By Linda Fisher Thornton Why is trustworthy leadership so powerful? How does it set a positive tone and lead organizations to better performance? These 5 reasons quickly come to mind.
Category: Ethical Organization
With Ethics PREVENTION is the Cure
By Linda Fisher Thornton Have you heard the expression "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" Eating healthy foods, exercising and getting enough sleep will help us prevent health problems. In the quest for good health, preventive habits make all the difference. It is generally easier for us to establish healthy habits than to resolve persistent problems once they start. There is an important parallel we can draw between human health and organizational health - prevention is also the best way to deal with ethics in organizations.
Leadership Development S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-S To Prepare for the Future
By Linda Fisher Thornton In a recent post, I acknowledged that "leaders face information overload, globalization and increasing complexity. And they hold the key to your organization’s future. Make it a priority to help them be ready." How can we prepare leaders to succeed in a socially and globally connected world? What are the strategies that will help them handle a wide variety of unpredictable situations while making ethical choices?
Three Questions – Are Our Leaders Ready For The Future?
By Linda Fisher Thornton Our future success is in the hands of our leaders. They will be the ones to notice and remove roadblocks, mentor employees and foresee future opportunities. They will be the ones to tackle the seemingly unsolvable problems of the future. Are they ready?
40 Ways to Build an Ethical Culture (An Ethical To Do List)
By Linda Fisher Thornton Last week I blogged about 40 Ethical Culture Gaps to Avoid. This week, I'm sharing a 'What To Do" list of 40 Ways to Build an Ethical Culture. This list includes many ways to incorporate ethical values into daily organizational leadership. Each one of these 40 Ways to Build an Ethical Culture can improve an organization. Leaders paying attention to all of these factors will reap rewards that include improved employee engagement, better financial performance, increased productivity and job satisfaction, improved competitive position and more. Use this "ethical to do list" to assess your culture. Put a check mark beside the positive ethical actions that you have observed in your organization. Any that you leave unchecked are opportunities for improvement.
40 Ethical Culture Gaps To Avoid
By Linda Fisher Thornton Leaders set the tone for how ethical values are applied. They mentor those they lead, and serve as positive role models. It is not enough, though. for them to talk about ethical values and model what they look like in action. They must also fiercely protect the ethics of their organizations. They are the caretakers of ethical culture.
5 Ways To Bolster Your Organization’s Ethical Immune System
By Linda Fisher Thornton I was thinking about organizational culture recently, and noticed an interesting parallel. Eating healthy foods, exercising and getting enough sleep all boost our individual immune systems. What actions can we take to boost our ethical immune systems? And how could doing that help us create more ethical organizations? Building a healthy ethical culture where people take steps to protect ethics and reputation takes intentional effort. It requires regular attention, similar to the way we must eat healthy foods and exercise daily to maintain our individual health.
Leaders: Is Respect Enough?
By Linda Fisher Thornton Respectful behavior makes it possible for people to work together successfully. But when we ask the teams we lead to be respectful, I wonder if we're aiming too low. Shouldn't we be asking for more?
7 Questions For Ethical Culture Building
By Linda Fisher Thornton We create organizational culture through strategic choices and daily actions. If we imagine building our culture as creating an elaborate painting, what will we depict on the canvas? Will we work together to carefully paint a background theme of positive values, or will we just give everyone brushes and "see where it goes?"
It’s All About The Trust
By Linda Fisher Thornton Monday I received the wonderful news that I was in the Trust Across America-Trust Around the World 2015 Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trust. I consider this a great honor because trust is critical to successful business. Trust improves communication, culture, performance, engagement and results. Today I'm sharing some inspiring quotes from recent trust reports about why "it's all about the trust" - why trust has such broad importance and impact in work relationships and organizations:
Leader Development 2015: Human Growth Required
By Linda Fisher Thornton When we want to prepare leaders for success in the trenches of business leadership, we don't get very far by providing a cushy "spa-like experience." We can easily focus too much on creating "events" for leader education and…
Top 10 Posts 2014: Changing Ethical Leadership Expectations
By Linda Fisher Thornton There were 52 Leading in Context blog posts published in 2014, and the ones isted below are the 10 that were most popular with readers. They are focused on learning proactive ethical leadership and building a high-trust culture. If I had to describe the theme of these posts it might be "learning how to keep up with changes in ethical leadership expectations." As you review these reader favorites, think about how you will adapt to changing ethical leadership expectations in 2015.
Ethical Leadership 2015: Graphics That Tell the Story
By Linda Fisher Thornton The graphics at the links below tell the story of the future of responsible leadership. They describe the kind of leadership that is respectful, caring and ethically aware. This is the positive leadership that engages employees in meaningful work and helps builds an ethical culture. My hope is that you will share this story with your leadership team and plan now for the future, using the questions that follow.
5 Powerful Trends in Ethical Consumerism
By Linda Fisher Thornton If you think your customers are separate from your business, you are behind the times. Customers are becoming part of the fabric of organizations in ways that meet their very specific needs. This week I describe 5 powerful trends that are changing the rules of business, and require a heightened ethical awareness.
10 Things Trustworthy Leaders Know…
By Linda Fisher Thornton This week the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts from Trust Across America-Trust Around the World is holding a social media awareness campaign called #Trustgiving2014, In support of that campaign, I am featuring 10 posts about what it means to be a trustworthy leader. They include individual actions and organizational commitments that build trust. I hope you enjoy them!
Leading in Context 