Deck 12: When the Buck Stops Here: Leadership

Question 1

Joanne Ciulla describes several moral challenges a person faces when she finds herself in a leadership position, with all the influence and power that comes with it. Describe one of these moral challenges, and write about a time when you or someone you know occupied a leadership position and succumbed to that moral challenge.

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

Think of a group that you belong to (a state, a corporation, or some other kind of organization). Which sort of person would you want to lead that group?-someone who wants to be its leader, or someone who doesn't want to? Someone who is willing to do immoral things for the sake of the group, or someone who isn't? Someone who will feel remorse when she does immoral things for the good of the group, or someone who will not?

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Write a debate between Machiavelli and Ciulla on the meaning of good leadership.

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

Is it better to be loved than feared? Who are the best leaders you have encountered? Were they lovable, fierce, or both? What kind of leader do you aspire to be, and why?

Question 5

Which qualities do you most admire in the leaders you have known? List ten in their order of importance. Now try to add five more qualities you think should be on the list but were not. Use your list to write a set of "Guidelines for Great Leadership."

Question 6

Why do successful leaders often stumble ethically? Explain the Bathsheba syndrome.

Question 7

Argue that a wise person will avoid being a leader if she or he can.

Question 8

Are leaders more important or valuable than followers? Does our culture value one more than the other? Are we right to do so?

Question 9

Can you lead people without sharing their values? If so, why would they follow you? If not, how could you ever get people to change their values?

Question 10

What do we learn about leadership from Orwell's story "Shooting an Elephant"? What does it illustrate about the pressures faced by leaders? What would you have done if you had been the policeman?

Question 11

Does the notion of "servant leadership" help to clarify the dilemma of any of this chapter's case studies? Choose one of them, or another ethical dilemma from the news, and consider what the central character would do if guided by the idea of servant leadership.

Question 12

Machiavelli considered what to be important to a leader?

A) Love and hate
B) Fear and hate
C) Love and fear
D) Love only
E) Justice

Question 13

When Machiavelli uses the metaphor of "the lion," he is referring to what?

A) Using fear as a weapon
B) Destroying the strategy of an opponent
C) Using love to motivate one's own soldiers
D) Courage
E) None of the above

Question 14

Machiavelli insists that the Prince should "do his utmost to escape":

A) A bad state
B) Harm
C) Hatred
D) Power
E) Enemies

Question 15

Machiavelli would argue that for the Prince, lying is:

A) Always wrong
B) Always good
C) Never expedient
D) Sometimes necessary
E) A moral issue

Question 16

According to Plato, good men decide to lead not out of altruism, but out of fear of punishment, which they will experience in the form of

A) earning a reputation for being a coward.
B) being ruled by someone worse than them.
C) feelings of regret at having missed a chance to wield great influence.
D) earning a reputation for being lazy.
E) none of the above.

Question 17

Which of the following is not a way in which Ciulla says leaders differ from non-leaders?

A) Leaders are held responsible for things they did not personally do or know about.
B) Leaders wield more influence than non-leaders.
C) Leaders are more likely to falsely believe they are special than non-leaders.
D) Leaders are and should be held to a higher standard of morality than non-leaders.
E) None of the above

Question 18

Lao Tzu believed that "lovable leaders" are what?

A) Good to their citizens
B) Haughty
C) Modest
D) Contemptuous
E) Difficult to find

Question 19

Which of the following is one of Lao Tzu's descriptions of a not-so "lovable leader"?

A) He who strides forward does not go.
B) He who shows himself is not luminous.
C) He who justifies himself is not prominent.
D) He who brags does not endure for long.
E) All of the above

Question 20

What does Gini mean when he says that leadership is a mutually determinative activity?

A) Everyone participates in choosing a leader.
B) Leaders need the cooperation and collaboration of followers.
C) It is obvious to everyone who the natural leader is.
D) The aim of a leader is to acquire power over others.
E) Followers need to understand their leader.

Question 21

Gini's article suggests that an important part of leadership is being a steward. What does this mean?

A) The purpose of one's work is for others, not for one's self.
B) The purpose of one's work is for personal aggrandizement.
C) Leadership involves getting teams of people to work together.
D) Leadership involves convincing others to share your values.
E) Leaders should try to conserve resources for the future.

Question 22

Gini's article raises the concern of "organizational totalitarianism." What does this mean?

A) The company's goals become more important than individuals' ethical beliefs.
B) Employees feel they must conform and don't want to speak out.
C) Loyalty to the company becomes more important than respect for the law.
D) Both (a) and (c)
E) All of (a), (b), and (c)

Question 23

Gini mentions that leaders and followers must:

A) Share values
B) Share purposes and goals
C) Like one another and get along
D) Both (a) and (b)
E) All of (a), (b), and (c)

Question 24

According to Ciulla, what is the difference between a value and a virtue?

A) A value is what you have yourself; a virtue is what you see in someone else.
B) A value is what you have; a virtue is what you aspire to have.
C) You can have a value without acting on it, but not a virtue.
D) You can have a virtue without acting on it, but not a value.
E) Nothing; Ciulla believes values and virtues are the same.

Question 25

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most Americans believed that success in business called for:

A) Good luck
B) Good moral character
C) Good connections
D) Good instincts
E) Selfishness

Question 26

What is the problem that Ciulla sees in trying to define what makes a "good leader"?

A) "Good" can mean either "morally good" or "effective, good at one's job."
B) People have different opinions about what makes a "good" leader.
C) Leadership scholars all basically say the same thing.
D) Power can be used to force people or to influence them.
E) Charismatic leaders are not always virtuous leaders.

Question 27

What is the problem with "only having values" in Ciulla's article?

A) You need skills as well as values to be a leader.
B) You need purpose and goals as well as values to be a leader.
C) There are different kinds of moral statements besides values.
D) Values need to be connected to a religious or ethical system to have an impact.
E) Values need to connect up to actions in order to have an impact.

Question 28

Ludwig and Longenecker use the story of David and Bathsheba as a lesson in what, as it applies to being in a position of leadership?

A) Chastity
B) Delegation
C) Courage
D) Temptation
E) Success

Question 29

Success, as Ludwig and Longenecker point out, can be seen to __________ failure.

A) obviate
B) forestall
C) delay
D) precede
E) None of the above

Question 30

Ludwig and Longenecker warn that:

A) Leadership is not that great.
B) Leadership can bring about failure.
C) Success can bring about failure.
D) Success is not as fantastic as it is made out to be.
E) All of the above

Question 31

Which of the following is not a benefit of privileged access on a personal level?

A) Position
B) Influence
C) No direct supervision
D) Status
E) Access

Question 32

According to Ludwig and Longenecker, what is the "dark side" of success?

A) High-level executives can experience psychological changes that put them in danger of unethical behavior.
B) High-level executives have control over resources to commit unethical actions and get away with them.
C) Unethical people are more likely to rise to high-level executive positions.
D) Positions of great power and influence corrupt people and make them unethical.
E) Success can only be achieved at the expense of other people; if one person wins, other people must lose.

Question 33

How can modern companies avoid having their leaders fall prey to the Bathsheba syndrome?

A) The board can look out for the leader's psychological balance.
B) The board can choose a leader who is too ethical to be tempted.
C) The organization can schedule regular audits and other detection mechanisms.
D) Both (a) and (c)
E) All of (a), (b), and (c)

Question 34

What are the characteristics of the servant leader?

A) Wants to make sure other people's needs are met
B) First aspires to lead, then makes a later choice to also serve
C) Those served should grow as persons.
D) Both (a) and (c)
E) All of (a), (b), and (c)

Question 35

When Greenleaf quotes, "Faith is the choice of the nobler hypothesis," what is he talking about?

A) The "nobler hypothesis" is to be a servant first.
B) The "nobler hypothesis" is to be a leader first.
C) The "nobler hypothesis" is your best guess as to what will serve others' needs the best.
D) The "nobler hypothesis" is your best guess as to whether a servant or leader is needed.
E) The "nobler hypothesis" is the leader's choice of strategy to achieve his or her goals.

Question 36

What was the real reason that Orwell shot the elephant?

A) He didn't want to look foolish in front of the crowd.
B) He thought the elephant was dangerous to the village.
C) He shot in self-defense.
D) He was angry at the Indians and wanted to get back at them.
E) He was angry at the elephant for killing a man.

Question 37

For Machiavelli, it is clearly always wrong for a leader to lie.

Question 38

Machiavelli believed that the most important quality for a military leader was justice.

Question 39

Machiavelli felt that if you appear to have good qualities, that is just as good as actually having them.

Question 40

According to Ciulla, leaders should be held to a higher moral standard than non-leaders.

Question 41

Being given a formal leadership position is enough to make a person a leader.

Question 42

Lao Tzu believed that leaders should be loved.

Question 43

Gini believes that leadership is a necessary part of human existence.

Question 44

Gini argues that an organization's moral commitment must start from the top.

Question 45

According to Gini, followers need leaders more than leaders need followers.

Question 46

Benjamin Franklin believed that good moral virtues were necessary for success.

Question 47

Definitions of leadership all basically agree on what it is.

Question 48

A morally good leader is always a more effective leader.

Question 49

Ludwig and Longenecker observe that success can sometimes be the harbinger of failure.

Question 50

Ludwig and Longenecker suppose success to be the goal of one who takes on the role of a leader.

Question 51

There are quite a few "negative dynamics" associated with success.

Question 52

Plato held that honor was the only worthy motive to lead.

Question 53

Greenleaf thinks that the chasm between servant and leader should not be bridged.

Question 54

For Greenleaf, the forces of good and evil in the world are propelled by the thoughts, attitudes, and actions of individual beings.

Question 55

A "natural servant" is one who is a servant after his or her needs are met.

Question 56

Machiavelli believed that it is best if followers __________ their prince.

Question 57

According to Machiavelli, a military leader should ideally have a reputation for __________.

Question 58

Machiavelli uses two animals to represent two ways a prince should guard himself: these two animals are the _______ and the _________.

Question 59

The so-called __________ says that in order to lead well and do what is best for their followers, leaders must be prepared to violate personal ethical principles.

Question 60

The ancient Greeks believed that __________ , defined as feeling a sense of awe about being part of a larger whole, was an important virtue for leaders to have.

Question 61

Ludwig and Longnecker realize that living a ______________ reduces the likelihood of the negatives of success causing you to lose touch with reality.

Question 62

Lao Tzu offers this proverb: "He who justifies himself is not _____________."

Question 63

Gini points out that leaders are powerless to act without ________________.

Question 64

_____________ are the ideas and beliefs that influence our choices.

Question 65

When an organization creates a self-serving, self-contained worldview and expects employees to be loyal rather than ethical, that is an example of organizational _____________________.

Question 66

The question, "What is a ________ leader?" can refer either to moral qualities or to effectiveness as a leader.

Question 67

In the twentieth century, we often focus on the ______________ of business leaders rather than their morals.

Question 68

A successful leader like David may delegate responsibility without supervising because he has lost strategic _____________.

Question 69

Living a _____________ life reduces a leader's chances of falling prey to the Bathsheba syndrome.

Question 70

Leo, in Hesse's story, is both a(n) __________ in position and a leader in spirit.

Question 71

Plato believes that good people will desire not to be ___________.

Question 72

Leaders are generally better at indicating the right __________ in which to look next.

Question 73

Greenleaf uses the word __________ in his essay to mean "overarching purpose" or "visionary concept."