The meeting that I attended entailed planning for a sporting event organized by UPMC Recreation Athletic Center. Morgan, the manager, was charged with the role of taking care of UPMC recreation athletic center and minimizing accidents. Additionally, he made sure that all machines were clean, and there was smooth running of all operations. The sporting events were organized to ensure that there is improved collaboration among cultural groups. The meeting was prompted by the realization that sporting activities entail people from diverse backgrounds in term of ethnicity, race, and gender, hence the need to have an inclusive management team. The team in the meeting was charged with the duty of budgeting, marketing the initiative, troubleshooting possible problems, and communication of essential elements with other stakeholders.

The team was led by Morgan. He is more experienced in leadership, and, thus, coordinated all group activities. The team was comprised of eight people, with each gender having four members. Morgan was entrusted with the duty of recruiting team members and ensuring that all groups were wholly represented. During the interaction processes, there was the adoption of centralized structures where all people were featured in the decision-making processes. While there are positive aspects of leadership that I noted in the group, there were also some gray areas in management and leadership. In most cases, team activities are marked by conflicts of interests.

In our case, we all had differing personalities that affected the contribution of group activities. During the contribution processes, I noted that both Peter and Cynthia were aggressive and often blocked other people from making donations. On the other hand, Devour and Tokyo appeared to be reserved as they made a minimal contribution to team activities. In the case of other team members, they played an active role in the group and equally upheld values and opinions of other people. Morgan further stressed on the need for cultural competency levels as opposed to cultural relativism (Van & Wart, 2014).

The leader was keen on ensuring that all people were given equal opportunities to make their contributions in the group activities. Rather than taking a personal attack on the contributions of members, he argued that there was a need to evaluate each support by merits (Van & Wart, 2014). Morgan’s approach indicated that he was a competent leader who acknowledged and upheld the differences of other team members. His approach was unlike the standpoint adopted by Cynthia and Peter as they had the tendency to judge other people on the basis of their values. Such an approach is termed as cultural relativism, and, thus, can be limiting in promoting group activities.

Moreover, minimizing conflicts of interests in group settings calls for respect and commitment among team members. Looking at Morgan’s leadership approach indicates that he was an ethical leader. The argument rests on the fact that the team leader showed consideration to other members (Ciulla et al. 2005). In most cases, the group leader has a significant influence on the organizational culture. Adhering to positive values such as honesty and integrity serves as the basis of a positive culture. During the initial stages, the meeting was marked by many conflicts as each member tried to dominate the group.

The environment made it challenging to attain the set objectives or communicate freely. Rather than having collective objectives, it is worth noting that each person had a personal objective. The situation only changed after the intervention of the leader. His first measure was setting up rules that would regulate the interaction processes. These regulations were also intended to ensure that none of the team members violated the rights of other members. Secondly, there was the setting of elaborate communication structures with objectives of ensuring that there was a free flow of information.  These platforms further ensured that all members were given equal opportunities to contribute to the group.

Based on the interactions during the meeting, I can define Morgan as having ethical leadership. The argument rests on the fact that rather than following his interest, he sought to ensure that the objectives of the meeting were attained. The ability to coordinate complex group activities was based on the fact that he combined his leadership skills with integrity. It is imperative to mention that factors such as selfishness and laziness are some of the issues that may derail the activities of a leader. In our case, Morgan served as a role model with many of the members being attracted by his integrity and honesty.

Although he had also failed as it is the case with other persons, he exhibited the willingness to listen and consider the opinions of other people. His traits depict both fairness and democracy as he ensured that none of the members was sidelined in the group interactions. While Morgan had the power to lock out some members or make some replacement, he appeared patient with the aggressive members. The approach points out that he had an improved awareness level of differences that exist among people (Ciulla et al. 2005).

The other factor that I observed in the approach used by the leader is that he upheld value-based leadership as his actions were centered on the transformation of the group as well as attainment of the set objectives. Under value-based leadership, there is an emphasis on the intention of the leader. The intent needs to be based on the common good of all stakeholders. Morgan had the intent of ensuring that there is the smooth running of operations, and, thus, served as the moral face of the team.

The other issue concerns the proper means of executing activities. While there was the option of using shortcuts such as relying on studies of other teams, Morgan stressed on the need of conducting detailed studies that would incorporate viewpoints of different society members. He argued that none of the group should be sidelined in the process and that the team was to be inclusive as much as possible. The other important aspect that was considered by the leader is the proper way of handling things. He argued that the success or the failure of the group would be determined by the ability to attain the set objectives.

Based on the above discussion, it is evident that integrity, honesty, and commitment are critical elements in any leadership processes. Virtuous leadership implies that leaders are aware of the interest and values of other group members. They thus exhibit values such as fairness, prudence, hard work, commitment, and trustworthiness (Ciulla et al. 2005). Likewise, the adoption of proper ends ensures that a leader engages in ethical practices only. The success of our team can be defined as having been influenced by leadership approaches adopted by Morgan and other group members. These strategies were critical in reducing possible conflicts among members.

References

Ciulla, J. B., Price, T. L., & Murphy, S. E. (2005). The quest for moral leaders: Essays on leadership ethics. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Van Wart, M. (2014). Contemporary varieties of ethical leadership in organizations. International Journal of Business Administration, 5(5), 27.