The New Social and Ethical Leader: The Fusion of Social Technology, Social Responsibility,Transformational Leadership and Professional Sports Public Figures

The New Social and Ethical Leader: The Fusion of Social Technology, Social Responsibility, Transformational Leadership and Professional Sports Public Figures Importance and Key Contribution The global marketplace is a sports... [ view full abstract ]

The New Social and Ethical Leader: The Fusion of Social Technology, Social Responsibility, Transformational Leadership and Professional Sports Public Figures

Importance and Key Contribution
The global marketplace is a sports crazed culture. We love our sports and idolize our professional sports figures. The Professional Sports Industry is big business and has a tremendous impact on our global culture. High net-worth professional sports figures are mini-corporations in comparison to their value. Not only are they public figures, they are leaders of their own corporations. Professional sports figures are often faced with morally challenging dilemmas. There is a call for ethical leaders among professional sports public figures.

Sports management professionals see corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a strategic imperative for their business. CSR has only recently received attention in the professional sports industry.

“Ethical leaders succeed through nurturing the leadership abilities of others through effective communication espousing core values and a reward system requiring ethical conduct. Core values inextricably associated with and modeled by ethical leaders will permeate throughout organizations to build and reinforce values-based cultures. Athletic directors and other athletic administrators as ethical leaders need to commit to nurturing values based cultures that shape and develop the character of athletes and colleagues they influence.” (Lumpkin, 2014)

“Professionals of all stripes function in a society defined by creating relativism, increasingly complex ethical quandaries, and a public that is weary of the unscrupulous and sometimes shocking behavior of people in positions of power. When professionals fail to abide by bedrock ethical principles and fundamental moral virtues, the quality of their performance goes down, claims of malpractice soar, cynicism and defensiveness become commonplace, and the cost of doing business goes up. Ethical challenges are notorious for stimulating powerful emotions such as anxiety, anger, and unnerving confusion. They also can lead to counterproductive behaviors such as denial, avoidance, and rationalization. And far too often, otherwise upstanding professionals worsen ethical transgressions by lying or blaming others for their own missteps. In this unsavory environment everyone pays a price.(Lumpkin, 2014)

Theoretical Base
“Modern Western ethics has been preoccupied with moral processes, especially the relationship between the individual, collectivities (including families, states, business enterprises, religions and other socio-cultural organizations) and society as a whole.”(Bass, 1999)

“The morality or processes reflect the legitimacy of both influence processes on the part of leaders and empowerment processes on the part of followers as they engage in dynamic self-transformation. “(Bass, 1999)

“Transformational leadership contains four components: charisma or idealized influence (attributed or behavioral), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Followers identify with the charismatic leaders’ aspirations and want to emulate the leaders.” (Bass, 1999)

“The ethics of leadership rests upon three pillars: 1) moral character of the leader, 2) ethical legitimacy of the values embedded in the leaders vision, articulation, and program which followers either embrace or reject and 3) the morality of the processes of social ethical choice and action that leaders and followers engage in and collectively pursue.” (Bass, 1999)

“Professional Sports Industry has a number of unique factors that may positively affect the nature and scope of CSR efforts including: Mass media distribution and communication power”, “social interaction and sustainability awareness”. (Sheth, 2010)

Research Questions
How do the transformational leadership components and the ethics of leadership influence social responsibility in professional sports public figures? How has the professional sports public figures’ commitment to social responsibility been impacted by social technology? What is the impact of social technology in developing the moral processes and legitimacy of the new Social Ethical Leader?

Implications
Digital Technology will continue to change how leadership is practiced and there is still plenty to learn about the influence of digital technology on leadership. Digitally connected environments will challenge our ideas about the nature and scope of ethical leadership as it impacts business efficacy, stakeholders, social business and sustainability.

On-line channels create extensive opportunities. On-line sports media thrive because of incessant demand. Avid fans are addicted to sports news and stats. The U.S. major professional sports leagues are media companies in addition to sports companies. All stakeholders are keenly aware of overall media power of professional sports public figures

The focus should be on leadership thinking, mobilizing followers and assessing the strengths of stakeholders. Leaders must be familiar with emerging digital technologies and how these technologies can facilitate leadership behavior.

With the use of digital technology, leadership roles are also likely to be re-defined and re-invented and roles may be less predictable and traditional, redefining the scope of leadership and centering on leadership as processes of influence and interaction generation.

New approaches are needed by professional sports public figures to uniquely engage external audiences. The goal of social responsibility is to build a stronger relationship with the external world. While the public trust has declined in traditional external engagement, the public has high expectations of professional sports public figures.

Leaders are change agents and therefore should drive cultural change. The rapid digitization of business has been a transformative force in the U.S. economy over the last ten years. Let’s face it, digital technology has had unparalleled interruption (and advancement) in all of our lives and it is not going away.

As a professional sports public leader, the path to becoming a new social and ethical leader will be grounded in transformational leadership and social responsibility, along with engaging externally through social technology.

References
Bass, Bernard M.; Steidlmeier, P. “Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior.”The Leadership Quarterly, Vol 10(2), 1999, 181-217.

Li, C. (2015). The engaged leader: A strategy for your digital transformation. Philadelphia, PA: Wharton Digital .

Lumpkin, A. and Doty, J. (2014). “Ethical Leadership in Intercollegiate Athletics”, The Journal of Values-Based Leadership. Vol.7: Iss.2, Article 6.

Shelth, H. and Babiak, K. (2010). “Beyond the Game: Perceptions and Practices of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Professional Sport Industry”. The Journal of Business Ethics. Vol.91: 433-450.

Sisodia, R., Wolfe, D. B., & Sheth, J. N. (2007). Firms of endearment: How world-class companies profit from passion and purpose. Upper Saddle River: Wharton School Pub.

Social Leaders Social Responsibility Professional Sports Transformational Leader Ethical Leader Social Technology Digital Leader Digital Media Social Media Corporate Social Responsibility [ view full abstract ]

Social Leaders
Social Responsibility
Professional Sports
Transformational Leader
Ethical Leader
Social Technology
Digital Leader
Digital Media
Social Media
Corporate Social Responsibility