By Linda Fisher Thornton Each year I curate a list of sites that write about trends that will change how we do business in the coming year. This year’s list includes some ongoing trends from last year and some fresh ideas and new directions. Take a look at the 60+ trends at the links below and start getting ready for what’s ahead!
Tag: leadership development
Seeing Past Our Point of View
By Linda Fisher Thornton Have you noticed the steady increase in the complexity of navigating our daily lives? It feels like we have too many choices, too much information, and not enough time. More information and more choices would be great if we had the time to research and decide, but the reality is that it's difficult and time consuming to sort out which information is reliable and which is not. Seeing and appreciating other ways of doing things is not just a nice-to-have ability. In a connected global society, it's an essential skill. To achieve mutual benefit and collaboration, we will need to see the world from other perspectives that differ from our own, respect those perspectives, and work together toward shared goals. Leaders who don't know how and don't make the effort to change can be thought of as intentionally "unseeing" important aspects of the context and their leadership responsibility.
Leadership, Blurred Lines and Sliding Scales
By Linda Fisher Thornton Leadership has entered a new realm, leaving the space of knowns and certainties (which was an illusion anyway) and entering the space of deep uncertainty, blurred lines and sliding scales. What it takes to succeed as a leader in this new realm is completely different from the leadership of ages past.
What Leadership Legacy Will You Leave?
By Linda Fisher Thornton What kind of leadership legacy will you leave? It's a powerful question that we don't often stop to think about. Here are some questions to reflect on to assess your legacy, as it stands now, and determine whether that's the "message in a bottle" that you want to leave for future generations.
Ethics is Actionable
Some people think about ethics as a theoretical concept that lives in procedures and regulations, but they're missing the point. Ethics is not just an esoteric concept. It's an actionable responsibility.
Leadership: Evaluating Ethical Awareness
By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethical awareness may have been considered private in the past, but it has become easier to observe in a society that is always socially connected. Since ethical reputation is a defining element in individual and organizational success, it is time that we consider ethical awareness as a key element of experience when selecting leaders for our businesses, community organizations, governments, and nations.
Here's What Isn't Cancelled
I have become aware (and I imagine you may have too) that trying to maintain a sense of normalcy isn't possible right now. I realized today (as I read yet another event cancellation) that I would be better off focusing on all the things that are NOT cancelled.
Ignoring Toxic Leadership is Not Worth the Tradeoffs
Toxic behavior is a problem in organizations across industries and it's often ignored because leaders fear the consequences of having performance conversations. Organizations that delay dealing with toxic behavior find that it spreads and erodes the integrity of an ethical culture.
Top 10 Posts 2019: Leading in Context Blog
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Of the 52 individual posts published on the Leading in Context Blog in 2019, these 10 were the most popular. See if you notice a theme that connects these new topics that readers accessed most frequently:
The End of Ethical Compartmentalization
By Linda Fisher Thornton
That Was Then
What people did in their spare time used to be private, allowing them to assume varying personas in their different roles. Someone could be buttoned up and ethical at work, but make really bad decisions elsewhere. People could choose to think about their lives as made up of separate roles that had separate rules.
Rights, Responsibilities and Freedom
By Linda Fisher Thornton
While some people think of rights, responsibilities and freedom separately, in a compartmentalized way, I believe they cannot be separated. According to John Courtney Murray, freedom was always intended to be grounded in ethical values.
The Gut-Brain Axis (Ethical Questions)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
I am a long-time advocate of systems thinking. It has risen in importance as an increasing number of our greatest human challenges can't we understood or resolved without it.
Today, I'm taking a look at new findings on the human microbiome, which is known to impact the brain in important ways. You may have already seen the recent news about advances in our understanding of the Gut-Brain Axis.
The Complexity of Ethical Thinking and Decision Making (Part 6)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This series has explored 5 important spheres of Ethical Thinking and Decision Making.
This week I'm summing it up in a checklist that will help you apply all 5 to your daily choices. When you are making a key decision, run it through the checklist to be sure you have considered all 5 important dimensions.
The Complexity of Ethical Thinking and Decision Making (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
In Part 1 of this series I looked at the importance of Deep Thinking. In Part 2, we'll be considering the Context. No matter how much effort it takes to understand the context (whether we like it or not) we can't expect to make an ethical decision without it.
Understanding the Context
Without seeing the context - a broad and sweeping view of the issues we are discussing or trying to resolve - we are describing or trying to solve a SUBSET of the real issue. To use ethical thinking and decision-making, we must always remind ourselves that the SUBSET is not the whole.
5 Things I Learned From a 6th Grade Bully
By Linda Fisher Thornton
October is Bullying Prevention Month. Most of the people I know were bullied at some point in their lives. As I look back on dealing with a 6th grade bully, I realize that I learned some things from that difficult time. Today I share that story along with resources for preventing bullying.
Leading in Context 