Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 5)

By Linda Fisher Thornton

To celebrate 7 Lenses going into its second printing, this is the fifth post in a special series focused on Why Ethical Thinking Matters. In case you missed them, take a look at Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 1), Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 2), Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 3) and Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 4). I’m hoping the strategies shared in this series will give you a fresh perspective on your plans for developing leaders in 2018.

You may already realize that ethical thinking is important, and if you do, I ask you to spread the word. To help you champion the cause in your organizations and on social media, I have included the business case below.

If you ask a room full of leaders to define ethical thinking, you’ll get dozens of different answers. Leaders struggle with increasing complexity and accelerating change and they may think that they know how to use ethical thinking. The problem is that the ethical thinking they have been using for years isn’t helping them now. Our thinking skills don’t just upgrade themselves as if set on “automatic upgrade.” Leaders have to practice struggling through ethical issues at increasingly higher levels of complexity.

Ethical thinking doesn’t just “happen” by itself in a rapidly changing global environment – the landscape is constantly changing and ethical expectations are increasing

As ethical challenges increase, leadership thinking needs to increase accordingly for leaders to keep up. If we use outdated software to run our most critical systems, they won’t be reliable and our business credibility will break down. The same is true for outdated leadership thinking.

Ethical Awareness is Increasing

Corruption has long been approached with the implicit attitude that it is a victimless crime. This is now changing fast, as it has become impossible to ignore the links between corruption, poverty, conflict, and human rights violations.

Alison Taylor and James Cohen, The future of business ethics: Hyper-transparency and other global trends, FCPA Blog

Ethical Problems Must Be Handled Fast, In Real Time

“The caliber of the decision maker is decisive—especially when an immediate decision must arise from instinct rather than from discussion.”

Kenneth R. Andrews, Managing Uncertainty: Ethics in Practice, HBR

Developing Leaders Supports Employee Engagement

“The third factor in “irresistible” management is leadership development: Organizations with high levels of employee engagement focus on developing great leaders. They invest heavily in management development and ensure that new leaders are given ample support.”

Josh Bersin, Becoming Irresistable: A New Model For Employee Engagement, Deloitte Insights

A New Leadership Algorithm is Required

“The definition of strong leadership is evolving. Several interviews discuss topics relating to updating the leadership algorithm or leadership mindset to enhance the overall capacity.”

Maureen Metcalf, What Top Leaders And Academics Are Thinking About Leadership In 2017, Forbes.com

Pressure on leaders is increasing to make good choices and ethical brand value is a key part of organizational success. A bad choice captured on video can go viral on social media, causing the value of a company to plummet in hours. Don’t let your most critical brand ambassadors and coaches (your leaders) use outdated ethical thinking.