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approaches build organizational skills as well as character, similar to caring leadership behaviors that coach and challenge. “In other words, leaders with this leadership approach require first to unravel the complexities of the challenge, develop sense of direction towards what it means for them and their workers prior to promoting worker involvement in the challenge”. There are different levels of intellects and encouragement to work actively. It is an ability to intellectually stimulate the workers and a propensity to get involved actively in the work. “In nutshell, the key indicators of the intellectual stimulation are rationality, creativity, consensus decision-making, coaching, supporting, challenging and involvement”
(House and Shamir 1993).
2.5.5.4 Individualized Consideration
Individualized consideration is concerned with the basic transformational leadership behaviors of regarding individuals as fundamental contributors to the work place. Such leaders display concern for their workers’ needs and are equipped to boost and coach the development of desired work-place behaviour. Their role alternates from participatory to autocratic style. In short, “fundamental elements of individualized consideration consist of reassurance, caring for and coaching of individuals and an open and consultative approach”.
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requires that other people’s decisions and values are treated with respect, failing to do so would signify that they are treated as a means to the leader’s own ends (Northouse, 2007:
351). To this effect, the leaders should also be seen to be respecting their followers.
2.6.2 Serving
Serving is the obligation to take care of others, be of service to them and make choices that are helpful and not harmful to their welfare. Ethical leaders should place their followers’
welfare at the top of their list. Many ethical theories emphasize a concern for the interests of others (ethical altruism). The service principle clearly is an example of altruism. Kanungo and Mendonca (1996: 67) argued that leaders who serve are altruistic: they place their followers’ welfare foremost in their plans. In the workplace, altruistic service behaviour can be observed in activities such as mentoring, empowerment behaviours, team building and citizenship behaviours, to name a few. By serving, leaders act as stewards of the mission, vision and goals of the organization.
According to Senge (1990: 241),
…one of the important tasks of leaders in organizations is to be the stewards of the vision within the organization. He further contended that being a steward means clarifying and nurturing a vision that is greater than oneself. This means not being self-centered, but rather integrating one’s self or vision with that of others in the organization. Ethical leaders see their own personal vision as a component part of something bigger than themselves, a part of the organization and society at large. The principle of serving goes hand in hand with servant leadership.
Greenleaf (1977) discussed the need for leadership that puts serving others including employees, customers, and community as the number one priority. Servant leadership emphasizes increased service to others, a holistic approach to work, promoting a sense of community and sharing of power in decision making. As put forward by Samkange (1980:64), the king owes his status, including all the powers associated with it to the will of the people under him and this is a principle deeply embedded in the traditional African political philosophy of Ubuntu.
A core attribute of serving as an ethical principle therefore is that the servant leaders place a priority on satisfying the important needs of followers (Northouse 2013:219). Some of the most harrowing instances of servant leadership can be found among those who have toiled to
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end apartheid, and later, to bring about reconciliation between whites and blacks in South Africa. The notable ones are Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.
After his release in 1990, Mandela campaigned for peace and reconciliation with the whites, even as investigations conducted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) revealed gross human rights abuses committed by the previous government, including killings, rapes and torture. Opting for a more forward-looking path, the policies of Mandela and Tutu ended the cycle of violence between the races, which might have worsened if militant groups had advocated harsher retribution against the oppressors. The peaceful resolution was vital for the economic and social development of the nation in the long run. Both of these servant leaders had the ability to look ahead and take a wider view of the situation (Esvary 2016).
By and large, the main principle of servant leadership is that leaders are attentive to the concerns of their followers and empathize with them, including those with little power in the system. Servant leaders make others better by their presence. For example, referring to Mahatma Gandhi, who is believed to be the great leader of the masses in India, Radhakrishnan (1939: 20) observed that servant leaders view themselves as servants first, not leaders first. “Gandhi is among the foremost of the servants of humanity”. While most leaders identify with symbols of power to elevate themselves above the people they lead, Gandhi symbolized the people he was trying to serve. He tried to be like them with his loin cloth and his commitment to voluntary poverty. He symbolized service rather than power (Radhakrishnan 1939:20). According to Nair (1994: 6), Gandhi had the two outstanding qualities of voluntary subordination namely being a servant, combined with acts of service in his life. Serving the followers enables them to reciprocate support for the leader’s vision since they are fully aware that their needs are given much more preference and recognition ahead of the leader’s needs. This fully addresses the key tentacle of Ubuntu of being selfless.
2.6.3 Fairness and Justice
Justice as a quality of leadership entails that no one within an organization should receive special treatment or special consideration except when his or her situation demands it. When individuals are treated differently, the grounds for different treatment must be clear and reasonable and must be based on moral values (Northouse 2015: 350). Northouse (2013: 433) observed that leaders must be concerned about issues of fairness and justice. If a leader is just, then they are able to treat all of their followers in a fair and equal way. The leader plays a major role in the distribution of rewards or punishments to employees. The rules that are used and how they are applied say a great deal about whether the leader is concerned about justice and how he or she approaches issues of fairness. Rawls (1971: 102) stated that a
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concern with issues of fairness is necessary for all people who are cooperating together to promote their common interests.
It is similar to the ethic of reciprocity, otherwise known as the Golden Rule that says that “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you” (Matthew 7:12), variations of which have appeared in many different cultures throughout the ages. If we expect justice from others on how they treat us, then we should treat others fairly in our dealings with them. Usually in public organizations
there is always a limit on goods and resources and there is often competition for the limited things available, therefore, issues of justice become problematic for leaders. Because of the real or perceived scarcity of resources, conflicts often occur between individuals and leaders about fair methods of distribution. It is important for leaders to clearly establish the rules for distributing rewards and the nature of these rules says a lot about the ethical underpinnings of the leader and the organization (Kanungo and Mendonca 1996: 71).
2.6.4 Honesty
Another quality of leadership is honesty which is an important principle and best understood when we think about the opposite of honesty, dishonesty. Dishonesty is defined by Northouse (2013: 435) as a form of lying and a way of misrepresenting reality. Dishonesty may bring with it many objectionable consequences; foremost among those outcomes is the distrust it creates. When leaders are not honest and sincere, followers come to see them as undependable and unreliable and as a result subordinates lose faith in what leaders say and stand for and their respect for leaders is diminished. According to Jaksa and Pritchard (1988), in their work argued that the long term effect of dishonesty type of behaviour is that it weakens relationships. Even when used with good intentions, dishonesty contributes to the breakdown of relationships.
On the contrary, honesty is being open with others and representing reality as fully and completely as possible. As put forward by Dalla Costa (1998: 164), being honest means more than not deceiving. For leaders, he argues, being honest means “ Do not promise what you cannot deliver, do not misrepresent, do not hide behind spin-doctored evasions, do not suppress obligations, do not evade accountability, do not accept that the ‘survival of the fittest’ pressures of business release any of us from the responsibility to respect another’s dignity and humanity” This is not a simple task however, in light of the fact that there are times when telling the complete truth can be dangerous and counterproductive.
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The challenge for leaders is to strike a balance between being open and sincere while checking what is proper to unveil in a specific circumstance. Many times, there are organizational constraints that prevent leaders from disclosing information to followers. It is important for leaders to be authentic, but it is equally important to be sensitive to the attitudes and feelings of others. Straightforward leadership involves a wide set of behaviours (https://www.studypool.com/discuss/1646223/leadership-paper-3). For example,
Nelson Mandela was described as a hero and freedom fighter because of his perseverance through fighting against apartheid until he became the first elected black president of South Africa after twenty-seven years being jailed. His traits of morality, community serving and responsibilities towards his followers were embraced through honesty. He showed strong ethical values in his leadership by constantly guiding his followers to avoid all violence and keep the center of attention before they act (Ncube 1997).
Honesty is one of the pillars of Ubuntu because leaders are expected to be sincere, selfless and transparent in their dealings with others on behalf of their subjects.