Moral Courage: The Essence of Ethical Leadership and Followership

Most discussions on ethical leadership emphasize the importance of personal integrity, visible role modeling, and actual enforcement of ethical behaviors in the workplace. Nonetheless, organizational leaders and followers alike regularly encounter issues and pressure that require not only ethical leadership but also moral courage. Accordingly, this study used a mixed method to examine typical ethical situations encountered by organizational members in the workplace, the extent to which employees can exercise courage, and the factors that impede their moral actions. The results show that the majority of organizational members are unable to translate their moral beliefs and judgment into real moral action in the workplace. Organizations must, therefore, seek ways and means of creating and supporting moral courage