What does it mean to lead responsibly? To lead ethically?
A new Ryerson University initiative hopes to help students, faculty, and the wider business community tackle these tough questions directly.
Thanks to a gift from Canadian business leader Jim Pattison, Ryerson University recently established The Jim Pattison Ethical Leadership Education and Research Program. The program, hosted by Ryerson's
Ted Rogers Leadership Centre, will begin its ethical leadership programming as early at this fall.
"The thing to remember when you're talking leadership is that too often people think of leadership in terms of CEOs and company presidents," says Chris MacDonald, professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management and director of the new ethical leadership program.
"One of the foundational points of this project, and something we want to communicate especially to our business majors, is that leadership is an activity that goes on through most organizations, not only at the top. Whether or not you're a CEO, you're still very likely to be taking on leadership responsibilities at some level and you'll have to think about what it means to lead a team and make good ethical decisions."
The new initiative is not a new degree program, nor will it offer classes in the traditional sense. Instead, the new centre will supplement existing business and leadership training at the school by hosting workshops and lectures, developing curriculum for use in the classroom, and providing research grants for faculty studying ethical business practice.
The centre also hopes to connect with the wider business community by hosting ethical leadership executive seminars for business managers.
"We're going to be offering educational events of different kinds at three different levels," says MacDonald. "For undergraduate business majors, for MBA students, and then for business executives."
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Chris MacDonald