Leadership & Trustworthiness

Introduction

The problem to be investigated is the importance of ethical stewardship and trustworthiness in the relationship between leaders and followers, or in other words, a corporate executive and his/her employees. (Caldwell, 2010) It has been described as “the crucial ingredient of organizational effectiveness,” despite the fact that the aspects of that trust are hard to articulate (Caldwell citing Galford, 2010, p. 497). In the field of nonprofit management, the subject has gained even greater importance, not only between executives and employees, but between the executive and the public.

Leadership

Leadership has been defined as “the process of influencing leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through change” (Calwell citing Lussier, 2010, p. 498) This writer is partial to the definition that states that “ Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2007, p.3). According to Chemers, leadership consists of three critical tasks: “(1) relationship development – the interactions of the leader by which (s)he develops relationships, identifies desired outcomes, monitors the needs of those achieving results, and sustains high levels of personal commitment from stakeholders; (2) resource utilization – the tasks involved in obtaining financial resources, balancing competing demands, and managing resources to achieve goals efficiently and effectively; and (3) image management – the behaviors essential in creating a reputation involving the melding of beliefs with one’s actions to behave congruently with how one advertises so that one’s image is consistent with followers’ expectations (Calwell citing Chemers, 2010, p. 498).

This writer’s work in the nonprofit sector over the past fifteen years has seen nonprofit leadership evolve from an informal, grass-roots mentality to one that reflects the professional nature and fiduciary responsibilities inherent with the position....