Leadership effectiveness, gratifying interpersonal relationships, and richer self-fulfillment are all a result of communicating effectively, understanding ourselves and others, and affirming our values in a manner than conveys who we are and what matters most to us. Although communication is considered a relatively simple and straight-forward process, the reality is that it is fraught with confusion, lack of clarity, and unintended deception. The failures associated with communicating include a recurring inability to know oneself and to be unsuccessful in defining our real values and priorities. As we search for more effective ways of communicating who we are, what we are seeking, and what we mean, we often fail to recognize the barriers that exist and how we can recognize what matters most to ourselves and to others. Meanings are both hidden and difficult to fathom - even the meanings that are so important about ourselves and our own identities. The processes of communicating, self-learning, and self-discovery open the door to new meanings and a clearer sense of our own identities. By overcoming the barriers of self-deception and the distortion of meaning, we refine our ability to see ourselves and others more clearly. In so doing we also discover at a higher level who we are, who we can become, and what we can achieve by fulfilling our highest potential. Incorporating insights from self-actualization, identity theory, and interpersonal development, this book enables individuals to achieve a clearer understanding of themselves and others in the process of self-discovery and self-improvement in the quest to create more effective leaders, better organizations, and more satisfying lives.

This book identifies insights about the ethical issues associated with trust and trustworthiness, and their relationship to the leader's obligations as an ethical steward. The purpose of this book is to identify the importance of trust and trustworthiness in the "Transformative Era", a time when constant change and the increasing demands of customers make it paramount for organisations to obtain the commitment, followership, and extra-role behaviours required to compete in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous global marketplace. Unfortunately, leaders today have failed to earn the trust of others by creating arms-length transactional relationships that destroy employee commitment. This book frames the characteristics of the "Transformative Era" and explains how leaders can restore the trust that they have lost by honouring the steward's obligation to create long-term wealth and serve the interests of all stakeholders. In a world where 71% of all employees are actively looking for new job opportunities and only 16% of employees worldwide describe themselves as "actively engaged" in their work, the importance of reframing the employer-employee relationship demands immediate attention. This book identifies the conditions which make up today's "Transformative Era" and explains how and why leaders destroy trust in the modern organisation. It then identifies how leaders can adopt a Transformative Approach to creating organisations that are prepared to survive the turmoil of the modern economy.

The world of business education is large and profitable - with over 150,000 students enrolled in graduate business education programs alone each year. This book traces the historical roots of business education, covering seven important time periods which have each contributed key insights into business effectiveness. Despite the apparent tremendous successes suggested by the substantial growth in educating business students, a strong case could be made for the need to make important changes in the curriculum of business programs and the process by which business education is delivered. This book identifies opportunities for business faculties, administrators, deans, and department chairs to reassess their roles in delivering a better product to the students that they teach. We suggest that in today's "transformative era," business education must materially change to increase the quality of teaching for tomorrow's business students. Throughout the world business leaders have been called into account for their ineffectiveness in earning and retaining the trust of employees and customers. Unfortunately, business schools are often out of focus in their emphasis on achieving bottom line corporate profits without acknowledging the accompanying responsibility of companies to become full partners in serving society and in resolving the long-term issues for which business must become increasingly committed. The world of tomorrow desperately needs business leaders who combine character and competence as they guide their employees in the pursuit of excellence. Business education and those who provide it to those employees who will work for major corporations and small businesses can contribute substantially to the credibility of the business community and in the development of solutions that will fully serve future generations. The current path of business education can benefit mightily from a thoughtful reanalysis of today's business education model. The challenge to those who work in business education is to carefully assess how they can make the delivery of their product, its accompanying values, and its commitment to tomorrow's quality of life more meaningful and effective.

The notion of justice for all has been a noble ideal and a foundation of human relationships in enlightened society for millennia. The Greeks and Romans viewed justice as the basis for the rule of law that governed interactions and that served as the standard for determining rights and responsibilities. Today the notion of social justice permeates political dialogue and has become the justification for social unrest and discord. The focus of this book is on the personal side of justice and its importance in individual lives. Although justice is a lofty concept and is often spoken of as if its meaning is clear to all, it is nonetheless a complex and often subjective standard with conflicting meanings. Though these meanings may not be universally clear, understood, or agreed upon, as a standard of human relations justice is nonetheless deeply important and profoundly personal in its impacts. Like any metric, justice may be misused and manipulated by the self-justifying and the dishonest. However, properly understood, justice remains a noble ideal despite its complexity. Writing about justice has given us the opportunity to appreciate its significance and the nuances of its meanings. At its noblest, justice must ultimately be equated with wisdom, integrity, and love. Improperly understood, justice can impede wisdom and purpose and become an excuse for self-serving behaviour that is later regretted. Although justice is often accompanied by a set of defining rules, it is also intended to be both compassionate and fair caring for those whose rights need to be protected, as well as those best served by forgiveness and help rather than punishment. Perhaps justice is at its pinnacle when it is accompanied by mercy. Justice is far more than a mere set of rules, laws, or policies when it serves the purposes of enriching lives and benefiting those who need care and guidance. The study of justice affirms that its greatest value is in providing much more than order and consistency. We suggest that without forgiveness, mercy, and caring justice is simply insufficient. Perhaps, justice, when it enables individuals to learn from their mistakes and change their lives, actually fulfils its highest potential. We invite readers to read and reflect on the importance of justice and its importance in their own lives. In this volume we provide guidelines, insights, and recommendations to assist others to more fully incorporate those principles and ideals of justice as they seek to become the best version of themselves.

As leaders and organizations struggle to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage, the challenges that they face inevitably are dependent upon the people with whom they work and assisting those people to become their absolute best. Creating interpersonal relationships and an organizational culture that empowers employees require that leaders model the values that they proclaim to others and that they create organizational systems that support those same values.Enlightened leaders recognize that their primary responsibility is to support those whom they lead and serve. An organizations goals must be focused on creating long-term value for customers. Competing in the modern global environment demands that employees throughout the organization are committed to excellence and are given the resources and opportunity to become their absolute best. Excellence can only be achieved when individuals and organizations go the extra mile as well as when employees are treated as owners and partners in the quest for constant improvement.This book identifies the importance of humility as it contributes to enlightened leadership. Leaders with humility understand who they are, care deeply about others, and are committed to constant learning and improvement. In the pages that follow, the authors identify the contribution that humility makes to enlightened leadership and describe how humility supports key factors essential to successful organizations. Leaders can achieve great things when they discover their highest potential, when they assist others to become their best, and when they constantly seek to improve. Humility unlocks the potential in leaders and in the employees that they serve.

The challenge facing leaders in the 21st century is to restore stakeholder trust, build employee commitment, and create organizations that are able to sustain long-term competitive advantage. Great leadership combines both character and competence, but corporate values must include excellence and quality as well as integrity and honesty. Creating organizational systems that reinforce and support core values and that achieve outstanding performance must be founded upon principles that work on the street, in the office, and on the shop floor. Ethical leadership that honors a commitment to world class standards is a mandatory requirement for today's incredibly competitive global business environment, but ethical leadership encompasses far more than avoiding polluting the environment or misrepresenting product features to customers. This book clarifies the duties and obligations that leaders owe to their many stakeholders as they seek to create long-term wealth, but it also provides insights about how to build the organizational culture and systems required to sustain highly ethical organizations that inspire commitment and compete successfully.

The Refractive Thinker(r) celebrates the accomplishments of the doctoral scholars contained within the pages of their award winning Volume IV: Ethics, Leadership, and Globalization. The intent is to provide a forum for these authors to share their thoughts and expertise as they contribute to our expanse of knowledge in pursuits of the tenets of and philosophies of higher learning. The title of this series, The Refractive Thinker(r) was chosen intentionally to describe a new way of thinking. As a society, we often find ourselves between the dichotomies of either thinking within the box (thinking) or outside of the box (critical thinking). The Refractive Thinker(r) introduces the concept of refractive thinking - thinking beyond the box, perhaps even building a new box entirely. As a result, this series highlights the ability of these doctoral scholars to bend thought, to converge its very essence on the ability to obliquely pass through the perspective of another. The goal is to ask and ponder the right questions; to dare to think differently, to find new applications within unique and cutting edge dimensions, ultimately to lead where others may follow or to risk forging perhaps a new path entirely. The goal of this series is to provide additional guidance one might need as a citizen of the world. For Volume IV, these scholars and authors provide readers with new lenses with which to explore ambiguity and to navigate turbulent waters offering new paths to success. Topics will include ethics, leadership, and various global concerns currently affecting the business landscape. Discover additional answers to consider and the many pearls of wisdom offered within these pages. The Refractive Thinker(r) Press presents this collection of the works of thirteen scholarly authors affiliated with various institutions of higher learning to include topics such as: Ethics in Educational Leadership (Dr. Neysa T. Sensenig); Have We Tipped: Are We Ready to Demand Ethical Behavior From Our Leaders? (Dr. Sheila Embry); Physician Cultural Attitudes Towards Hospice Services (Dr. Karleen Yapp); Behavioral Integrity: The Precursor to Ethical Leadership (Dr. Cynthia Ann Roundy); How Understanding Impacts Ethics and Privacy (Dr. Tim Brueggemann); The Power of the River of Character in Organizations (Dr. Ramon Benedetto); The Impact That Ethics and Values Have on Leader-Follower Relationships (Dr. Susan K. Fan); Exploring the Transactional and Transformational Leadership Characteristics of Social Networking Communications ((Dr. Gail Ferreira); Globalization of Body Language (Dr. Judy Fisher-Blando) (Dr. T.G. Robinson) (Dr. Cheryl A. Lentz); Maximizing Debt Collection Performance Through Organizational Design Changes (Dr. Kaja Kroll); and Systems Theory: Changing the Hegemonic Impact on Leadership Advancement for Women (Dr. Beverley Carter). The Foreword is written by Cam Caldwell PhD with the conclusion written by Dr. Thomas M. Woodru

The 21st century has seen leaders of all types failing in their efforts to earn the respect, trust, and confidence of their employees, customers, and society. This unique book explains how and why leaders fail to earn the trust of others and why ethics, integrity, and moral behaviour are so critically important for leaders of today and tomorrow. More importantly, it also provides a perspective for helping leaders to understand how they can earn the trust, followership, commitment, and extra-role behaviour so critical for success in today's globally competitive work world.