HUS 510: Legal and Ethical Issues in Human Services: Module 4: Ethical Leadership

Ethical Leadership

Watch this…

Why good leaders make you feel safe.

Read These:

Title

STEP 1 Read: Case Fifteen: Whose Values: The Politics of Planning.

(See link, above or use the link in Module 4 in D2L)

• NOTE: You may have to login to the library website to access this material.

Step 2: Submit a 2-4-page paper that analyzes ethics and values. Answer the questions at the end of Case 15 (pages 97 and 98) in essay form. Utilize a minimum of two scholarly sources and two ethical standards from the Ethical Standards for Human Services Professionals ethical code to support your response.

Summary

Jennifer aspired to become Executive Director of her mental health center where she worked. She had recently been asked to staff a committee charged with planning for community based services and was excited to incorporate more advocacy, empowerment, and prevention programs. They appointed a board to help with these new services which was much more conservative than Jennifer had hoped. The chair of the board completely ignored her proposals and stated that the role of the paid staff was not to push their philosophy, but to help the new board implement whatever programs the board developed. As the meeting progressed it became clear that the board wanted to hire an Executive Director with project management skills, not a human services degree. Now that her professional philosophy and goals have been discounted she does not know what to do.

You must decide what she should do next and determine whether the role of paid committee staff is to push the philosophy they feel is best or to carry out the wishes of the committee, even if they do not agree philosophically with those wishes.

Learning Goals

• Determine the role of paid committee staff
• Practice making decisions that are ethical, emotion, and professional
• Analyze how human services values and attitudes apply in practice

Learning Objective

By the end of this case study lesson, through analyzing the board - paid committee member dynamic, you will be better prepared to deal with difficult situations in their careers.

Discussion 1: After learning about Jennifer’s situation in this case, what are the characteristics of an effective ethical leader? Discuss your strengths and growth areas as it relates to these components and to Jennifer’s experience. Report on your plan to strengthen your growth areas. Integrate an understanding of how ethical leadership supports interdisciplinary problem solving and how the absence of this concept can limit organizational productivity.

Respond to two peers with scholarly support.

Midterm Exam

This is an essay exam. Utilize APA formatting guidelines in all responses. Each answer must incorporate scholarly support. Click "MidTerm Exam" to start the exam.