Date
9-17-2026
Department
Graduate School of Business
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (PhD)
Chair
Arnetra Arrington
Keywords
Character development, emotional intelligence, moral intelligence, and spiritual intelligence, ethical leadership, spiritual abuse, transformation, narcissism, unethical leadership
Disciplines
Business
Recommended Citation
Griffen, Tina J., "When Organizations Transform: A Call to Ethical Leadership by Connecting the Dots Between Character Development and Emotional Intelligence" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8895.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8895
Abstract
What could sheer unethical behavior and slay consciousness –the need to prove authority? Studies show that over 50% of global organizations experience at least 6 instances of fraud annually, and that about 60 million witnesses in the United States are bystanders to some form of unethical behavior, raising questions about premeditated scams and calculated immoral acts, as well as the normalization of harassment against victims. Striking results show that 98% of followers face workplace incivility, 50% experience it weekly, and it costs organizations $691.70 billion to $1.97 trillion annually. Blurred ethical boundaries, moral blindness, low emotional intelligence, injustice, spiritual naïveté, and weedy guardrails foster an unethical culture and raise unethical leadership rooted in narcissism and a grandiose self-image, a stronghold supporting intentional harm and promoting immorality. Starting with an urgent review of ethical leadership and emotional intelligence, this study examines character and value system formation and analyses consequences when they are missing, culminating in strategies to reverse unethical behavior, unlearn poor emotional intelligence, and strengthen a weak value system by forming transformative ethical business practices and six themes drawn from an exhaustive study of 29 top leaders and executives in FINTECH. Female leadership continues to suffer marginalization. In the church, this bias can go far beyond name-calling – where the corrupt conduct of church leaders can be revered by religious entitlement and justified by erroneous doctrine – roofed by pride rather than remorse through self-evaluation. Seminaries and churches do not transform lives; spirit-led self-examination does – particularly crucial for individuals who lust for money, power, sex, and titles, lack the Shepherds’ heart, consciousness, and the fear of the Lord: wisdom.
