Reading “Ethical Role of the Manager” made me realize how managerial tasks are ethical choices. When I led a campus project, I thought I was optimizing, but I realized that these decisions are unavoidable in management because every choice affects people or the environment. This helped me understand my responsibilities of being a moral person with clear values, honesty, and concern for others, and being an ethical manager. This means rewarding and disciplining in ways that make those values clear and discussing them openly. If I feel uneasy about sharing my decision publicly, I need to reconsider it. The four-lens framework of rights and duties, utility, justice, and care provides me with the language to articulate the trade-offs I used to feel but couldn’t express. In that case, part of leadership is helping myself and my team look beyond peer norms and ask first questions backed by systems that support the behavior we say we value.

This article’s pairing of “moral person/moral manager” reminded me of leadership readings that distinguish between inner character and outer systems. While some texts stop at slogans about integrity, this one argues that ethical leadership encompasses role-modeling, incentives, discipline, and ongoing communication, enabling people to see what the organization values every day. It also refines classic frameworks by placing them in the context of management. The four ethical lenses are not presented as abstract ideas, but as tools for navigating real conflicts when no clear option is available. While other texts focus on individual virtue as the goal, this chapter incorporates research on moral development to explain why teams often become stuck at “what’s normal here” and why leaders must guide them toward post-conventional, principle-based thinking. This connection between thought and culture helped me understand why some organizations settle for the status quo while others strive for broader reasoning based on stakeholder interests.

The chapter reads like a guide for today’s institutions. In companies, hospitals, schools, and city agencies, leaders frequently encounter moral dilemmas. It demonstrates how leaders can translate their vision into operational values, enabling execution to progress more effectively and efficiently. Developing post-conventional reasoning expands the focus on stakeholders. This is the basis for lasting reforms, whether redesigning incentives in a company or establishing clear rules in a public agency.

Waddock, Sandra. “Ethical Role of the Manager.” Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society. 

Ed. . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2007. 786-91. SAGE Reference Online. Web. 30 Jan. 

2012.