Leaders make critical decisions every day between right, wrong, and the lesser of two evils. These decisions can affect the person making the decision, his or her employees, and the organization's goals. There are many readings describing ethics and leadership, but ethical leadership is fundamentally knowing your inner values ​​and having the courage to live firmly by them for the purpose of the common good. Southwestern College's Master of Science in Leadership program has given me a solid understanding of how important ethical reasoning is and how it affects, for better or worse, an organization. My first artifact, LEAD505 Leadership and Ethics Assignment, explains that there is a strong relationship between good leadership and ethics. Because many organizational leadership decisions are inherently difficult to make, it is impossible to have effective leaders without ethical support. As noted by Ciulla (2004), there have been examples in recent years where corporate leadership has had a variety of ethical shortcomings, from Enron to WorldCom. My opportunity to learn the lessons of these ethical failures has allowed me to witness how devastating the effect they have on an organization. While I will always try to lean on my core values ​​to guide me towards the best possible decision, I know there will be times when I will be forced to choose between two unfavorable choices. In carrying out my duties I am certain that I will be forced to choose between alternatives that are both in some way unfavorable, which is called an ethical dilemma (Ferrerll et al., 2008). When this happens, I know that I must first identify what the ethical dilemma actually is before I can proceed to a valid decision. Once I have a firm interpretation of what… middle of the paper… outcomes at all costs, they may be at greater risk of making questionable ethical decisions. Major differences in ethical leadership between various leaders may contribute to the respective leader's inner values ​​and courage to live them for the purpose of the common good. Furthermore, there may be times when there is no clear right answer; this is why ethical values ​​are fundamental for leaders. Finally, when inappropriate ethical values ​​are not upheld by leaders, this can spread to their employees and ultimately lead to devastating outcomes such as the Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies. Works Cited Ciulla, Joanne B. (2004). Ethics, the heart of leadership. Westport, CT: Praeger PublishersFerrell, O, Fraedrich, J., Ferrell, L. (2004). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston, MA.