By Linda Fisher Thornton What sets ethical leaders apart from other leaders? They take the time to THINK before making decisions. And that's not all they do that sets them apart.
Category: Ethical Thinking
The Missing Domain: Ethical Thinking (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton The first post in this series, "The Missing Domain: Ethical Thinking" explored WHY leaders need to fill the gap and help people develop ethical thinking. This post will begin to unravel HOW to do that. I included this guidance on ethical thinking in a previous post: Ethical thinking means we never lose sight of our positive purpose. We choose to be the sum of our values, not our challenges.
Credit Where Credit is Due
By Linda Fisher Thornton Author's Note: This post is in honor of the many people who have had to fight to get credit for their own work. Giving Credit and Taking Responsibility As our understanding of good leadership continues to advance, we are rapidly moving away from leaders "giving responsibility and taking credit" in leadership and moving toward "giving credit and taking responsibility." This change is overdue, and is part of a bigger change in our understanding of the purpose of leadership.
Reflections on Truth: Why Is It So Elusive?
By Linda Fisher Thornton Why Is The "Truth" So Elusive? Last summer, I explored what great thinkers have said about truth in this post: "Reflections on Truth: Are You a Seeker?" Today I'm going to dig a little deeper into the question "What is truth?"
The Missing Domain: Ethical Thinking
By Linda Fisher Thornton Using the commonly-taught types of thinking is very useful in life, and helps us be better professionals and business people. But there's a catch.
Ethics-Rich Leadership: Why We Need It
By Linda Fisher Thornton I was originally going to used the words "ethics-infused leadership" in this post, but I realized that would treat ethics a little bit like a lime twist in a cold drink. The drink would hint of lime, but it wouldn't be FULL of lime. So I chose to use "ethics-rich" leadership instead. I think you may already be looking for the ethics-rich leadership I'm talking about.
How You Can Stop The “Fake News” Madness
By Linda Fisher Thornton We all need to know how to tell what's real news and what's not. While a headline may be compelling, we can easily damage our personal reputation and brand if we share it and it turns out to be "fake news." It's our job to "check stories out" to be sure that what we share is real. Our "Human Software" is Buggy While it's important for us to tell the difference between the real and the fake, our "human software" comes with bugs. One type of bug we all have is cognitive biases, and one of our biases causes us to readily believe headlines we already agree with (confirmation bias).
5 Sites for Globally Responsible Business Leadership
By Linda Fisher Thornton It has become clear that a global economy requires more than local or regional thinking. Our information and commerce are globally connected. Our greatest human challenges are global and must be solved globally. We are connected…
Read More 5 Sites for Globally Responsible Business Leadership
How Balanced is Your Ethical Diet?
By Linda Fisher Thornton By Linda Fisher Thornton It's easy to understand that ethics has various "requirements." What isn't as obvious is that it takes effort on all of them to maintain the ethical well-being of people and organizations. Just as we need to eat from a variety of food groups to get balanced nutrition, we need to honor more than one ethical dimension to get balanced ethics.
Everyone is a Stakeholder at Some Level
By Linda Fisher Thornton "Everyone is a stakeholder at some level, and all stakeholders are important. We should consider all stakeholders as we lead – those we serve, those we lead, the powerless, the silenced, the planet, and all of humanity." I shared this important statement in a previous post - it was an aha moment from a Tweetchat I guest-hosted on Leading With Ethics. To reflect on where you are in the journey to leading with the mindset that "everyone is a stakeholder at some level," explore the answers to these important questions:
Great Leaders Unite
By Linda Fisher Thornton The most capable and ethically competent leaders reach for unity, which represents the highest levels of interpersonal and global responsibility. While it would be much easier, the best leaders don't just aim for "getting along" or "getting by."
Ethical Leaders Take The Hidden Path
By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethical leaders seek shared value. They look for ways to meet the needs of others while they champion their own projects and ideas. Why? Because they understand that they are responsible for making choices that honor their well-being AND the well-being of others. Because they see beyond the one-dimensional false dichotomy "I Win, You Lose" that is based on the zero-sum mentality "I can only win if you lose."
Labels Divide, Values Conquer
By Linda Fisher Thornton I have noticed that when people speak from LABELS (their group identity, their belief system, their affiliation), they are talking from the interests of that label. This can quickly become divisive if that label doesn't include everyone. If a label is broad enough - like the label "human" - it can automatically be an ethical and inclusive conversation. But since most labels aren't that broad, we need to use ethical values to guide us.
How Do You Make Better Decisions?
By Linda Fisher Thornton How do you make decisions? Do you consider a series of important questions? Do you find out the needs of the people involved? Do you consult a diverse group of advisors? Or do you just wing it? Some of the ways we may be tempted to think through our challenges (how to stay within budget or how to be most profitable, for example) leave ethical values out of the equation. Ethical thinking helps us make good leadership decisions. When we use intentional ethical thinking, we make decisions based on ethical values. Using ethical thinking doesn't just help us do the right thing. It also helps us resolve our most difficult leadership problems by broadening our awareness.
The “Less Than” Fallacy
By Linda Fisher Thornton Anytime we think about another person or group as "less than," or treat another person or group as "less than," we are unethical. It's very simple, really. We are all human, and as humans, we all have rights and dignity. We all have a right to be here and to be treated with respect and fairness.
Leading in Context 