Leadership is, by definition, the work of a single person. The leader’s decisions serve as a defining factor of the course their organization will take. For that matter, the leader’s ethical and moral principles become of uttermost importance since the aftermath of their actions spread their influence upon numerous stakeholders and, in many cases, the environments that they live in.
As mentioned earlier, autoethnographic research can be a gateway to adopting a responsible work ethic. By nature, it centers around the subjective experience – and that is precisely what the autoethnographic method accentuates. According to Lapadat (2017), it is an approach aiming to merge the personal and communal experiences – which can be a great tool for a business leader. He or she can draw from personal experience – for instance, the omnipresent environmental pollution – and, by processing it through their own subjective perception, affect the situation via his/her leadership position.
Responsible leadership can take on a number of forms, however, the bottom line remains the same. A responsible leader, like any leader, aspires to improve their business, not only in terms of profit but – and this is the defining characteristic – in the sense of using the resources consciously. It is one who aims to establish a relationship that is fruitful for both sides: having received support from their stakeholders, the leader provides for the community in the form of a service or a product. However, the most critically important characteristic of such leaders is their ability to claim full responsibility for their actions. In order to do that, one needs to have a strong personal philosophy deeply intertwined with social ethics and environmental concerns.
As prescribed by the autoethnographic method, one needs to first analyze one’s own experiences in order to produce theory about the world. Personally, having evaluated my past experiences and my personality, I can say that I possess the main characteristics required to be a leader. Morals are very important to me: I believe that the world experiences a shortage of people who adhere to the standards of morality and behave ethically – especially when doing business. I also enjoy making connections, and I have a vision of change that I want to make in the world. While having ambitions, I strongly reproach what the industry has turned into, thus, I understand that I’ll have to use the resources carefully.
Reference
Lapadat, J. C. (2017). Ethics in autoethnography and collaborative autoethnography. Qualitative Inquiry, 23(8), pp. 589-603.