By Linda Fisher Thornton ThorntonI am honored to have had the opportunity to do a radio interview with Pam Atherton of A Closer Look Radio. She invited me to talk with her about my new book 7 Lenses: Learning the Principles and Practices of Ethical Leadership. In the interview she asked questions that some of you may have about ethical leadership, and I walked listeners through the book's framework for leading ethically in a complex world (click below to listen).
Category: Ethical Thinking
What Ethical Leaders Believe
By Linda Fisher Thornton ChangeThis.com is an 800ceoread project for "spreading good ideas and changing business thinking for the better." I am honored that today they published my Manifesto about ethical thinking. This Manifesto begins with an Aristotle quote "We are what we repeatedly do" and then asks us to think hard about what we repeatedly do. "Is our thinking on autopilot?" "Is that autopilot programmed to make ethical decisions?"
What is Ethical Leadership?
By Linda Fisher Thornton This collection from reader favorites on the Leading in Context Blog will help you explore the scope and dimensions of today's ethical leadership. As you will see, ethical leadership requires much more than following laws and regulations. We have to take on a global mindset and an openness to learning, and much more.
10 Questions On “Leading With Ethics”
By Linda Fisher Thornton I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to co-host the live #leadfromwithin Tweetchat with @LollyDaskal on October 8th. The topic was Leading With Ethics, and the participation was robust, with thousands of Tweets per hour! In spite of the fast pace, this was an open and heartfelt discussion about what ethical leadership means, and what it looks like in day to day practice. Here are some highlights from the conversation, which I found to be powerful and inspiring.
Take Your Thinking Up a Notch (Strategies For Solving Complex Problems)
Taking Our Thinking Up a Notch Looking at problems in great detail don't usually help us solve them unless we apply specific strategies that make the puzzle as a whole become clearer. Here are strategies that help us move from one level of thinking to another. It may be necessary to apply all of these strategies to solve particularly complex problems:
Making a Difference in the World
There is More to Leadership There is much more to leadership than being at the front of the room during a meeting, or being the one to make the big decisions. I find that the most rewarding part of leadership is making a difference - in people's lives, in the community, or in the world. While making a difference may seem like a lofty goal, consider these examples of how much difference one person on a mission can make:
A Learning Journey That Brings Out Our Best
By Linda Fisher Thornton The Manifesto How is ethical leadership a learning journey? "Ethical leadership transforms profits, people, the planet, communities and the world. Ethical leadership is not something on our to do list that we can check off as completed. It is an ongoing individual and organizational journey. This learning journey will bring out the best in all of us." The Leading in Context® Manifesto
Proactivity, Performance and Potential
By Linda Fisher Thornton The Manifesto This week, I want to continue to explore the mindset behind The Leading in Context® Manifesto. Here is an important quote from it about the positive impact of ethical leadership: "Imagine the potential. What could we accomplish if we proactively developed ethical leaders and an ethical culture? Unleash the performance potential of our people? Transform our organizations? Improve lives and communities? Change the world?"
The Leading in Context® Manifesto
By Linda Fisher Thornton This week I am featuring The Leading in Context® Manifesto - a clear statement of what I believe and the movement I lead. It is a stake in the ground, a powerful statement of how we can build the kind of ethical leadership that builds successful companies, successful communities and a better world. If you like it, please help spread the word.
Ethical Leadership is a Journey
By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethical leadership is a journey, not a destination. Imagine walking for hours toward the distant horizon. No matter how fast or how far you walk, the horizon will always be out there, some distance away from you. The same is true for ethical leadership. No matter how far we go, we never "arrive."
Cultural Competence Required
By Linda Fisher Thornton Openness to learning about other cultures has become a necessary component of leadership. One way to help people respect cultural differences is to build what UNESCO calls "intercultural competence."
Leading in a Systems World
By Linda Fisher Thornton The impact of our leadership decisions is felt far beyond the spaces where we work. The choices that we make may impact people, communities, the environment and society for generations.
The Ethics and Self-Interest Paradox
By Linda Fisher Thornton There was a lively discussion on LinkedIn in response to my post "Ethics" Means Acting Beyond Self-Interest." Readers joined in the discussion and came up with some very interesting observations.
200th Blog Post – Learning at the Speed of Life
By Linda Fisher Thornton In my 150th Blog Post, I wrote about starting a blog and being new to the process of Learning Out Loud. To celebrate my 200th post, I want to reflect on what it's been like to learn new things faster than I ever thought possible. It seems especially clear to me now that we all have capabilities we're not using in our day to day lives. But imagine what could happen if we believed we could make a difference, lurched toward that goal unsteadily, and then just held on for the ride.
Responsibility and Respect (The 4th and 5th R’s)
Children Need to Learn Responsibility and Respect Two key principles (in addition to the 3 R's) that children need to learn in order to to live a successful life are responsibility and respect. As we teach knowledge and information, these areas need to be taught through an ethical frame of reference.
Leading in Context 