By Linda Fisher Thornton 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'll look at the role of powerful conversations and a focus on collective success.
Category: Ethical Organization
What is Meaningful Leadership? (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton What is meaningful leadership? In Part 1 we explored how leaders create meaningful work settings so others can excel. In Part 2, we look at a leader's own quest for authenticity as a factor in meaningful leadership. What is Meaningful Leadership? A Quest For Authenticity Meaningful leadership is focused on authenticity, not just acquisition. That requires seeing beyond just portfolio growth to human growth. It means learning to see how the two are connected.
What is Meaningful Leadership? (Part 1)
By Linda Fisher Thornton In this 5-part "What is Meaningful Leadership?" series, we'll look at 5 different aspects of meaningful leadership, each one revealing opportunities for leader awareness and growth. In Part 1, we'll look at the importance of creating meaningful work settings.
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.
What Happens When You Ignore Complexity?
By Linda Fisher Thornton Ignoring complexity reduces the number of variables considered in a decision. That may seem convenient (see last week's post) but it also removes the nuanced thinking that is necessary for ethical decision making. With all the information available in a socially connected world, it is easy to fall victim to the quick oversimplified understanding of issues. This "quick glance" way of gathering information doesn't reveal the breadth and depth of what's really going on.
50 Trends to Follow in 2018
By Linda Fisher Thornton What trends will impact your leadership and your business this year? Get settled in with your favorite morning brew and review these 50+ trend reports on what to expect in 2018. Adapting to these changes will require constant shifts in direction and focus, while staying grounded in positive ethical values.
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.Â
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.Â
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:
Trends In Ethical PR
By Linda Fisher Thornton It is a difficult time to be in PR and Communications. The stakes are high and it's easy to miss the mark. I spoke at the Virginia Professional Communicators Conference on Saturday, as the group celebrated its…
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.Â
TAP Into Trust With These 12 Principles
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Every organization needs to pay attention to trust. It improves metrics including productivity, employee satisfaction and ethical brand value. It makes organizations better places to work where people want to invest time and plan careers.Â
Seeing The Nuances Of Ethical Leadership (A Developmental Model)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Leadership is not a position or a task. It is a complex array of roles, relationships and processes, and yet we use one term, "leadership," to talk about it. And in using that term, we often mean different things. What Then is Leadership?
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."Â 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.
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!
Leading in Context 