Leadership ethics and accommodating Muslim employees after 9/11

Globalization and Cultural Conflict

The authors (Gardner, et al., 2008, Author House, 82-83) explain that several IT and business professionals have been hired to transfer a business from an existing system to a completely automated system. This project was launched prior to the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. The key question comes down to a leadership scenario: What leadership approach should be taken when two out of a dozen talented contractors that have been hired happen to be Islamic, and those two individuals ask for an hour off every Friday for religious purposes? This paper delves into that subject using narrative from the available literature, and from two books: Corporate Leadership Selection: Impact on American Business, Employees, and Society; and Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for Cross-Cultural Business Success.

Gardner, et al., on Leadership

As an introduction to what Reginald J. Gardner writes about leadership in myriad business situations, on page 71-72 he explains that when the top leadership in a company behave ethically and with integrity, those leaders become de facto role models. Gardner claims that when leadership does show those traits, the corporation "will follow and emulate the behavior and attitudes…" (Gardner, 2008, Author House, 71). The way in which underlings become practitioners of the ethical leader is through communication of values that are shared company-wide, Gardner continues. Moreover, it doesn't happen through magic or through osmosis; in fact the top leadership must be willing to have discussions with employees about these values. Also, the leadership must train HR managers to make sure new hires are aware that there are expectations that they will in fact adhere to the integrity and ethics the executives in the company practice.

This concept is referred to as "The Trickle Down Effect," and it means exactly what it appears to mean, that when the highest levels of management behave ethically, the other tiers in the organization (including those on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder) will behave in similar ways (Gardner, 2008, Author House, 72). According to Gardner, there is a "positive correlation" between leaders who adhere to a high set of ethical standards, and "positive business results" (Gardner, 2008, Author House, 72).

The question of Muslims' prayer request post 9-11

Would team members have gone along with the decision to allow the two Muslim contractors to take time off on Fridays for their religious activities -- after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001? That is a worthy question because there was a great deal of hate and loathing -- and vicious stereotyping towards Muslims in the United States well before the terrorist attacks in 2001. In the Arab Studies Quarterly the author explains that there have been a "series of government laws and policies since the 1970's" that targeted Muslims and Arabs for "selective interrogation, detention, harassment, presumption of terrorist involvement," which resulted in deportation from the United States (Akram, 2002, 61). The author credits the media and Hollywood filmmakers for their "mythmaking" -- that Arabs in general and Muslims in particular are unwelcome in America -- and the media and filmmakers have advanced the stereotype of Arabs as "demonic terrorists and religious fanatics" (Akram, 2002, 62).

In the California Law Review, the author explains that the term "islamophobia" (defined as an "unfounded hostility towards Islam… [and therefore] fear or dislike of all or most Muslims") came about in 1997. It reflects the impact of negative stereotypes, including that: a) Islam is a "single monolithic bloc"; b) Islam has no values in common with any other culture; c) Islam is "inferior to the West -- barbaric, irrational, primitive, sexist"; d) Islam is violent and supports terrorism; e) Islam is a "political ideology"; and f) "Anti-Muslim hostility is accepted as natural and 'normal'" (Ali, 2012, 1034).

Meanwhile, the above perspective having been presented, the cultural fallout from the terrorist attacks in 2001 continues in powerful ways in 2014, thirteen years after that fateful day when thousands of people were killed and billions in damage was done in New York and in Washington, D.C. That is, there continues to be bias in the United States against individuals of the Islamic faith, notwithstanding the fact that the al Qaeda terrorists were not truly representing the Islamic faith. They were out to kill Americans in whatever way they could accomplish that ugly goal. They were nothing more than violent extremists who invented their justifying ideology for carnage based on selected passages in the Quran.

It seems reasonable to assume that notwithstanding the fear of terrorism and of Muslims per se, the leader of a group of highly skilled digital technicians should be alert enough to know that the terrorists are but a miniscule population within the community of Islam. He should be level-headed and aware through his knowledge of current events that the vast majority of Muslims who practice their faith reject violence against others. This majority of Muslims do not support using suicide bombers, or killing Westerners just because they come from America or England. In fact extremists who use the Islamic faith as justification for their bloody acts are not supported by the average person practicing the Muslim faith.

The Pew Research poll taken in September, 2013, more than two years after the death of Osama bin Laden, reflects that large percentages of Muslims reject extremism. For example, 67% of Muslims (in 11 Muslim countries) are "concerned about extremism" (Pew, 2013, p. 1). In most of the Muslim countries surveyed, "clear majorities…oppose violence in the name of Islam," including 89% of Muslims in Pakistan, 81% of Muslims in Indonesia, and 78% of Muslims in Nigeria (Pew, 2013, p. 1). And at least "six-in-ten Muslims in Lebanon, Tunisia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt" are "concerned about Islamic extremism" (Pew, 2013, p. 2).

That having been explained, for any professional contractor to reject a Muslim's request to have off on Fridays so he can follow his faith is a mark of illogical thinking, and reflects deep-seated social prejudice. In the United States many Muslim Americans are victims of "racial and ethnic prejudice…" based on "misinformation," according to University of Georgia professor Alan Godlas (Shearer, 2013, p. 1). Hate crimes have "skyrocketed" since 9/11, Godlas explained, and the bias against Muslims in the U.S. is "dehumanizing" that group (Shearer, 2013, p. 1).

As recently as July 20, 2014, incidents in Brooklyn, New York against mosques, illustrated the tensions that still exist. A car reportedly circled a mosque in Bay Ridge and its passengers waved Israeli flags "and yelled anti-Islamic slurs" -- and someone in a car circling a Sheepshead Bay mosque hurled eggs at "elderly worshipers" (NY1 News, 2014). The President of the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, Dr. Husam Rimawi, said that his center has enjoyed "good relationships with everybody around us…irrespective of their religion" (NY1 News, 2014, p. 2).

Conclusion

In conclusion, this paper has provided perspective on the public antipathy towards Muslims (and Islam as a religious institution) in the United States before and after the attacks of September 11. It may be idealistic to presume that a strong leader could provide the perspective needed to keep the ten contractors from making bigoted, biased statements towards the two Muslims. Certainly one hopes that the leader of this group of a dozen digital contractors has the presence of mind and the sociological background to be able to provide the rational, calming effect on the ten members of the group that are not Muslim.

Moreover, hopefully a leader would know how difficult it is for American Muslims to live under a cloud of suspicion. According to Nadia Tonova, who is executive director of the National Network for Arab-American Communities (NNAAC), "It's really at a point where it's out of control," she said (Roberts, 2014, p. 1). The senior advocacy director for the NNACC, Linda Sarsour, said that if "…you want to combat terrorism, you need to work within the Muslim community," which is a sizable portion (an estimated eight million Muslims) of the American population (Roberts, 2014, p. 1). In fact Roberts' article reports that in 2012, there were 155 "anti-Muslim hate crimes committed against Arabs and Muslims," (FBI data) (Roberts, 2014, p. 1).

Perhaps it is time for all leaders (including technology leaders) to truly become role models; to begin to try and heal the wounds from past prejudices, and realize that only a very tiny percentage of Muslims are guilty of violence. And it needs to be understood that the vast majority of Muslims are law-abiding, religious people who want to be able to practice their faith, including having the right to pray on Fridays.