreading
out responsibility also lessens personal
accountability for immoral behavior.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

17. Devaluing Victims
6. Dehumanization: It is easier to mistreat others if
they are seen as less than fully human
7. Attribution of blame: Blaming others is an
expedient way to excuse unethical behavior
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

18. Leadership Ethics at the Movies: Lord of War
Discussion Questions:
 What unhealthy motivations drive Orlov?
 What moral disengagement mechanisms does
Orlov use to justify his actions?
 Did Yuri’s wife deliberately remain ignorant
about his activities in order to maintain her
family and lifestyle?
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

19. Lack of Expertise
Leaders may unintentionally cast shadows because
they lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and
experience.
We may not have ever followed a formal, step-by-
step approach to solving an ethical problem in a
group.
We may not know what ethical perspectives or
frameworks can be applied to ethical dilemmas.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

20. Contextual Pressures
Conformity is a problem for many small groups.
Some groups might pressure dissenters, shield
themselves from negative feedback, keep silent when
the disagree, and so on.
Top managers at some organizations may fire
employees who talk about ethical issues so that they
can claim ignorance if followers do act unethically.
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

21. Contextual Pressures
Key Terms
 Ethical segregation: leaders and followers may have strong
personal moral codes that regulate their personal lives, but act
much less ethically at work
 Socialization: the workplace socialization process may blind
members to the consequences of their actions
 Co-option: organizational leaders use rewards to reduce new
employees’ discomfort with immoral behaviors
 Incrementalism: gradually leads new members up the “ladder
of corruption”
 Compromise: backs members into corruption as they deal with
dilemmas and conflicts
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

22. Contextual Pressures
Cultural differences can also encourage leaders to
abandon their personal codes of conduct.
Leaders can be victims of contextual pressures as
well as the architects of the unethical climates,
structures, policies, and procedures that cause
groups and organizations to fail in the first place.
Corporate scandals:
 typically the result of leaders who not only engage in immoral
behavior but also encourage their followers to follow their
example
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

23. Stepping out of the Shadows
Mastering the shadows leaders cast
 Need to look inward to address our motivations
 We also need to improve our ethical decision making
 Resist negative contextual influences at the same time we
create healthy ethical climates
 View your ethical development as part of your overall
development as a leader
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

24. 3 Elements to Increase Your Ethical Competence
Assessment
 Feedback about how well you handle ethical dilemmas, how
others perceive your character, and how your decisions affect
followers
Challenge
 You need the challenges and practice that come from moving
into new leadership positions
Support
 You need the support of others to maximize your development
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

25. Become an Ethical Expert
Learn in a well-structured environment (like a
college or university
Master both moral theory and skills
Learn how previous experts have dealt with moral
problems and how some choices are better than
others
More experience means you will get better at solving
ethical problems and better able to explain your
choices
Put in the necessary time and focused effort
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

26. Ethical Skills: A Sampler
Ethical Sensitivity (recognition of ethical problems)
 Understanding emotional expression
 Taking the perspective of others
 Connecting to others
 Responding to diversity
 Controlling social bias
 Interpreting situations
 Communicating effectively
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

27. Ethical Skills: A Sampler
Ethical Judgment (decision making)
 Understanding ethical problems
 Using codes and identifying judgment criteria
 Reasoning generally
 Reasoning ethically
 Understanding consequences
 Reflecting on process and outcome
 Coping and resiliency
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

28. Ethical Skills: A Sampler
Ethical Focus (motivation to act ethically)
 Respecting others
 Cultivating conscience
 Acting responsibility
 Helping others
 Finding meaning in life
 Valuing traditions and institutions
 Developing ethical identity and integrity
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

29. Ethical Skills: A Sampler
Ethical Action (following through on moral
decisions)
 Resolving conflicts and problems
 Asserting respectfully
 Taking initiative as a leader
 Implementing decisions
 Cultivating courage
 Persevering
 Working hard
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

30. CASE STUDY: A MODERN DAY LIBERTINE
Discussion Questions
 What other powerful leaders have apparently engaged in sexual
misconduct out of a sense of entitlement?
 What can followers do to prevent their leaders from feeling entitled?
 What other factors, besides power, might encourage leaders to
believe they are entitled to ignore the rules that apply to everyone
else?
 Do you think that powerful men are more likely to engage in sexual
infidelity than powerful women? Why or why not?
 Does being a libertine automatically disqualify someone from
becoming a leader?
 How much should citizens be concerned about the private lives of
their political leaders?
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

31. CASE STUDY: The $300 Sneaker
Based on this case study from the book discuss the
following scenario and question:
Imagine that you are a top level Nike executive.
Would you produce and market the LeBron X Plus?
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.

32. CASE STUDY: Death by Peanuts
Discussion Questions:
 What factors described in the chapter contributed to top management’s
decision to ship contaminated products?
 What factors encouraged plant workers to keep silent about conditions at
the plant?
 Were employees justified in keeping their concerns to themselves?
 Should former PCA employees face criminal charges for failing to report
the conditions at the plant to outside authorities? Why or why not?
 How can leaders encourage followers to report unethical and illegal
behavior?
 What advice would you offer to employees who must decide whether or
not to report unethical behavior or situations?
 What leadership/followership ethics lessons do you take from this case?
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.