Ethical Leader | Leading in Context

Respect, Interpreted Part 2

February 13, 2019 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

This is the second post in a series called “Respect, Interpreted.” Respect, Interpreted Part 1 described respect as a “structural beam” in organizations that holds the culture together. This week we’ll look at how to take two very different kinds of leadership actions that are both required for building and maintaining a culture of respect.

Requiring respectful behavior (putting in expectations and support) AND
Eliminating negative behavior (stopping disrespectful behavior quickly)

One or the other of these approaches will not likely be successful on its own.

Requiring Respectful Behavior:

If you eliminate disrespectful behaviors without communicating the respectful behaviors that are expected, people don’t know when they’re going outside of behavioral expectations until they make a mistake. This approach leaves too much to chance and can impact employee engagement and stress.

Resources:

40 Ways to Build an Ethical Culture (An Ethical To Do List)

Reflections on Respecting Differences

Seeing Beyond Borders and Walls

Leaders: What is Missing in Convenient Actions? Values

3 Steps For Dusting Off Your Leadership in the New Year

Stopping Disrespectful Behavior

Communicating that respect is a value is a great start but it’s not enough. Many negative behaviors can spin off from unchecked disrespect and they tend to grow. If we say nothing and allow any disrespectful actions, then don’t we appear to be authorizing a suite of other disrespectful interpersonal ills including judging, blaming, name-calling and excluding? If you say you require respectful behavior, but allow any disrespectful behaviors to go unchecked, you aren’t really requiring respectful behavior, are you?

Resources:

Yes, Leaders, Behavior Matters

Building Trust: What to Weed Out

40 Ethical Culture Gaps to Avoid

Just Say No to Ten Behaviors That Kill Competence

Every Decision Changes the Ethical Culture Equation

5 Ways CEOs Can Build an Ethical Culture

Leaders are Culture Caretakers: 10 Actions For Success

5 Signs Your Culture is Failing

Take a moment to evaluate the “respect structure” in your organization. How well are you requiring respectful behavior AND eliminating disrespectful behavior? Both are required for building a culture of respect.

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Filed under Complexity, Context, Ethical Leader, Ethical Organization Tagged with ethical culture building, ethical leaders require respect, ethics and respect, positive leadership behaviors, The 7 Lenses of Ethical Leadership

Respect, Interpreted Part 1

February 6, 2019 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

I believe that respect is a key structural beam supporting the organizational “house.” Without it, trust falls, productivity falls, engagement drops and turnover increases. It becomes harder to attract top talent for open positions in organizations where respect is not a minimum standard. Without respect, an organization’s culture becomes structurally unsound and devolves into “a house of cards” at risk of many negative impacts beyond those mentioned here.

With respect as a minimum standard for which people are held accountable, an organization creates a “positive shield’ that deflects a wide range of negative interpersonal behaviors. If we require respect, for example, then discourages a wide range of negative behaviors including judging, blaming, name-calling or excluding.

By requiring respect as the MINIMUM standard, we are creating a preventive and protective shield that protects the organization’s culture.

Think of what happens to a house when a structural beam is removed. It collapses in on itself. That is what begins to happen to organizational culture the moment a single word or action that is disrespectful is “approved” through silence. Why is silence considered approval? Thomas Paine famously said “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” When leaders look the other way, they are on the path to making a disrespectful act appear “right” whether that was intended or not. Granted, talking about respect is difficult and we don’t have clear instructions for how to build a culture of respect. Or do we? Stayed tuned for Respect, Interpreted Part 2.

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Filed under Complexity, Context, Ethical Leader, Ethical Organization, Ethical Thinking Tagged with ethical leader, ethical leadership principles, ethical prevention, ethical thinking, ethics and respect

Ground Rules for Talking About Controversial Topics

January 30, 2019 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Talking about controversial topics has become a daunting task. There are some things we can do, individually and collectively, to improve those difficult conversations. The important points below may be useful to review as ground rules for discussing potentially emotionally charged issues:

CHARACTER

Agree on the values that are important to honor. Stay centered in that list of ethical values, not the opinions and wants of each “side”

TEMPERAMENT

Follow ground rules that include mutual respect, listening and avoidance of blaming, labeling or attacking

JUDGMENT

Use good thinking, actively questioning your own assumptions, biases, and motives

INCLUSION

Consider all humans equally important with equal rights

CARE

Demonstrate care for all others involved in the conversation, and really listen to what they think is important

CONSTITUENT – AWARENESS

Consider the full impact on all constituents, paying special attention to those constituents not represented in the conversation

LONG-TERM IMPACT

Think about the long-term impact of decisions, in addition to the short-term benefits

EXPLORING MULTIPLE VARIABLES

Avoid oversimplifying issues by exploring many different variables related to the issue

USING A SYSTEMS APPROACH

Move beyond simple cause-and-effect thinking when discussion solutions. Think about the issue in terms of how it fits into bigger systems, and how other variables beyond those in the conversation can impact outcomes

Are you able to keep conversations civil and productive? Share your tips in a comment below!

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3 Steps For Dusting Off Your Leadership in the New Year

January 23, 2019 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

As we head into a New Year, it’s is a wonderful time to take stock of our leadership. The intense, conflicted global environment we face is formidable. Sitting still won’t keep our leadership up to the task.

It’s definitely not a good time to let our leadership get dusty from a lack of attention. It’s time to take action.

Here are three things you can do to dust off your leadership and discover your best capabilities this year:

3 Steps For Dusting Off Your Leadership In The New Year

1. Assess Your Ethics

Use this assessment to find out if you’re right on point or a bit behind the times in terms of ethical awareness and expectations.

2. Pick an Area To Dust Off

Pick one area from the assessment that you were not able to check off. This is an area where you can improve your thinking, communication and/or behavior.

3. Learn Deeply, Sweeping Away Outdated Thinking

Dig in to learn more and improve your ethical thinking in that area. To find materials, search this blog for posts on the topic area you chose. Leading in Context posts include links to resources, including many beyond this blog.

Be Alert For These Possible Side Effects

After a thorough dusting that sweeps away outdated leadership thinking, you may notice these common (helpful, not harmful) side effects:

Deeper respect from your team
Increased employee engagement
Improved team productivity
Renewed energy
Greater satisfaction from your leadership role

Get started now!

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Systems Thinking: Using the 5 Whys

January 9, 2019 2 Comments

By Linda Fisher Thornton

In my Applied Ethics Class last fall, I introduced my students to the Five Whys. This is a simple and valuable tool for getting to the root cause of problems. We may think we understand why something happened but when we “fix” whatever we think is the sole cause we don’t always get the intended result. The reason for that is that problems tend to have multiple causes. They happen in the context of multiple processes. Singling out one “cause” is rarely sufficient for understanding what really happened.

I’m sharing these resources to help you improve your thinking. Even if you are already familiar with the 5 Whys, you will find the video on the multiple causes of the sinking of the Titanic compelling.

Using the 5 Whys

First, review the Key Concepts of Systems Thinking and the Levels of Systems Thinking Maturity at Thwink.org.

Second, watch this MindTools video on the 5 Whys and read the article which explains the origin of the method.

Third, learn about root cause analysis at Tableau.com, paying particular attention to the example of the 5 Whys.

Fourth, watch this Think Reliability video on How to Conduct a 5-Why. (Exploring Why the Titanic Sank)

How To Use This Technique

The 5 Whys is relevant in any setting where you need to fully understand why something happened. Use it when people come to you for help with problems. Share it with your project team. Use it to begin to unravel society’s biggest problems and identify solutions. Using the 5 Whys reveals a much more complex landscape than we can see with a “cause and effect” mentality.

Thwink.org shares Einstein’s insight on the kind of thinking we need: “A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels” — Albert Einstein. Using techniques like the 5 Whys will help us adapt in a world of increasing complexity and change. As our problems increase in complexity, so must our thinking.

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Tis The Season

December 26, 2018 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

It’s the season of giving and gratitude and celebration, and today I’m sharing a sampling of this blog’s best seasonal messages. Each is meant to inspire us to become our best. As leaders we can promote unity or divisiveness, but of those two, promoting unity is the only ethical path.

12 Gifts of Leadership (Will You Give Them This Year?)

These 12 Gifts of Leadership are on the wish lists of employees around the world. They aren’t expensive. They don’t require dealing with the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, and one size fits all. Sure, these gifts are harder to give than a fruitcake, but they will be life-changing for those you lead.

A Message Of Gratitude

Take a moment, in this season of giving thanks, to share a message of gratitude with a leader who has changed your life and inspired your leadership.

A Message of Hope

Great leaders inspire hopefulness. They imagine a better world, and they build the future accordingly.

Leaders, Keep Your Sense of Wonder

What happens when we lead with a sense of wonder? We are open to new experiences, and we tend to look for the best in others and in the world. A sense of wonder keeps us curious and helps us understand things in new ways.

Wishing You Joy

Joy is not something we simply hope for or wait for. It’s something that we create through our everyday actions and relationships. As we celebrate the Holidays and enter the New Year, I hope that you enjoy the timeless quotes about joy that follow. Notice how these reflections on joy tend to focus on gratitude, imagination, open-mindedness and service.

Wishing You Peace

Peace is one of those things that requires reaching out. Just as we must extend trust to receive it from others, we must also extend peace in order to receive it. When each side watches and waits for the other party to extend peace, they create a stalemate that is unresolvable…until someone takes the first step and reaches out.

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A Message About Togetherness

December 19, 2018 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

In What is Meaningful Leadership Part 5 I wrote about building a better society together for future generations. When I really stop to think about what it means to live and work together, here are some of the things that come to mind:

Together can imply simply being side by side or near others, but there is much more to its meaning when we live in a globally connected society.
Together in a global society includes living in ways that enhance other people’s lives.
Together in a global society includes standing up for fairness and inclusion even when taking that stand is difficult or unpopular.
Together in a global society means caring about what happens to others – all others, regardless of who they are and where they come from.
Without a global world view, “together” can be reduced to meaning “us and whoever else is along for our ride.”
Life is better when we lead as if global togetherness matters.

During this holiday season, take time to reflect on how you are called to enable and amplify global togetherness.

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Ethical Thinking: 5 Questions to Ask in the New Year

December 12, 2018 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Each year I raise questions that help leaders stay current as ethical expectations change. Here are 5 new questions to tackle as we head into a New Year.

Where are our areas of strength and our gaps in adapting to increasing ethical expectations?
What will we do to close the gaps we’ve identified within the next 3 months?
What evidence will we look for to prove that we have closed the gaps?
How will we make this a regular conversation so that we can avoid gaps in the future?
How will we help others answer these important questions?

Expecting ethical challenges is easy. Preparing to handle them well is more difficult. Schedule time to work through these difficult questions with your teams as we head into the New Year.

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Human Rights: 70 Years

December 5, 2018 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

I had the privilege of hearing best-selling author Blanche Wiesen Cook speak at The University of Richmond last night. Her topic was “Toward an Inclusive Democracy: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Legacy.” Cook has spent many years researching and writing about Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and journey. During the inspiring talk, Cook noted that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Eleanor Roosevelt championed, is turning 70 this month.

Now is the perfect time to learn about Eleanor Roosevelt’s human rights journey and the Universal Declaration she championed. It is timely for us to reflect now on how far we have left to go on the journey toward honoring the rights and dignity of every human who resides in our global village.

Cook shared Eleanor Roosevelt’s sage advice to “BE BOLD” and “Talk to one another when we disagree.” That advice will serve us well as we work to overcome differences and uphold ethical values. Why is this 70 year human rights journey so important now? The baton has been passed to us, and we must run the next lap.

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Ethical Thinking is Intentional, Thoughtful and Applied

November 28, 2018 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

One of the things we know about ethical decision-making is that we need to take the time to do it. But if we fill up every minute of the day with meetings, deadlines, emails and projects, when will we have time to think about the impact of our choices?

How will we consider our decisions in terms of ethical values if we don’t take time to consider our decisions at all?

Rushing to a decision in response to perceived external pressures is a good way to make an ethical mistake. The thinking that leads to ethical choices is intentional, thoughtful and applied.

Intentional and Thoughtful

Some people tend to trust their “gut” and make very quick decisions that turn into highly visible ethical failures. Listening to our “gut” has a place in ethical decision-making but it has to be balanced with a more intentional way of thinking about our choices. If we instantly assess the situation based on our very human implicit biases (we all have them), we are not likely to make a fair and ethical choice.

We have to intentionally overcome those flaws in our thinking to make moral choices. Once we decide to use ethical thinking, we need to take the time to dig into grey areas and explore the potential long-term ethical impact of the different paths we could take.

Applied

How do we tap into our “ethical brain?” According to Professor Joshua Greene, there is no specific place in our brains that is “moral.” He points out in The Moral Brain: A Multidisciplinary Perspective that “It’s now clear that the ‘moral brain’ is, more or less, the whole brain, applying its computational powers to problems that we, on nonneuroscientific grounds, identify as ‘moral.'”

As we practice resolving dilemmas we find ethics to be less a goal than a pathway, less a destination than a trip, less an inoculation than a process. — Rushworth Kidder

There is no automatic setting or magic technique for ethical thinking. It is a thoughtful process. We have to apply ourselves – to understand issues, explore their ethical implications, and choose a moral path. Watch for leaders and organizations who are embracing this process and reaping the benefits through improved ethical brand value.

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Filed under Complexity, Ethical Leader, Ethical Thinking Tagged with ethical model, ethical perspectives, ethical principles, ethical thinking tools, ethics schema, holistic ethics, integral ethics

5 Things Grateful Leaders Do

November 21, 2018 1 Comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Today I’m exploring two important questions: “What do grateful leaders do that sets them apart from other leaders?” and “How does expressing gratitude benefit them?

Grateful leaders thank people for all the good things they do (even if they’re not perfect)
Grateful leaders open their hearts and minds to the amazing capabilities others bring to the group
Grateful leaders keep their perspective and reflect on what is going well, even when times are difficult
Grateful leaders acknowledge that positive interpersonal behavior can make or break a team’s success
Grateful leaders think about the opportunities they have to make a difference in the lives of others

Being thankful is an important virtue advocated by Cicero as the parent of all the other virtues. Read on to learn more about how being grateful can transform your life and leadership.

7 Ways To Be Thankful Like a Leader By Dan Rockwell, Leadership Freak Blog
7 Benefits of Thankfulness and Gratitude By Skip Pritchard, SkipPritchard.com

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Context Matters: What We’re Learning About Food

November 14, 2018 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

New research is turning conventional wisdom about healthy eating inside out. This new research radically changes the way we think about nutrition and wellness and will completely change “best practices” in food-related industries. Here is a sneak preview:

WHOLE FOODS (WITH THE FAT) TEND TO HAVE MORE FIBER AND A LOWER GLYCEMIC INDEX

“Fat and fiber tend to lower the GI of a food. As a general rule, the more cooked or processed a food, the higher the GI; however, this is not always true.”

Glycemic Index and Diabetes, American Diabetes Association

The reason it’s called “whole milk” has less to do with its fat content, than the fact that it’s comparatively unadulterated.

Roberto Ferdman, The whole truth about “whole milk”, The Washington Post

FOOD COMBINATIONS, LEVEL OF PROCESSING AND BRAIN RESPONSE ARE ALL IMPORTANT

“Processed foods have an altered food matrix, which impacts their bioavailability.”

Hiip.com, What is the Food Matrix?

“Foods high in fat and carbohydrate are, calorie for calorie, valued more than foods containing only fat or carbohydrate and that this effect is associated with greater recruitment of central reward circuits.”

Supra-Additive Effects of Combining Fat and Carbohydrate on Food Reward, Cell Metabolism

INDIVIDUAL NUTRIENTS DON’T TELL THE WHOLE STORY

“The food matrix may exhibit a different relation with health indicators compared to single nutrients studied in isolation.”

Thorning et al., “Whole dairy matrix or single nutrients in assessment of health effects: current evidence and knowledge gaps,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Applying the “food matrix” concept we learn that we can’t accurately assess nutritional impact based on breaking down individual nutrients in isolation from the whole. We have to consider what we added and what we left out. In other words, context matters.

We need to see the whole picture to understand human wellness. Whole foods from nature have complex nutritional combinations and protections built into them that vanish when you strip out the fiber and fat. As Aristotle recognized ages ago (and we’re just now rediscovering) “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Questions For Discussion

How are we already contributing to health and well-being through our food choices?
Where should we adjust our practices to reflect what researchers are learning about the complex food matrix?
What should we stop doing or change to support the long-term health and wellness of our constituents?

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Filed under Context, Ethical Leader, Ethical Thinking Tagged with ethical lenses, ethics trends, global ethics, holistic ethics, integral ethics, what is ethical leadership, what is ethics

The Seductive Power of the Status Quo

November 7, 2018 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Why do we have such a powerful negative reaction when we find out that we need to change? The status quo literally has a grip on us.

“Bearing in mind our natural propensity for the status quo will enable us to recognize the allure of inertia and more effectively overcome it.”

Rob Henderson, How Powerful is Status Quo Bias, Psychology Today

According to Sue Langley, at the Langley Group, “It takes more effort to think about and do something new than react out of instinct or habit.” Fortunately, she adds, “willpower, focused attention and mindful action can be used to push through resistance and rewire habitual patterns.” (The Neuroscience of Change, Langley Group)

Being aware of the brain’s tendency to want to keep things the same is important in terms of ethical decision making. What could we be missing?

Does that change we’ve been putting off put us at risk of failing to keep up with changing ethical expectations?
Is our discomfort with change causing us to make decisions that harm individuals or groups?
Are we thinking short term because it is more familiar, when a long-term perspective is really needed?

It will take an intentional effort to overcome the seductive power of the status quo. Take charge of the decision-making process and use ethical values to make ethical choices.

Ready to Change the Ethics Quo (For Good)? Part 1

Ready to Change the Ethics Quo (For Good)? Part 2

Ready To Change the Ethics Quo (For Good)? Part 3

Ready to Change the Ethics Quo (For Good)? Part 4

Grey Areas: Our Choices Define Us (Part 2)

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Filed under Context, Ethical Leader, Ethical Organization, Ethical Thinking Tagged with 7 Lenses of ethical responsibility, ethical decision-making, ethical leadership model, ethics questions, holistic ethics, managing complexity

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Leading in Context

Respect, Interpreted Part 2

Requiring Respectful Behavior:

Stopping Disrespectful Behavior

Respect, Interpreted Part 1

Ground Rules for Talking About Controversial Topics

CHARACTER

TEMPERAMENT

JUDGMENT

INCLUSION

CARE

CONSTITUENT – AWARENESS

LONG-TERM IMPACT

EXPLORING MULTIPLE VARIABLES

USING A SYSTEMS APPROACH

3 Steps For Dusting Off Your Leadership in the New Year

3 Steps For Dusting Off Your Leadership In The New Year

1. Assess Your Ethics

2. Pick an Area To Dust Off

3. Learn Deeply, Sweeping Away Outdated Thinking

Be Alert For These Possible Side Effects

Top Post Series of 2018: Leading in Context Blog

Systems Thinking: Using the 5 Whys

Top 10 Posts 2018: Leading in Context Blog

Tis The Season

A Message About Togetherness

Ethical Thinking: 5 Questions to Ask in the New Year

Human Rights: 70 Years

Ethical Thinking is Intentional, Thoughtful and Applied

5 Things Grateful Leaders Do

Context Matters: What We’re Learning About Food

The Seductive Power of the Status Quo

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Requiring Respectful Behavior:

Stopping Disrespectful Behavior

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CHARACTER

TEMPERAMENT

JUDGMENT

INCLUSION

CARE

CONSTITUENT – AWARENESS

LONG-TERM IMPACT

EXPLORING MULTIPLE VARIABLES

USING A SYSTEMS APPROACH

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3 Steps For Dusting Off Your Leadership In The New Year

1. Assess Your Ethics

2. Pick an Area To Dust Off

3. Learn Deeply, Sweeping Away Outdated Thinking

Be Alert For These Possible Side Effects

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