Unleash the Positive Power of Ethical Leadership
By Linda Fisher Thornton
The definition of “good leadership” is changing over time as people become more aware of the long term impact of poor leadership decisions. Other factors that change our current understanding of leadership include increasing ethical awareness and stronger physical evidence of the impact we are having on the planet. Watch this video for a quick overview of this evolution and why more is expected of leaders now.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
After teaching for more than 20 years, I was surprised last week by the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies with the Itkowitz Family Distinguished Faculty Award. This is especially meaningful recognition for me, since I had ‘learned through’ the process of completely redesigning my Applied Ethics course as an online course and changing my teaching approach during the pandemic. This course redesign was an arduous process, and one that stretched me to become a better professor and a better person.
Senior leaders set the tone for the organization’s ethics, but the senior leadership responsibility for values leadership includes much more than that. Today, I’ll look at the senior leader responsibility for sharing clear expectations, and explore more important roles that go well beyond setting the bar for expected behavior.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
What ever happened to command-and-control (transactional) leadership and what has taken its place? How is our understanding of the purpose of leadership changing? Where is it headed?
In this video, I explain our evolving understanding of the purpose of leadership, and provide a context that explains why more is expected of leaders now.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
There were 52 Leading in Context blog posts published in 2014, and the ones isted below are the 10 that were most popular with readers. They are focused on learning proactive ethical leadership and building a high-trust culture. If I had to describe the theme of these posts it might be “learning how to keep up with changes in ethical leadership expectations.”
As you review these reader favorites, think about how you will adapt to changing ethical leadership expectations in 2015.
Ethics Codes are Recommended
You don’t have to be a big business to stray (intentionally or unintentiaonally) into unethical business behavior. That’s why ethics codes are recommended for any size business these days.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
I previously wrote about the problem of selective respect and today I’ll address it’s evil twin. It has been happening right in front of us and has been amplified by social media – leaders speaking from a perspective of selective inclusion. This week, I’m sharing a collection of posts that explain the importance of full inclusion and how to recognize examples that stray from it.
By Linda Fisher
Ethical leadership failures can be caused by different types of problems that may compound. Some of these problems are individual and others may be embedded in the organizational culture. In 7 Lenses, I describe the kind of proactive ethical leadership that builds ethical cultures. The book is a road map for how to lead ethically in a complex world. While 7 Lenses is written from a positive perspective to help leaders avoid ethical problems and create ethical cultures, I often get asked “What causes ethical failures? What goes wrong?”
By Linda Fisher Thornton
We will build a better world. When we think of the term “stakeholder” in its broadest interpretation, and lead with care, our proactive ethical leadership generates ripples of trust. We make a difference. When we seek a simultaneous win for many stakeholders, we: Create a better future for the organization, it’s customers and employees. Support healthy communities. Make a difference in the world.
We must take responsibility. The world is changing. There is a powerful responsibility movement going on. We know more about what leaders should be doing, and we know more about what responsible leadership looks like. People need to be able to count on us to take responsibility. Everyone is counting on us to take responsibility. Taking responsibility for using ethical thinking and behavior will not only change everything we do, it will earn the respect of others, and change how we feel about ourselves.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
make positive ethical choices and honor multiple dimensions of ethical responsibility.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
A theme I have noticed in the past in the most viewed posts on this blog is Looking For a Better Kind of Leadership. It’s a great time to explore the question “What is Good Leadership?
While it’s tempting to over simplify leadership and think about it as any one thing, good leadership can only be fully understood by thinking about it in multiple ways. Here is a starter list of 16 defining characteristics of good leadership:
By Linda Fisher Thornton
The “Keep it Simple” approach is good for many situations, but keeping it simple will set you up for failure in ethics. Using an oversimplified approach to solving a complex ethical problem just means you leave out variables you should be considering.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
The first post in this series, “The Missing Domain: Ethical Thinking” explored WHY leaders need to fill the gap and help people develop ethical thinking. This post will begin to unravel HOW to do that.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This post will explore the interesting relationship between leadership mindset and competency. Which is most important? What happens to our leadership capability when our mindset is out of date?
How we think about something impacts what we do about it. Nick Petrie, Center For Creative Leadership, writes in Vertical Leadership Development Part I that “In terms of leadership, the stage from which you are thinking and acting matters a lot. To be effective, the leader’s thinking must be equal or superior to the complexity of the environment.”
Leading in Context 