Unleash the Positive Power of Ethical Leadership
Toxic behavior is a problem in organizations across industries and it's often ignored because leaders fear the consequences of having performance conversations. Organizations that delay dealing with toxic behavior find that it spreads and erodes the integrity of an ethical culture.
There were many things that went right in the past year, despite the omnipresent bad news. Here is a collection of inspiring quotes to keep us moving forward and ready to face the challenges ahead.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This week I'm sharing answers to your burning questions about ethics and ethical leadership - What is it? How do you stay up to speed in spite of rapidly accelerating expectations? Why is ethics such a contentious topic, and defined in so many different ways by different people?
The leader groups I work with find that clarity on these and other questions informs their leadership and their decision making. Use this curated collection of posts to shore up your knowledge for the new year:
By Linda Fisher Thornton
The Top Post Series this year reflects the challenges of applying ethical thinking and decision making to complex problems.
This series answers the important question “How do we analyze and understanding the multiple connected variables in a changing context to make responsible choices? Today I’ll share a quote from each post in the series that will give you a quick overview of the topic.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Of the 52 individual posts published on the Leading in Context Blog in 2019, these 10 were the most popular. See if you notice a theme that connects these new topics that readers accessed most frequently:
By Linda Fisher Thornton It has been a challenging year. This week I reflect on the progress being made (that may not show up in the news headlines) and how we can use our gifts in pursuit of good. “With…
By Linda Fisher Thornton Each year I raise questions that help leaders stay current as ethical expectations change. Here are 3 new questions to ponder as we head into a New Year. They are important questions about our ethical intentions, action…
Read More Ethical Thinking: 3 Questions to Ask in the New Year
It's time to stop telling leaders they will only succeed if they are "better than" the competition. It's time for business schools to stop telling students that they are "better than" their peers in the class or "better than" students in other programs. It's time for teachers and religious leaders to stop telling people they can be "better than" everyone else.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Often when we test our purpose is to assess progress toward learning objectives. But there's an inherent problems with over-testing or focusing too much on test scores. Testing can de-motivate learners. If our purpose is to improve learning, then we need to pay close attention to how testing impacts the motivation to learn.Â
By Linda Fisher Thornton
That Was Then
What people did in their spare time used to be private, allowing them to assume varying personas in their different roles. Someone could be buttoned up and ethical at work, but make really bad decisions elsewhere. People could choose to think about their lives as made up of separate roles that had separate rules.
By Linda Fisher Thornton With leadership responsibility comes a certain amount of influence. We can impact how people think. We can advise them on the choices they make and invite them to follow our lead. “Leadership is not about titles,…
By Linda Fisher Thornton What is Duality? What is duality? This is a tricky question, because the answer depends on your perspective and why you're asking. Each discipline answers the question from a different angle. This post samples the varying disciplinary perspectives on duality.
By Linda Fisher Thornton Christa Motley, host of Inspire Indeed at WRIR radio, invited me to the station to talk about the journey to writing my book 7 Lenses and how it is helping people who want to understand ethical…
By Linda Fisher Thornton
While some people think of rights, responsibilities and freedom separately, in a compartmentalized way, I believe they cannot be separated. According to John Courtney Murray, freedom was always intended to be grounded in ethical values.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
I am a long-time advocate of systems thinking. It has risen in importance as an increasing number of our greatest human challenges can't we understood or resolved without it.
Today, I'm taking a look at new findings on the human microbiome, which is known to impact the brain in important ways. You may have already seen the recent news about advances in our understanding of the Gut-Brain Axis.
Leading in Context 