What role does a leader provide in an organization? That’s the question that project manager Helen McCullough, MSOLE ’05, was seeking to answer when she enrolled in the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and Ethics at St. Edward’s in 2003. Even though she had more than 20 years of professional experience and an MBA from DePaul University, she knew she needed to learn more about leadership to take her management skills to the next level. 

Leaders Bring People Together

As Helen got into her MSOLE classes, she learned about the human experience in leadership. Not only do leaders set down values for a team or organization, but they are often responsible for reacting to the inevitable changes that accompany projects. Choosing the correct path is not always an easy task — especially if both choices appear to be right.

In 2006, Helen and classmate Kirsten Niedzwecki, MSOLE, ’05, traveled to the 19th Annual European Business Ethics Network Conference in Vienna, Austria, to present research they had completed for their final project, or Capstone. Their presentation, “Deciding What Ought to be Done: Leading Teams through Espoused Values,” examined how to make informed, values-based decisions
on projects.

Bringing Ethics to the People

In the wake of recent business scandals over the past few years, Helen has found that more and more people are demanding businesses to be more ethical.

“Business ethics just aren’t negotiable,” she says. “They need to be present in every company.”