Unleash the Positive Power of Ethical Leadership
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.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
We've seen selective respect too often. Beyond harming the people who are disrespected, it also destroys trust, and leads to chaotic environments and fear-based cultures. Even though we've all seen selective respect in action, we may not have had the vocabulary to describe why it's wrong (beyond calling it mean or inappropriate). This week I'm digging in to those details.Â
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This series has explored 5 important spheres of Ethical Thinking and Decision Making.Â
This week I'm summing it up in a checklist that will help you apply all 5 to your daily choices. When you are making a key decision, run it through the checklist to be sure you have considered all 5 important dimensions.Â
By Linda Fisher Thornton While change is a constant reality, it doesn't always factor into leadership thinking. In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, I explored the Depth of our thinking, and the importance of understanding Context. In Part 3…
Read More The Complexity of Ethical Thinking and Decision Making (Part 5)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Who we include in our ethical thinking, and how broadly we consider our responsibility to others are important elements of ethical leadership. In Part 1 of this series, I explored the Depth of our thinking, and in Part 2, I broke down issues related to understanding Context. In Part 3, I looked at Complexity. In Part 4, we'll dig into the importance of Inclusion.
Embracing Complexity is Part of Leadership
Complexity has become a way of life. To make ethical decisions, we must embrace it and incorporate it into our thinking process. That means digging in to issues until we understand their multiple dimensions, connections and contradictions. It means being intentional about decision making and avoiding making snap judgments.
By Linda Fisher Thornton
In Part 1 of this series I looked at the importance of Deep Thinking. In Part 2, we'll be considering the Context. No matter how much effort it takes to understand the context (whether we like it or not) we can't expect to make an ethical decision without it.Â
Understanding the Context
Without seeing the context - a broad and sweeping view of the issues we are discussing or trying to resolve - we are describing or trying to solve a SUBSET of the real issue. To use ethical thinking and decision-making, we must always remind ourselves that the SUBSET is not the whole.Â
Leading in Context 