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. I included this guidance on ethical thinking in a previous post: Ethical thinking means we never lose sight of our positive purpose. We choose to be the sum of our values, not our challenges.
Category: Ethical Leader
Credit Where Credit is Due
By Linda Fisher Thornton Author's Note: This post is in honor of the many people who have had to fight to get credit for their own work. Giving Credit and Taking Responsibility As our understanding of good leadership continues to advance, we are rapidly moving away from leaders "giving responsibility and taking credit" in leadership and moving toward "giving credit and taking responsibility." This change is overdue, and is part of a bigger change in our understanding of the purpose of leadership.
Talking About What Matters (Part 3)
By Linda Fisher Thornton I have heard from readers that this topic is timely and they hope this series will not end with just 2 posts - so here is Part 3! Talking About What Matters In the post Talking About What Matters (Part 1) I explored how talking about ethical values engages people, helps them find meaning and improves the organization’s metrics. In Talking About What Matters (Part 2), I explored how leaders need to "not have the answers" and be ready to engage in conversations about applying values. In Part 3, I want to offer some questions that lead to meaningful conversation. These are not questions that have known answers, but questions that dig into what is weighing on people's hearts and minds, and identify gaps and opportunities in applying ethical values.
Talking About What Matters (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton In a previous post Talking About What Matters (Part 1), I explored how talking about ethical values engages people, helps them find meaning and improves the organization's metrics. This week I want to begin to explore what the conversation should include. You may be surprised to learn that it’s not all about what WE COMMUNICATE about values - it's their questions that will help us bring values to life.
Talking About What Matters (Part 1)
By Linda Fisher Thornton This post begins a series on talking about what matters. Great attention is often paid to values in defining and marketing an organization. But what happens after that? It's the ongoing dialogue about how to apply those values that brings them to life. Some leaders assume that if the values are written down, they will be followed. The problem with that assumption is that while people may WANT to follow the organization's stated values, they may not know how.
The Missing Domain: Ethical Thinking
By Linda Fisher Thornton Using the commonly-taught types of thinking is very useful in life, and helps us be better professionals and business people. But there's a catch.
Ethics-Rich Leadership: Why We Need It
By Linda Fisher Thornton I was originally going to used the words "ethics-infused leadership" in this post, but I realized that would treat ethics a little bit like a lime twist in a cold drink. The drink would hint of lime, but it wouldn't be FULL of lime. So I chose to use "ethics-rich" leadership instead. I think you may already be looking for the ethics-rich leadership I'm talking about.
How You Can Stop The “Fake News” Madness
By Linda Fisher Thornton We all need to know how to tell what's real news and what's not. While a headline may be compelling, we can easily damage our personal reputation and brand if we share it and it turns out to be "fake news." It's our job to "check stories out" to be sure that what we share is real. Our "Human Software" is Buggy While it's important for us to tell the difference between the real and the fake, our "human software" comes with bugs. One type of bug we all have is cognitive biases, and one of our biases causes us to readily believe headlines we already agree with (confirmation bias).
Do Laws Set the Standard For Ethics?
By Linda Fisher Thornton "Do Laws Set the Standard For Ethics?" may be a simple question, but the answer is complicated. They do and they don't set the standard.
How Balanced is Your Ethical Diet?
By Linda Fisher Thornton By Linda Fisher Thornton It's easy to understand that ethics has various "requirements." What isn't as obvious is that it takes effort on all of them to maintain the ethical well-being of people and organizations. Just as we need to eat from a variety of food groups to get balanced nutrition, we need to honor more than one ethical dimension to get balanced ethics.
Yes, Leaders. Behavior Matters
By Linda Fisher Thornton As leaders, we are expected to uphold the highest standards of ethical behavior, and that includes interpersonal behavior (HOW we get the results we get, and how our behavior impact others). This week I'm sharing a review of behaviors that are a "NO GO" for ethical leaders. Click on each link to learn about why the behavior is outside the bounds of ethical leadership.
Everyone is a Stakeholder at Some Level
By Linda Fisher Thornton "Everyone is a stakeholder at some level, and all stakeholders are important. We should consider all stakeholders as we lead – those we serve, those we lead, the powerless, the silenced, the planet, and all of humanity." I shared this important statement in a previous post - it was an aha moment from a Tweetchat I guest-hosted on Leading With Ethics. To reflect on where you are in the journey to leading with the mindset that "everyone is a stakeholder at some level," explore the answers to these important questions:
4 Connected Trends Shaping the Future of Leadership
By Linda Fisher Thornton Our understanding of good leadership is advancing. In this video, I describe 4 powerful trends that are increasing leadership expectations and shaping what leaders need to be prepared to handle in the future. By Linda Fisher Thornton Our understanding of good leadership is advancing. In this video, I describe 4 powerful trends that are increasing leadership expectations and shaping what leaders will need to be ready to handle in the future. These 4 trends shaping the future of leadership are connected and accelerating. They give us a clear picture of where we need to take our leadership.
Great Leaders Unite
By Linda Fisher Thornton The most capable and ethically competent leaders reach for unity, which represents the highest levels of interpersonal and global responsibility. While it would be much easier, the best leaders don't just aim for "getting along" or "getting by."
Values Drive Business Success (But Only If They’re Clear and Applied)
By Linda Fisher Thornton Deloitte's 2016 Millennial Survey Executive Summary reported that according to responses from 7700 employed millennials from 29 countries, "the values that support long-term business success are people treatment, ethics, and customer focus. While people treatment, ethics, and customer focus may be the values that drive business success, that only works if they're applied across the organization.
Leading in Context 