By Linda Fisher Thornton We need to be talking about where ethics should be... how and where it fits into real life. Too many leaders and organizations have crossed ethical boundaries and that seems to be all we're seeing in the…
Category: Context
Grey Areas: Our Choices Define Us (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton This post is an updated version of a reader favorite. There Will Always Be Grey Areas There will always be ethical grey areas. We see plenty of information about lying, cheating, stealing and other obvious ethical violations. It is more difficult to know what to do when we encounter behaviors that fall into ethical grey areas, particularly in term of relationships with other people. Grey areas are difficult for anyone to handle but leaders bear the additional weight of needing to set the tone for the organization. Each decision impacts the ethics of the organization.
The Future of Education: Ethical Literacy For Handling Global Complexity
By Linda Fisher Thornton We are not preparing students for success in the world where they will have to live and work. Some of the ways we currently think about "teaching" need to be scrapped and replaced. It will be increasingly important that teachers and other learning guides dig into complexity in order to help prepare students who need to handle increasing complexity in their lives and work. A focus on "knowing" must be replaced with a focus on "how to think, problem solve and successfully navigate global complexity using ethical values."
What is Ethics?
By Linda Fisher Thornton We are globally connected and becoming more aware of the complexity of our connections. We need a robust understanding of ethics - what it means, what it requires of us, and what we need to know and do to be ethical. As we learn about ethics, we need to understand it in a multidimensional way. One-dimensional definitions lead us down a single path and prevent us from seeing our broad responsibilities as citizens and leaders. Here is a quick tour of ways to think about ethics.
Ethical Leadership: Complexity, Context and Adaptation
By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethical leadership requires growth, a willingness to acknowledge complexity and an understanding of the broader context in which we lead. Use these resources to improve your ethical awareness, learn about how the leadership context is evolving and check for learning blind spots.
Leaders: What’s Missing in Convenient Actions? – Values
By Linda Fisher Thornton With all the inappropriate behavior in the news, I thought it would be a good time to explore the difference between actions that are CONVENIENT and those that are APPROPRIATE. Instead of saying "I'll know appropriate when I see it" it seems necessary to break it down and articulate the difference clearly. So here goes...
Leaders: Can You Control Ethics?
By Linda Fisher Thornton The question for today is "Can we control ethics?" Leaders have tried to control ethics with compliance-based systems (based on rules and penalties) but that does not tend to inspire people to ethical action. Leaders have tried to control ethics by running a tight ship, closely managing workers, but that does not bring out the best in people and may lead to workers not caring about protecting the company's reputation.
Trust: The Force That Drives Results
By Linda Fisher Thornton
When leaders trust and are trustworthy, this brings out their best and fuels a virtuous cycle that brings out the best in others and releases the potential of the organization for great performance.
Ethical Leaders Are Trustworthy and They Choose to Trust Others
When we choose to trust, we access a higher level of capacity in ourselves and our organizations. When we are consistently trustworthy, people know they can count on us to support their success.
How Does Trust Drive Results?
Once thought by business leaders to be "soft," trust is now proven to be a "results-changer." Here is a sampling of the many ways trust transforms organizations:
29 Flawed Assumptions About Leadership
By Linda Fisher Thornton
I was pruning shrubs this week and it occurred to me that we have many mistaken assumptions about leadership that can lead us to make bad choices. Those flawed assumptions are like the deadwood we prune away from our plants in the spring.
...If we don't prune regularly, the deadwood affects our growth and success.
22 Resources For Developing Ethical Thinking
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This week I'm sharing a collection of hand-picked resources that will help you upgrade your thinking. With all of the ethical messes in the news recently, this seems to be the right time to help you focus on PREVENTION as applied to thinking. It's our thinking, after all, that determines what we decide to do under pressure.
Fear is a Poor Advisor (Moving Us Away From Ethical Thinking To Protect Us)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
When we make decisions based on FEAR, our brains switch on the lower-level processor - which makes decisions based on a FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT response. The decision-making power of that part of our brain is extremely limited, turning our thoughts to lower level responses like "RUN!" or "HIT THEM FIRST." Obviously, ethical decisions must be based on better thinking than "RUN" and "HIT THEM FIRST."
Our fear response takes us into PROTECT and DEFEND mode, and that mode causes us to shelter in place, retrench and protect our own interests. It drastically restricts the breadth of our thinking and doesn't give much energy to our impact - what our choices will do to others.
5 Years of Top Posts: Leading in Context Blog
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This week I'm sharing selected Top Posts By Year from the Leading in Context Blog. It's a time capsule of the issues you thought were most important over the last 5 years. For each year, I have selected a theme that reflects the topics and focus of the top posts.
Guest Interview: Stay On Top Of Your Work Podcast
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This week you can listen to a brand new interview I did with Kate Kurzawska, host of the Timecamp Stay on Top of Your Work Podcast!
Leaders, Why You Need Disequilibrium (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This post is Part 2 in a series. In case you missed the first one, here is 450th Post: Leaders, Why You Need Disequilibrium (Part 1). In the first post, I explored why leaders need to embrace disequilibrium. In Part 2, I explore how disequilibrium helps leaders deal with catastrophic change.
Disequilibrium Drives Adaptation
Accepting disequilibrium instead of trying to fight it, we can turn our attention to figuring things out as the landscape changes around us.
450th Post: Leaders, Why You Need Disequilibrium (Part 1)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Disequilibrium is the sense of imbalance we feel as we deal with increasing complexity and change. This post, the first in a series, starts by exploring why leaders need to embrace it.
Avoiding Disequilibrium Is Harmful
Disequilibrium is not harmful to our leadership, unless we try to avoid it. That can cause us to retrench when change demands that we adapt.
Leading in Context 