By Linda Fisher Thornton I was driving recently when the car beside me started to veer over into my lane. I was able to avoid an accident, but it made me think about what happens when employees start "crossing the line" in organizations. When someone becomes aware that another employee is doing something that goes against the company's values, what happens then? There are things leaders can do. Unlike the car example, the conditions needed to avoid a problem when an employee starts to cross the line are more complex. And the potential problems that can happen (if an employee crosses the line and does something unethical) are numerous. Under the right conditions, employees may nudge each other to stay in the lane, and a positive, high trust culture helps create those conditions.
Tag: ethical leadership in organizations
Ethical Thinking, Ethical Self: 5 Things You Need to Know
By Linda Fisher Thornton Developing an "ethical self" is important for good citizenship and good leadership. But what does it involve? There's more to developing and maintaining an ethical self than trying to make good choices. Making ethical choices isn't easy, and while we're struggling, our brains are actually working against us.
Ignoring Toxic Leadership is Not Worth the Tradeoffs
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.
The Messages Micromanagement Sends
By Linda Fisher Thornton Micromanaging is not just another "leadership style." It harms people. When leaders micromanage, they send many negative messages to employees. Take a look at this list of more than 20 negative unspoken messages micromanagement sends to employees. Can you afford to let it happen in your organization?
Leaders: Can You Control Ethics?
By Linda Fisher Thornton
The question for today is "Can we control ethics?" Leaders have tried to control ethics with compliance-based systems (based on rules and penalties) but that does not tend to inspire people to ethical action. Leaders have tried to control ethics by running a tight ship, closely managing workers, but that does not bring out the best in people and may lead to workers not caring about protecting the company's reputation.
Ethical Failures: What Causes Them?
By Linda Fisher ThorntonMSJ-160130-08
This week Leaderonomics.com published "Understanding and Preventing Ethical Leadership Failures" as its Hard Talk Leadership Pick of the Week.
This article explores ethical failures and their individual and organizational causes.
It answers these leadership questions:
What are the intentional and unintentional causes of ethical failures?
What do you do when a senior leader isn't meeting ethical expectations?
What culture gaps can lead to ethical failures?
Modeling Ethical Leadership and Behavior
It is simultaneously a burden and an opportunity for us as leaders to model ethical behavior. It is a burden in that we must work hard to ensure that we are using the highest ethics. it is an opportunity in that by using ethical behavior brings out the best in us and those we lead.
15 Ways to Encourage Moral Growth in Leadership
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Moral Growth Is a Lifelong Pursuit
Moral education needs to start early, and it also needs to continue throughout our professional careers.
Unlocking Moral Awareness
How can we help leaders develop the moral thinking and awareness that they need to make good leadership choices? What specific conversations and experiences will support moral development?
What is Conscious Capitalism?
By Linda Fisher Thornton What is Conscious Capitalism? In last week's post, I explored how Ethics Means Acting Beyond Self Interest. This week, I’ll explore the same question at the organizational level. What are an organization’s ethical responsibilities? How is conscious…
Developing the Ethical Leader of the Future
by Linda Fisher Thornton
On Thursday, I spoke about The Future of Ethics and Business Leadership at the Richmond SHRM Strategic Leadership Conference. My lens was leadership development - how to help leaders be ready to lead ethically in a highly complex, connected future.
Here are some success principles for developing "Ethical Leader Future:"
Assessing Corporate Ethics
How Well are We Doing?
For those who want to be able to assess their progress toward ethical standards, this week I'm sharing tools for comparing business practices with global ethical standards.
Becoming “Business Leader Future”
"Business Leader Future" Post Struck a Chord With Readers
The response to the February 1, 2012 post "Business Leader Future: A Sketch" has been overwhelming. Thanks so much to all of you who retweeted, commented on and shared it on your favorite social media channels.
At the end of this post is a visual story, via Storify, of selected reader comments.
Top 100 Thinkers in Management, Leadership and Business
It is no surprise that there is not just one list of thinkers in management, leadership and business. There are many, and they vary in scope and topic.
Here is a wonderful sampling of some of the top thinkers that impact business, management and responsible leadership:
Ethical Leaders Care Part 2: In Action
Author's Note: As a follow up to the post "Ethical Leaders Care", this post explores what demonstrating "Care" looks like in action.
Encouraging and Supporting Others is a Leader's Job
It is our job as leaders to bring out the best performance each person has to offer. When we do that with care we ensure that we do that in ways that demonstrate care and respect for others and encourage each individual and group we lead to be the best that they can be.
Leadership is fundamentally about relationships and ethical behavior. It's about accomplishing the mission of the organizations we serve in ways that enhance trust and relationships with people and honor ethical principles. Caring for others and supporting their success is an important part of that responsibility.
Leaders & Social Media: 5 Reasons to Engage
Leaders and Information Overload
In today's world of work, we have to
keep up with an overwhelming amount of information
scan trends and forecasts and
incorporate the needs of multiple stakeholders into good solutions.
Our job is to make sense out of all of it in order to make work life easier for those we lead. Since the world changes fast, we have to learn fast... and share it fast with our employees...and adapt to what we've learned. Social media has become the fastest information media available, tackling emerging issues long before mainstream publications do.
Leading in Context 