This meeting came after working with his first mentor at the brokerage firm, who belittle demeaned him. After meeting Hanna, Belfort was given a completely different look at what it meant to be a leader. The conduct theories “focus on the behavior of individuals and the decision making process that lead up to the behavior” The conduct theories focus, in part, on “looking at the behavior or conduct of a leader” (PSU WC, L. This downfall could also be potentially attributable to the conduct theories of ethical leadership. In an instant, Belfort’s world seemingly crashed around him and his eyes were opened to the possibilities of his new world (Scorsese, 2013).
Belfort came from the suburbs with his family life and encountered Hanna, a city living, rich broker who seemingly was rewarded for being an alcoholic, drug abusing, womanizer. This may have happened when Belfort encountered Mark Hanna, played by Matthew McConaughey. It’s arguable that Belfort, at some point, regressed from an advanced stage back to stage one. Stage one, in the preconventional level, is that “bad” behavior is behavior that is unacceptable and should be punished (PSU WC, L. At each stage along the chain, the complexity of moral situations increases. There are three levels (preconventional, conventional, and postconventional) and each level has two stages. 4) theorized that the process of moral reasoning is based upon stages. One potential cause for Belfort’s downfall may have been a flaw in his moral reasoning, the process that is followed to help determine between ethical and unethical behaviors (PSU WC, L. How did this occur though? There are several potential reasons for how Belfort found himself in the position that he, arguably, seemed happy in until it was too late. All it takes though is a little push before Belfort slides down the slope into anarchy.
At the outset of the film, Jordan is a married man with a wife he loves that feels let down when his job as a broker is eliminated on the day he gains his license (Scorsese, 2013). Where once he had been a somewhat humble, family man, the money he acquired through his time on Wall Street slowly turned him into a reckless deviant. 3).Ĭlearly, if you have seen The Wolf of Wall Street, the lead character Jordan Belfort is completely devoid of any real time of ethical code. Groups though, such as religions or social classes, may share similar opinions on what is agreeable or disagreeable, forming social mentalities of what values or morals are appropriate (PSU WC, L. Ethics, then, is a largely individual experience as different people will have different interpretations about what may be acceptable or not that guide their choices. This can be broken down further into the individual values (beliefs that a specific behavior is personally and socially acceptable over opposite behaviors) and morals (the motives that lie behind behavior based upon an individual’s concept of what is right and what is wrong) (PSU WC, L. I initially had wanted to make this post a few weeks ago in relation to another lesson that we had discussed but am glad I didn’t, as this lesson on ethics is the perfect lens through which to view the film.Įthics, as defined in our lesson content, “are the kinds of values and morals an individual or society finds desirable or appropriate” (PSU WC, L. All Rights Reserved.Because so many people have looked at the role of leadership in the film The Wolf of Wall Street this semester, and I have responded to a few of those posts, I decided that I should offer my own take on The Wolf of Wall Street by discussing the film in relation to our latest lesson on Ethics and Leadership. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2019 and/or its affiliates. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.
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