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.
Category: Ethical Organization
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.Â
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.Â
MindTools Expert Interview Podcast With Linda Fisher Thornton
By Linda Fisher Thornton
I recently did an interview with Rachel Salaman for the MindTools Expert Interview Podcast. We had a lively conversation about ethical leadership and the concepts from my book 7 Lenses: Learning the Principles and Practices of Ethical Leadership.Â
Click on the graphic below to read the MindTools blog post featuring highlights from that interview and an excerpt of the podcast.
Grey Areas: Our Choices Define Us (Part 3)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
There will always be grey areas that aren't covered by the ethics code. In grey areas, leaders "paint the boundary" of ethical choices others will make by how they navigate the ethical complexity when the boundaries are not clear.
Part 3 of this series Grey Areas: Our Choices Define Us includes cases to get you talking about interpersonal grey areas, and related articles for learning.
Where Ethics Should Be
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…
Grey Areas: Our Choices Define Us (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This post is an updated version of a reader favorite.Â
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.
What is Meaningful Leadership? (Part 5)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
What is Meaningful Leadership? Making a Difference By Building a Better Society For the Future
In Part 1 of this series we looked at how leaders generate meaningful environments where others can thrive. In Part 2 we explored a leader's own quest for authenticity. In Part 3 we looked at the role of powerful conversations and a focus on relational ROI. In Part 4, we examined how meaningful leadership requires truth-seeking based on ethical values. In Part 5 we'll take a look at how meaningful leadership makes a difference by building a better society for the future.Â
Meaningful leadership sees the world in terms of building a better future together. The important focus on together requires not drawing lines around "better" or "worse" people or creating "in" and "out" groups.
What is Meaningful Leadership? (Part 4)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
What is Meaningful Leadership? Seeking the Truth & Excavating Grey Areas Using Ethical Values
In Part 1 of this series we looked at how leaders generate meaningful environments where others can thrive. In Part 2 we explored a leader's own quest for authenticity. In Part 3 we looked at the role of powerful conversations and a focus on collective success. In Part 4, we'll examine how meaningful leadership requires truth-seeking based on ethical values.Â
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