Ethical Leadership and Organizational Culture in the Army
This paper examines the role of ethical leadership and organizational culture in the United States Army, drawing on both scholarly research and personal experience. It argues that servant leadership and spiritual leadership theory offer a compelling framework for cultivating motivation, unit cohesion, and accountability among soldiers. The paper addresses pressing challenges in Army leadership development — particularly the transition from subordinate to non-commissioned officer — and emphasizes the value of organizational citizenship behaviors in facilitating career transitions. By integrating ethical values into every level of the organization, Army leaders can foster high-performing teams and uphold their obligation to the American public.
- Introduction: Leadership and Organizational Culture in the Army: Overview of ethical climate and leadership standards
- Servant Leadership and Spiritual Leadership Theory: Servant leadership framework applied to Army culture
- Communication, Ethics, and Training Performance: How open communication shapes ethical training outcomes
- Motivation, Empowerment, and Transformational Leadership: Spiritual leadership's impact on cadet motivation
- Organizational Citizenship and Career Transition: Citizenship behaviors supporting military-to-civilian transition
- Leadership Development Challenges and Solutions: Gaps in NCO transition and development programs
- Conclusion: Building a Transformative Army Culture: Call for systematic ethical leadership transformation
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What makes this paper effective
- Integrates personal experience with peer-reviewed research, grounding abstract leadership theory in concrete military context.
- Maintains a consistent argumentative thread — that ethical, servant-centered leadership produces measurable organizational outcomes — across all sections.
- Uses specific examples (training camp performance, NCO transition challenges) to illustrate broader claims about Army culture, making the argument accessible and credible.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses the scholarly source Fry, Vitucci & Cedillo (2005) as a theoretical anchor, returning to it across multiple sections to tie personal narrative back to a formal framework. This technique — sometimes called a "spine citation" — shows readers how a single authoritative source can structure an entire argument when used consistently and purposefully rather than decoratively.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad claim about Army culture and ethical standards, then narrows to servant leadership theory before illustrating the theory through personal training experience. Middle sections cover motivation, empowerment, ethical culture, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The paper closes by identifying the leadership development gap in NCO transitions and issuing a forward-looking call for systematic change. Each section builds logically on the last, moving from theory to evidence to prescription.
Introduction: Leadership and Organizational Culture in the Army
The Army must continually evolve its organizational culture to reach and exceed the high standards the organization sets for itself, and to fulfill its obligation to the nation as a whole. Soldiers in the Army should always be held accountable for their behaviors and contributions to the organization, but leadership and organizational culture are ultimately what sets the tone and establishes standards of officer comportment. Therefore, it is always important to recognize the role that leadership plays in cultivating the type of ethical climate conducive to effective military action.
The most pressing issues in Army leadership and management include the establishment of an organizational climate that is solution-focused and built on a solid ethical footing. More specific issues at stake in Army leadership relate to the ways current managers cultivate the talents and skills of their subordinates — recognizing high achievers or those with high potential and promoting leadership development within the Army. Leadership development is not always presented or promoted effectively within the Army, which impedes the ability of the organization to fulfill its goals. Personal experiences with both effective and ineffective leadership development and transition planning lend further insight into how the military may improve its organizational culture and human resources practices, ensuring the ongoing recruitment and retention of top performers.
Servant Leadership and Spiritual Leadership Theory
Personal experiences also shed light on the importance of ethical leadership, particularly in hierarchical organizations like the Army. Training under a senior officer who worked within the servant leadership framework provided a firsthand understanding of its value. The servant leadership framework, which is typically contextualized under the rubric of spiritual leadership theory, resituates the role of the leader vis-à-vis the organization (Fry, Vitucci & Cedillo, 2005). Increasingly taking root within the ranks of Army leaders, servant leadership and spiritual leadership theory promote a value-based ethical commitment that encompasses everything from soldier motivation to engagement and productivity (Fry, Vitucci & Cedillo, 2005).
Although the terminology used in servant leadership literature and theory sometimes appears to conflict with the tenor of the organization, the impetus for change is clear. The Army has faced and continues to face ethical challenges, many of which have adversely impacted its functionality and damaged its reputation and credibility (Allen, 2015). To remedy this problem, a cohort of dedicated military leaders has embarked on a mission to alter their managerial tactics, particularly in the area of human resources development. Experiences in training with a servant leader demonstrate the efficacy of the spiritual leadership theory model.
Communication, Ethics, and Training Performance
Spiritual leadership interjects ethical values into the organizational culture. Specifically, the servant leadership approach empowers individual subordinates to take personal responsibility for their actions through the creation of a climate of trust and open communication. As Bradshaw (2018) points out, communication is "key to successful interaction between leaders and their subordinates" (p. 1). Not only is communication key to the establishment of strong interpersonal relationships in the Army; it also fosters productivity and leadership development by enhancing the flow of information between parties.
For example, the leader encountered during training encouraged all members of the training team to report instances of toxic behaviors — such as the harassment of women or any signs of even subtle discrimination — that would erode unit cohesion. The Army typically invokes platitudes related to character building in official statements on leadership development, but too often managers fail to embody the principles of character virtue. That training camp leader took the steps necessary to dramatically change the organizational culture by remaining fully committed to ethical principles and character building. As a result, the team achieved one of the highest collective scores and performance records of any other training team.
Conclusion: Building a Transformative Army Culture
Personal experiences with strong leaders have also inspired a commitment to becoming a transformative leader in the Army. The importance of ethical behavior and high standards has been communicated directly by senior officers as well as like-minded colleagues. Together, committed soldiers can transform the organizational culture and eliminate the unfortunate elements that create a toxic environment or enable unethical decisions.
Leaders in the military face a pressing need to set the standards for ethical comportment in the Army. Serving as ideal role models for subordinates, leaders can exhibit ethical behavior in several ways — by promoting transparency and open communication, for example. Empowering subordinates to make decisions and contribute to the organization allows leaders to cultivate the organizational climate conducive to effective and productive teams. Servant leaders remain focused on the future of the organization, applying spiritual principles to all managerial decisions and uprooting unethical behaviors systematically. The future of the Army requires a comprehensive strategy to develop soldiers, preparing them for the contingencies of their future careers in either the military or the civilian sector.
References
Allen, C. D. (2015). Ethics and army leadership. Parameters, 45(1), 69–83.
Bradshaw, C. (2018). NCOs confront leadership challenges. NCO Journal. 20 March 2018. https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2018/March/Leadership-Challenges/
Fry, L. W., Vitucci, S., & Cedillo, M. (2005). Spiritual leadership and army transformation: Theory, measurement, and establishing a baseline. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(5), 835–862.
Rose, K., Herd, A., & Palacio, S. (2016). Organizational citizenship behavior. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 19(1), 14–24.
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