On Dec 17, 1903 the Wright Brothers would achieve what others said was impossible. On this day the Wright brothers successfully executed the first human controlled flight reaching a record breaking distance, flying 852 feet for 59 seconds (2015). Wilbur Wright’s visionary leadership was demonstrated, through his inspirational motivation and team dynamics. His pursuit to be the “first in flight” would inspire innovators like him to explore the limits of early day aviation. However, he did not exhibit ethical leadership due to his drive for success and lack of critical thinking skills. His greed stalled aviation efforts by other independent workers and he failed to identify how the legal battles would affect his involvement in his …show more content…
If I was Wilbur Wright I would had brought aboard subject matter experts like Curtiss. My approach would have been to set aside my need for greed and work towards my vision. As an Ethical leader I avoid falling into ethical traps like drive for success by evaluating whether or not a situation is unethical, unmoral or illegal. I use these questions as moral compass. An example would be when both another E-7 and I were our building packages for quarterly awards. The E-7 I was competing against was going TDY and needed help with writing and finishing his package and asked me to complete his product. I was faced with an ethical dilemma, I could improve his product or leave it unfinished which would have increased my chances of winning. However, referring back to my three questions it would be unethical to ruin his chances of winning because of my drive for success. Instead I chose to work on his package so I would know the very best efforts of the individual were being recognized. I mentor my subordinates to use the three questions as a test to guide them to the right decision. As my subordinates make ethical decision it creates an environment of trust and leads to positive working environment. Another important ethical leadership trait I can relate with is critical thinking specifically depth. In my squadron operations tempo is high which can led to hasty decision. As the Operations Superintendent I must be careful about rushing into a decision due to the feeling of pressure or time. Problems can be deceiving and sometimes the simple answer looks like the right answer but there are second and third order effects one must consider. I often time use depth when subordinates confront me with a problems. Furthermore, I mentor my subordinates asking them to dig into the issues and to look deep into the problem to address the problems within the