Written by The principles of ethical leadership include honesty, justice, respect, community and integrity, these are of foremost importance in any environment and are perhaps even more important than having knowledge of the sport in which an individual is leader.
The ability to navigate complex situations and be guided by well-honed perceptions of ethical responsibility is paramount and should be a crucial step in creating the most value for society in sports or otherwise.
Having said that, why is impropriety in dealing with athletes, particularly young ones, still so prevalent an issue. Recent news of the alleged doping of teenaged Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva has again called into question the state of good judgement and healthy perspectives of ethical responsibility in coaching and in sport in general. Although the young athlete has vehemently defended and praised her team and her coaches, one must wonder how a 15-year-old athlete at elite level could possibly have mistakenly had her grandfather’s heart medication in her system, particularly as she has been under the care and administration of coaches and medical personnel at Olympic level.
This incident, whether accidental or not, has caused some pretty big ripples. Not only has the medal presentation been held-up, Russian and world anti-doping authorities are investigating coaches, including Eteri Tutberidze, and medical professionals associated with Valieva as well. Also arising from this event, officials are preparing to vote on raising the age of competitors from 15 to at least 17.
Valieva herself, although visibly upset by the incident, is not expected to receive a severe penalty as athletes under the age of 16 have a ‘protected’ status under anti-doping rules. But this is in itself incongruous given that the incident has occurred in the first place. Regardless of legal or even actual culpability, the adults around this minor had an ethical responsibility to ‘protect’ her from the disgrace and scrutiny she has suffered not to mention the fact that her health could have been severely compromised by taking medication meant for a much older person with a heart condition.
What constitutes ethical responsibility and moral action? Philosophers have often theorized about the correct way to approach ethical dilemmas and it is believed that environmental and psychological influences will drive our own interpretation of what is a violation. A situation identified as motivated blindness occurs when we behave unethically for the benefit of our own interests, but the perception that we are justified in our actions because we think we are contributing to a greater organizational good, can lead us to make excuses for poor decision-making.
This is clearly a huge issue in sports coaching