By Linda Fisher Thornton How we think about something will impact what we do about it. To be ready to handle difficult challenges, our thinking needs to stretch to help us adapt. 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." An "Un-Fixed" MindsetThe environment is constantly changing and increasing in complexity. When we change our thinking, we change our capacity. Capability, or what we can do, is still important, but it won't get us far if we're using an outdated mindset.
Category: Ethical Organization
16 Answers To What is Good Leadership?
By Linda Fisher Thornton The theme I noticed in the most viewed posts on this blog in 2018 was Looking For a Better Kind of Leadership. Google reported that the most popular Google searches in 2018 were about how we can be good people. It sounds like 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:
Beyond Civility
By Linda Fisher Thornton Civility seems like a minimum standard or a fallback position, certainly not a desired end. We expect so much more from ethical leaders. Without civility, communication is chaotic and difficult (if not impossible). Civility adds choosing…
Your Culture is Not A Secret (So Protect Your Ethics)
By Linda Fisher Thornton One of my favorite concepts for understanding how social media is changing the visibility of organizational culture is Trendwatching.com's report Glass Box Brands. As Trendwatching.com elequently explains, "In an age of radical transparency, your internal culture is your brand." The key point I take away from this important report is that we can no longer assume that our culture is private. In fact, it's completely public and it defines our brand.
500th Post: Index to 500 Articles on Authentic Ethical Leadership
By Linda Fisher ThorntonThere are many ways to define "ethical leadership" but there is increasing global interest in learning "ethical leadership" in a holistic and authentic way. This authentic ethical leadership takes us beyond laws and regulations, beyond respect for others and beyond traditional definitions of a business "win." It generates a positive leadership legacy and a better shared future. If this sounds like the kind of leadership you want to learn, you've come to the right place. The Leading in Context Blog now includes 500 articles on high-level, holistic and global ethical leadership. This blog started off as a way to organize and share emerging research in my leadership classes. Ten years later it has become a "go-to" site for organizational leaders across industries, university professors and seekers looking for a better way to lead.
Respect, Interpreted Part 2
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)
Respect, Interpreted Part 1
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.
Ground Rules for Talking About Controversial Topics
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. Use the important points below as ground rules for discussing potentially emotionally charged issues:
Top Post Series of 2018: Leading in Context Blog
By Linda Fisher Thornton The Top Post Series this year reflects a concern I have that many other people must share. It is a concern about what can happen when we don't use ethical thinking. This series answers the important…
Top 10 Posts 2018: Leading in Context Blog
By Linda Fisher Thornton Of the 52 individual posts published on the Leading in Context Blog in 2018, these 10 were the most popular. See if you notice a theme that connects these new topics that readers accessed most frequently:
Ethical Thinking: 5 Questions to Ask in the New Year
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.
Human Rights: 70 Years
By Linda Fisher Thornton I had the privilege of hearing award-winning author Blanche Wiesen Cook speak at The University of Richmond last night. Her topic was "Toward an Inclusive Democracy: Eleanor Roosevelt's Legacy." During the inspiring talk, she noted that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Eleanor Roosevelt championed, is turning 70 this month.
The Seductive Power of the Status Quo
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.
Ethical Thinking Requires Dialogue
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Ethical leadership requires us to understand the context and embrace the natural complexity of issues. One of the pieces that we can't be successful without is learning from the widely varying perspectives of others.
5 Things I Learned From a 6th Grade Bully
By Linda Fisher Thornton
October is Bullying Prevention Month. Most of the people I know were bullied at some point in their lives. As I look back on dealing with a 6th grade bully, I realize that I learned some things from that difficult time. Today I share that story along with resources for preventing bullying.
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