This document discusses perspectives on evil and combating evil from a leadership textbook. It begins by defining evil as something that is destructive and causes excessive harm. It then outlines six perspectives on evil: as dreadful pleasure, exclusion, deception, bureaucracy, a choice, and something ordinary. It explores each perspective in more detail. The document discusses recognizing and facing evil, as well as making a case for forgiveness by breaking cycles of evil. It covers spiritual leadership and combating evil through forgiveness and apology. Two case studies on crimes against humanity in North Korea and the Flint, Michigan water crisis are presented for discussion.

1. CHAPTER 4.
COMBATING
EVIL

2. Chapter 4. Combating Evil
• The Faces of Evil
– Recognizing the presence of evil is an important first
step.
– Contemporary Western definitions of evil emphasize its
destructiveness.
– Evildoers do excessive harm, going well beyond what is
needed to achieve their objectives.
– Evil destroys self-esteem, physical and emotional well-
being, relationships, communities, and nations.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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3. The Faces of Evil
• Perspectives on Evil
– 1. Evil as Dreadful Pleasure
– 2. Evil as Exclusion
– 3. Evil as Deception
– 4. Evil as Bureaucracy
– 5. Evil as a Choice
– 6. Evil as Ordinary
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
3

4. The Faces of Evil
• Evil as Dreadful Pleasure
– University of Maryland political science professor C. Fred
Alford defines evil as a combination of dread and pleasure.
– He discovered that people experience evil as a deep sense of
uneasiness, “the dread of being human, vulnerable, alone in
the universe and doomed to die.”
– Evil can also be a product of chronic boredom.
– Ordinary distractions such as television, movies, surfing the
Internet, social media, shopping, and sports don’t fill the void,
so people turn to evil instead.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
4

5. The Faces of Evil
• Evil as Exclusion
– In moral exclusion, group members draw a mental
circle
– Those inside the circle (called the moral community or
scope of justice) are treated with respect
– Those outside the circle, on the other hand, are seen
as undeserving or expendable
– Mild forms of exclusion are part of daily life
– In extreme forms of exclusion, evils such as human
rights violations, torture, murder, and genocide can
occur
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
5

6. Evil as Exclusion
• Dispute resolution expert Susan Opotow believes that
moral exclusion progresses through five states or elements
that reinforce one another and can become a vicious cycle:
– 1. Conflicts of interest are salient.
– 2. Group categorizations are salient.
– 3. Moral justifications are prominent.
– 4. Unjust procedures are described as expedient.
– 5. Harmful outcomes occur.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
6

7. The Faces of Evil
• Evil as Deception
– Psychiatrist Scott Peck identified evil as an extreme
form of narcissism or self-absorption.
– Evil people refuse to submit and try to control others
instead.
– Evil people are consumed with keeping up
appearances.
– Peck believes that truly evil people are more likely to
live in our neighborhoods than in our jails.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
7

8. The Faces of Evil
• Evil as Bureaucracy
– According to public administration professors Guy Adams
and Danny Balfour, the combination of science and
technology made the 1900s so destructive.
– In administrative evil, organizational members commit
heinous crimes while carrying out their daily tasks.
– Balfour and Adams argue that the true nature of
administrative evil is masked or hidden from participants.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
8

9. The Faces of Evil
• Evil as a Choice
– A number of scholars argue that we become
good or evil through a series of small,
incremental decisions.
– Throughout our lives, we face many decisions
where we need to decide which path to choose.
– We cannot correct poor decisions by continuing
on that path. We must return to the fork in the
road and choose the other path.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
9

10. The Faces of Evil
• Evil as Ordinary
– The evil-as-ordinary perspective focuses on the
situational factors that cause otherwise ordinary or
normal people to become evildoers.
– Case Example: Stanford Prison Experiment.
– Evil is likely to continue when others fail to intervene
to stop it.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
10

11. Facing Evil
• We need to be aware of how our activities
contribute to good or evil.
• Language is one of the evildoers’most powerful
tools.
• Evil as a choice puts the ethical burden squarely
on our shoulders.
• Every moral decision, no matter how insignificant
it seems at the time, has lasting consequences.
• The perspective of evil as ordinary reminds us that
we all have the potential to be evildoers.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
11

12. Making a Case for Forgiveness
• Breaking the Cycle of Evil
– A growing number of social scientists believe that forgiving
instead of retaliating can prevent or break cycles of evil.
– In a cycle of evil, aggressive acts provoke retaliation followed
by more aggression.
– Forgiving evildoers is controversial.
• What do skeptics assert?
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
12

13. Making a Case for Forgiveness
• The Forgiveness Process
– According to Robert Enright, professor of educational psychology
and president of the International Forgiveness Institute at the
University of Wisconsin, forgiveness is not the following:
• Forgetting past wrongs to “move on”
• Excusing or condoning bad, damaging behavior
• Reconciliation or coming together again (forgiveness opens the way
to reconciliation, but the other person must change or desire to
reconcile)
• Reducing the severity of offenses
• Offering a legal pardon
• Pretending to forgive in order to wield power over another person
• Ignoring the offender
• Dropping our anger and becoming emotionally neutral
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
13

14. Making a Case for Forgiveness
• 4-Stage Model of Forgiveness
– 1. Uncovering: the victim may deny the problem exists; the
person does acknowledge the hurt, and may experience
intense feelings of anger, shame, and betrayal
– 2. Decision: the injured party realizes that he or she is
paying a high price for dwelling on the injury, considers the
possibility of forgiveness, and commits to forgiving
– 3. Work: forgiveness is accomplished in this stage;
attempts to understand the victim’s background; may
experience empathy; absorbing the pain is the key in this
stage
– 4. Deepening: this stage describes the outcomes of
forgiveness; the person offering the forgiveness may
develop a new purpose in life and find peace
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
14

15. Making a Case for Forgiveness
• Four strands to explain how warring groups
can overcome their mutual hatred and bind
together to restore fractured relationships
– 1. Moral Truth: forgiveness starts with recalling the past
and rendering a moral judgment
– 2. Forbearance: rejecting revenge in favor of restraint
– 3. Empathy: empathy doesn’t excuse wrongs but
acknowledges that offender and offended share much in
common
– 4. Commitment: to restore the broken relationship
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
15

16. Leadership Ethics at the Movies: The Railway Man
• Discussion Starters:
– Why did Eric emerge as an informal leader in
the prison camp?
– What virtues did young Lomax demonstrate
during his captivity?
– Did Eric’s fellow veterans help or hinder his
recovery from his wartime trauma?
– How did forgiveness contribute to the healing
of both Lomax and Nagase?
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
16

17. Seeking Forgiveness
• Just as we need to offer forgiveness, we need to
seek forgiveness.
– The “Age of Apology”
• Nearly every week there seems to be a prominent
figure offering an apology for his or her misdeeds.
• Political apologies appear to be more common.
• Businesses and religious groups, too, are officially
apologizing for past wrongs.
• Apologies can be highly beneficial. They help
restore the dignity of victims and promote healing.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
17

18. Seeking Forgiveness
• Apologies
– Many apologies are pseudo- or inauthentic apologies;
– Inauthentic apologies are frequently vague (“I
apologize for whatever I did . . .”);
– Use the passive voice (“Mistakes have been
made . . .”);
– Make the offense conditional (“If mistakes were made
. . .”);
– Question whether the victim was damaged (“If anyone
was hurt . . .”); or
– Minimize the damage (“There’s really nothing [or very
little] to apologize for . . .”).
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
18

19. Seeking Forgiveness
• 5-R model for evaluating the apologies of
others:
– Recognition: identifying the specific offenses committed
– Responsibility: take personal responsibility for the
offenses; avoid blaming others
– Remorse: “I’m sorry” or “I apologize” or “I regret” should be
part of admission of responsibility
– Restitution: take concrete steps to aid the victim; may be
pay or intangibles like community service
– Repetition: signal your commitment to not repeat the
offensive behavior
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
19

20. Spirituality and Leadership
• A great number of leaders turn to spirituality
to equip themselves as they make choices
and attempt to forgive by reshaping our
thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
• More and more academics are studying the
link between spiritual values and practices
and organizational performance.
• Downsizing, restructuring, rapid change, and
information overload have generated fear and
uncertainty in the workplace, which prompts
us to seek stability and to reexamine our
lives.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
20

21. Spirituality and Leadership
• Investigators have discovered that spirituality enhances the
following:
– Commitment to mission, core values, and ethical standards
– Organizational learning and creativity
– Morale
– Productivity and profitability
– Collaboration
– Loyalty
– Willingness to mentor others
– Job effort
– Job satisfaction
– Social support
– Sensitivity to ethical issues
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
21

22. Spirituality and Leadership
• Donde Ashmos and Dennis Duchon define workplace
spirituality as “the recognition that employees have an
inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful
work that takes place in the context of community.”
– The inner life refers to the fact that employees have spiritual
needs (their core identity and values) just as they have
emotional, physical, and intellectual wants, and they bring the
whole person to work.
– Meaningful work refers to the fact that workers typically are
motivated by more than material rewards.
– Community refers to the fact that organization members desire
connection to others.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
22

23. Spirituality and Leadership
• Belief systems found in leaders who
engage in common spiritual practices:
– Demonstrating respect for others’ values
– Treating others fairly
– Expressing care and concern
– Listening responsively
– Appreciating the contributions of others
– Engaging in reflective practice
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
23

24. Spirituality and Leadership
• Spiritual leadership begins with the inner life of the
leader. Leaders who engage in spiritual practices
develop:
– (1) hope and faith in a vision of service to others, and
– (2) a commitment to altruistic love.
• After the initial excitement of discovering the
benefits of spirituality, individuals and
organizations will typically hit obstacles—
frustration, financial challenges, feelings of
emptiness
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
24

25. Spirituality and Leadership
• Framework that can be used to measure the spiritual
climate of a workplace (to determine your
organization’s spiritual progress):
– Benevolence: kindness toward others; desire to promote
the happiness and prosperity of employees.
– Generativity: long-term focus; concern about future
consequences of actions for this and future generations.
– Humanism: policies and practices that respect the dignity
and worth of every employee; opportunity for personal
growth when working toward organizational goals.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
25

26. Spirituality and Leadership
• Spiritual Framework (cont’d.)
– Integrity: adherence to a code of conduct; honesty; sincerity;
candor.
– Justice: even-handed treatment of employees; impartiality;
unbiased rewards and punishments.
– Mutuality: feelings of interconnectedness and mutual
dependence; employees working together to complete
projects and achieve goals.
– Receptivity: flexible thinking; open-mindedness; willingness to
take calculated risks; rewards for creativity.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
26

27. Spirituality and Leadership
• Spiritual Framework (cont’d.)
– Respect: treatment of employees with esteem and
value; demonstration of consideration and concern.
– Responsibility: independent follow-through on goals
despite obstacles; concerned with what is right.
– Trust: confidence in the character and truthfulness of
the organization and its representatives.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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28. Spirituality and Leadership
• The Dark Side of Spiritual Leadership
– Some leaders view spirituality solely as a tool for
increasing follower commitment (obedience) and
productivity that increases profits, losing sight of the
fact that spirituality has value in and of itself.
– Other leaders try to impose their particular religious
and spiritual views on followers.
– In the worst-case scenario, authoritarian leaders
engage in spiritual abuse.
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
28

29. Spirituality and Leadership
• Common spiritual abuse tactics:
– Overemphasizing spiritual authority and forbidding
challenges from followers
– Demanding unquestioning obedience as a sign of follower
loyalty, which takes away the right of subordinates to make
their own choices
– Keeping members apart from outsiders and dismissing
external critics while, at the same time, hiding character
flaws and unethical practices from the public
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
29

30. Spirituality and Leadership
• Common spiritual abuse tactics (cont’d.)
– Insisting on rigid beliefs and behavior while
demanding conformity and perfection
– Suppressing follower dissent through humiliation,
deprivation, and other means
– Using nearly absolute power to engage in fraud,
sexual immorality, and other unethical practices
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
30

31. Case Study 4.1: Crimes Against Humanity in the
Hermit State
• Discussion Questions:
– Can you think of other nations who actively deny human
rights and commit crimes against their people?
– Should the international community provide food aid to North
Korea if it is likely to divert the food to the military and to
government officials as it has in the past?
– What, if anything, can the international community do to stop
the abuses in North Korea?
– Should the United States risk its relationship with China to
stop the murder and human rights violations in North Korea?
– What faces of evil do you see reflected in this case?
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
31

32. Case Study 4.2: Poisoning Flint, Michigan
• Discussion Questions:
– Is this a case of administrative evil in action? Why or why
not?
– Do you think that the residents of Flint were treated differently
because they are poor and African American?
– How much blame should the governor accept for the crisis?
– Should governors be able to appoint emergency managers
who have the power to override the decisions of local elected
officials?
– What steps should the state and federal government take to
repair the damage done to Flint and its residents, including
children?
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
32

33. Case Study 4.3: Subway’s Spokesman Nightmare
• Discussion Questions:
– What is your reaction to Subway’s handling of this
scandal?
– Does Subway have any responsibility to Fogle’s victims?
– Should Subway express remorse for Fogle’s crimes?
– Does Subway bear any responsibility for the failure of the
Jared Foundation?
– Should Subway take on childhood sexual abuse as a
corporate cause? Would this be seen as an admission of
guilt?
– Are you less likely to eat at Subway because of Fogle’s
crimes and the firm’s response? Why or why not?
Johnson, Meeting the Ethical Challenges of
Leadership, 6e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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