By Linda Fisher ThorntonI'm generally a fan of uncomfortable learning. I believe that "uncomfortable" is sometimes a necessary part of the natural processes of learning and growth. Facilitators and teachers sometimes leverage it to help people get past outdated mindsets or to shake up and resolve conflicts.
Tag: Ethical Leadership Development
Ground Rules for Talking About Controversial Topics
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Talking about controversial topics has become a daunting task. There are some things we can do, individually and collectively, to improve those difficult conversations. Use the important points below as ground rules for discussing potentially emotionally charged issues:
3 Steps For Dusting Off Your Leadership in the New Year
By Linda Fisher Thornton
When we start a New Year, it's is a wonderful time to take stock of our leadership. The intense, conflicted global environment we face is formidable. Sitting still won't keep our leadership up to the task.
It's definitely not a good time to let our leadership get dusty from a lack of attention. It's time to take action.
Here are three things you can do to dust off your leadership and discover your best capabilities this year:
What is Meaningful Leadership? – 4 Common Threads
By Linda Fisher Thornton
What is meaningful leadership? I recently wrote a 5 part blog series exploring different facets of that question... There are four common threads that emerged from exploring the topic that I want to share today.
Where Ethics Should Be
By Linda Fisher Thornton We need to be talking about where ethics should be... how and where it fits into real life. Too many leaders and organizations have crossed ethical boundaries and that seems to be all we're seeing in the…
Grey Areas: Our Choices Define Us (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This post is an updated version of a reader favorite.
There Will Always Be Grey Areas
There will always be ethical grey areas. We see plenty of information about lying, cheating, stealing and other obvious ethical violations. It is more difficult to know what to do when we encounter behaviors that fall into ethical grey areas, particularly in term of relationships with other people. Grey areas are difficult for anyone to handle but leaders bear the additional weight of needing to set the tone for the organization. Each decision impacts the ethics of the organization.
What is Meaningful Leadership? (Part 5)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
What is Meaningful Leadership? Making a Difference By Building a Better Society For the Future
In Part 1 of this series we looked at how leaders generate meaningful environments where others can thrive. In Part 2 we explored a leader's own quest for authenticity. In Part 3 we looked at the role of powerful conversations and a focus on relational ROI. In Part 4, we examined how meaningful leadership requires truth-seeking based on ethical values. In Part 5 we'll take a look at how meaningful leadership makes a difference by building a better society for the future.
Meaningful leadership sees the world in terms of building a better future together. The important focus on together requires not drawing lines around "better" or "worse" people or creating "in" and "out" groups.
What is Meaningful Leadership? (Part 3)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
In Part 1 of this series we looked at how leaders generate meaningful environments where others can thrive. In Part 2 we explored a leader's own quest for authenticity. In Part 3 we'll look at the role of powerful conversations and a focus on collective success.
Ethical Leadership: Complexity, Context and Adaptation
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Ethical leadership requires growth, a willingness to acknowledge complexity and an understanding of the broader context in which we lead. Use these resources to improve your ethical awareness, learn about how the leadership context is evolving and check for learning blind spots.
22 Resources For Developing Ethical Thinking
By Linda Fisher Thornton
This week I'm sharing a collection of hand-picked resources that will help you upgrade your thinking. With all of the ethical messes in the news recently, this seems to be the right time to help you focus on PREVENTION as applied to thinking. It's our thinking, after all, that determines what we decide to do under pressure.
Seeing The Nuances Of Ethical Leadership (A Developmental Model)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Leadership is not a position or a task. It is a complex array of roles, relationships and processes, and yet we use one term, "leadership," to talk about it. And in using that term, we often mean different things. What Then is Leadership?
Fear is a Poor Advisor (Moving Us Away From Ethical Thinking To Protect Us)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
When we make decisions based on FEAR, our brains switch on the lower-level processor - which makes decisions based on a FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT response. The decision-making power of that part of our brain is extremely limited, turning our thoughts to lower level responses like "RUN!" or "HIT THEM FIRST." Obviously, ethical decisions must be based on better thinking than "RUN" and "HIT THEM FIRST."
Our fear response takes us into PROTECT and DEFEND mode, and that mode causes us to shelter in place, retrench and protect our own interests. It drastically restricts the breadth of our thinking and doesn't give much energy to our impact - what our choices will do to others.
Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 4)
By Linda Fisher Thornton To celebrate 7 Lenses going into its second printing, this is the fourth post in a special series focused on Why Ethical Thinking Matters. In case you missed them, here are the previous posts in the…
Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 3)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
To celebrate 7 Lenses going into its second printing, this is the third post in a special series focused on Why Ethical Thinking Matters. In case you missed them, take a look at Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 1) and Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 2). I’m hoping the strategies shared in this series will give you a fresh perspective on your plans for developing leaders in 2018.
You may already realize that ethical thinking is important, and if you do, I ask you to spread the word. To help you champion the cause in your organizations and on social media, I have included the business case below.
Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 2)
By Linda Fisher Thornton
To celebrate 7 Lenses going into its second printing, this is the second post in a special series focused on Why Ethical Thinking Matters. In case you missed it, last week's post was Why Ethical Thinking Matters (Part 1).
Leading in Context 