By Linda Fisher Thornton Any time you draw a line that excludes, you're leaving ethical territory. That's a bold statement, but when someone draws a dividing line that intentionally excludes people or groups, it can lead to an "us versus them" mentality. And from there, it's a short slippery slope to this and more...
Tag: ethical leadership
How Do You Recognize an Ethical Leader? (Part 1)
By Linda Fisher Thornton How do you recognize an Ethical Leader? Today I'll share 3 special approaches to the leadership role that are central to ethical leadership. These are ways that ethical leaders understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to others and world.
The Disinformation Machine
By Linda Fisher Thornton Global unrest is being fueled by widespread misinformation campaigns. Who's fueling these campaigns? The bad actors who are creating misinformation? Or the platforms who intentionally or unintentionally share false information for profit? Or the people who believe the disinformation they read and incite violence? Or the leaders who fail to recognize the clear and present danger of the disinformation machine? Or the leaders who do recognize the danger and turn away, doing nothing? Together, all of these are fueling the disinformation machine in a systemic self-reinforcing loop.
How Dangerous Are Conspiracy Theories?
By Linda Fisher Thornton How likely are we to believe things that aren't true? According to Lynne Malcolm in The psychology of conspiracy theories, "Psychological research suggests that we're all conspiracy theorists, thanks in a large part to our cognitive makeup."
Top 10 Posts of 2021: Leading in Context Blog
By Linda Fisher Thornton Of the 52 individual posts published on the Leading in Context Blog in 2021, these 10 were the most popular. See if you notice a theme that connects these new topics that readers accessed most frequently:
Ethical Leadership Questions for the New Year
By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethical leadership is evolving, and expectations are increasing. As we get closer to the New Year, here are some questions to ponder:
Conquer These Leadership Temptations In The New Year
By Linda Fisher Thornton We’re starting a new year, with fresh possibilities, and it is a good time to think about our leadership values. What do we believe? How do we treat others? What matters to us? Can people determine our values by watching how we treat people?
22 Quotes to Inspire Leaders in the New Year (Part 1)
By Linda Fisher Thornton Are your leaders prepared for the year ahead? Each day will bring new challenges, and to succeed within ethical boundaries, we’ll all need a clear picture of “good leadership.” This series is an annual tradition and this year’s posts include 22 quotes (each linked to a post with leadership guidance) to inspire you to grow your leadership skills to be ready for whatever 2022 may bring. Part 1 includes the first 11.
Setting Stretch Goals? Build in Ethics
By Linda Fisher Thornton Employers using stretch goals to motivate employees to higher levels of performance need to take note of the ethical risk. If the push for higher performance doesn't come with an emphasis on ethical behavior, it may be encouraging cheating.
Leading the Way Forward (Part 1)
By Linda Fisher Thornton Each year I curate a list of sites that write about trends that will change how we do business in the coming year. This year’s list includes some ongoing trends from last year and some fresh ideas and new directions. Take a look at the 60+ trends at the links below and start getting ready for what’s ahead!
World Values Day: Reconnecting Through Values
By Linda Fisher Thornton Tomorrow is World Values Day, an annual campaign to increase the awareness and practice of values around the world. This year's core theme is about reconnecting. Here are some insights about World Values Day from worldvaluesday.com, as well as a new article I wrote for World Values Day on the theme of Reconnecting Through Values.
The Journey to Authentic Leadership
By Linda Fisher Thornton The journey to authentic leadership is not an easy one. It's full of challenges, and it requires developing a high level of self- and other-awareness over time. "Knowledge experiences" alone won't be enough to stimulate the kind of learning that is required on this important journey.
Seeing Past Our Point of View
By Linda Fisher Thornton Have you noticed the steady increase in the complexity of navigating our daily lives? It feels like we have too many choices, too much information, and not enough time. More information and more choices would be great if we had the time to research and decide, but the reality is that it's difficult and time consuming to sort out which information is reliable and which is not. Seeing and appreciating other ways of doing things is not just a nice-to-have ability. In a connected global society, it's an essential skill. To achieve mutual benefit and collaboration, we will need to see the world from other perspectives that differ from our own, respect those perspectives, and work together toward shared goals. Leaders who don't know how and don't make the effort to change can be thought of as intentionally "unseeing" important aspects of the context and their leadership responsibility.
Different Perspectives (They’re Not a Threat)
By Linda Fisher Thornton Differences of opinion can be inconvenient and uncomfortable. We may be in a discussion with someone who has very different views from ours on a topic of great importance to us. How we handle it shows others the inner workings of our character.
Adaptability is an Ethical Issue
By Linda Fisher Thornton Ego-driven leaders want to be "right" even when the evidence shows otherwise. They see rightness as something fixed that they can control. Of course, it isn't fixed and they can't control it, but they may not want to be confused with the facts. Conversely, when ego is not driving the thinking process, leaders can adapt to changing information and circumstances and change their minds.
Leading in Context 