Leading in Context

JUNE 18, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton I was asked recently to explain in simple terms how ethics and trust are related. It is a great question, because we define trust and ethics in so many different ways. Here are some observations about how trust and ethics are related, and what their relationship means for us as organizational leaders.

Ethics 267

Ethics System Leadership Development Organization 267

Leading in Context

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethical expectations are continually increasing, and it is not always easy for leaders to keep up with the changes. This week, I''m sharing an assessment to help you answer the question "How current is my message about ethics?".

Ethics 268

Ethics Trends Leadership Development Organization 268

Leading in Context

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton What is the ultimate goal of leadership? This is an interesting question that seems simple enough at first, and then begins to get tricky as we think more about it. The tricky part is that we can''t answer it in one simple statement. Is it to provide direction and show the way? Is it to respect and serve? Is it to support others and remove obstacles?

Goal 266

Goal Ethics Leadership Mentor 266

Leading in Context

APRIL 9, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Have you noticed that well-being is trending? It''s not enough to provide fair pay and good work conditions any more. People want to participate in something meaningful and work in high-trust cultures where they can flourish. They seek out companies that care about their well-being.

Trends 264

Trends Ethics Participative Leadership Development 264

Leading in Context

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton If you think your customers are separate from your business, you are behind the times. Customers are becoming part of the fabric of organizations in ways that meet their very specific needs. This week I describe 5 powerful trends that are changing the rules of business, and require a heightened ethical awareness.

Ethics 263

Ethics Trends Power Leadership Development 263

Leading in Context

JANUARY 1, 2014

'These timely articles published in Fox Business, The CEO Magazine, the Management Excellence Blog and the LeadBig Blog, detail the mindset for ethical leadership success and the specific action steps that leaders can take to be intentional and proactive about ethical leadership. As you read, think about how taking these positive actions can transform your organization in the New Year.

Ethics 263

Ethics Magazine Blog CEO 263

Leading in Context

APRIL 16, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton I must admit that I can''t take the credit for coming up with the catchy title of this post. A group of attendees at a recent keynote I delivered came up with it as a way to describe what they had learned. And it makes perfect sense. Ethics is catching, and leaders set the tone for the ethics of the organization. What would happen if everyone in the organization followed our lead?

Ethics 260

Ethics Follow-up Leadership Development Organization 260

Leading in Context

AUGUST 20, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton How many times have we tried to teach people about ethics by explaining every detail of what it doesn''t look like? We describe laws and regulations and ethics guidelines in great detail, then ask attendees if there are any questions. After learning in great detail how to stay out of trouble, the thought on their minds may just be "Okay, now I know what NOT to do.

Ethics 259

Ethics Examples Guidelines Learning-by-Doing 259

Leading in Context

JULY 23, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Generating an intentional positive ethical impact is the successful ethical leadership of the future, and it''s already here. The Forum For the Future describes it as net positive leadership - making a positive contribution to society and leaving things better than we found them.

Positioning 254

Positioning Ethics Leadership Trends 254

Leading in Context

JULY 9, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Trustworthy leaders know how to create a workplace where everyone is valued, where leadership is sincere and respectful, and where great work can get done. How do they do it? What is it in particular that trustworthy leaders do?

Ethics 254

Ethics Leadership Development Development Leadership 254

Leading in Context

JUNE 4, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton I was weeding in the garden this week, and I discovered two new weeds that were taller than I was. I started thinking about how quickly things can get away from us, in the garden and in our organizations. There are things we must do to build a high trust workplace. But there are equally important things that we must prevent or weed out for trust to flourish.

Ethics 254

Ethics Blog Organization Leadership 254

Leading in Context

DECEMBER 17, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton How do we lead when we want to bring out the best in people? These 12 Gifts of Leadership are on the wish lists of employees around the world. They aren’t expensive. They don’t require dealing with the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, and one size fits all. Sure, these gifts are harder to give […].

Ethics 250

Ethics Leadership 250

Leading in Context

OCTOBER 1, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton We owe it to our employees to make ethics real. People learning ethics are often given "blah blah boring" material (and then expected to remember and apply it). I believe that this is not just a mistake, it''s a crime! Why? Because ethics is anything but boring. Ethics is really interesting stuff when you dive into its complexities.

Ethics 250

Ethics Organization Team Leadership 250

Leading in Context

MAY 21, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Much attention is paid to the tactics of ethics - the ethics codes, compliance plans and such. We can easily begin to think that ethics is something we can see and touch. Something finite. Something written in stone. Something outside of ourselves. But that''s not where ethics lives.

Ethics 250

Ethics Compliance Tactics Leadership Development 250

Leading in Context

DECEMBER 3, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton The graphics at the links below tell the story of the future of responsible leadership. They describe the kind of leadership that is respectful, caring and ethically aware. This is the positive leadership that engages employees in meaningful work and helps builds an ethical culture. My hope is that you will share this story with your leadership team and plan now for the future, using the questions that follow.

Ethics 249

Ethics Leadership Trends Planning 249

Leading in Context

MARCH 5, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Character is important, but leading ethically in the fullest sense requires much more than just demonstrate good character. In this 2 minute video, I describe 7 different perspectives that you may be hearing around the table as you discuss ethical dilemmas in your organization. Instead of being competing perspectives, each one is an important element of the full picture of what it means to lead ethically in a global society.

Globalization 250

Globalization Ethics Video System 250

Leading in Context

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Good leaders Intentionally build trust. They build it through everyday words and actions. They build it by demonstrating that they can be trusted. They also build it when they extend trust to others. Many leaders wait for people to prove themselves before they trust them, but trust is reciprocal. Leaders set the tone for trust-building by how open they are to trusting others first.

Ethics 246

Ethics Leadership Development Development Leadership 246

Leading in Context

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton I recently blogged about trends in ethical leadership, sharing 10 forces that are fueling a movement toward higher expectations for values-based leadership. Today I want to explore how those trends help explain what we are seeing in ethics cases in the news. Recent headlines have described more severe sanctions than people have seen in the past, in response to ethics problems in sports, politics, business and beyond.

Ethics 245

Ethics Trends Sports Politics 245

Leading in Context

JANUARY 8, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Staying competent is an important part of today''s proactive ethical leadership. As we head into 2014, the trend reports at the links below will give you a "business leader''s preview" of what to expect in sectors that range from consumer trends, human resources, leadership and marketing to food, and technology. Enjoy!

Trends 245

Trends Reputation Ethics Human Resources 245

Leading in Context

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Why is it so difficult to agree on the right thing to do? One of the reasons we may not agree is that each of us may be using a different definition of what is "good." Here are 7 different interpretations of what is ethically good, based on the framework in 7 Lenses: Learning the Principles and Practices of Ethical Leadership (2013).

Ethics 243

Ethics Definition Trends Learning-by-Doing 243

Leading in Context

JANUARY 22, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton I am honored that "7 Lenses: Principles and Practices" was included in the "Tributes to Mandela" issue of Leadership Excellence Essentials. This issue also includes articles by Warren Bennis, Dave Ulrich, Tom Peters and many others.

Ulrich 244

Ulrich Ethics Leadership Leadership Development 244

Leading in Context

AUGUST 27, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton A quiet group of stakeholders is being considered in leadership conversations. They can''t weigh in on major decisions, but they have a lot at stake in the decisions that get made. They are silent stakeholders, and the decisions we make in our meetings every day affects them directly.

Ethics 241

Ethics Leadership Development Positioning Organization 241

Leading in Context

AUGUST 13, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton There have been many stories about unethical CEOs in the news, but not as many about the good ones. That''s a shame, because the ethical CEO is a positive powerhouse - devoted to serving employees, customers, and communities. I thought it would be helpful to describe some of the critical functions of the ethical CEO that enable organizational success.

Ethics 239

Ethics CEO Organization Positioning 239

Leading in Context

FEBRUARY 26, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton In the quest for corporate integrity, we must do a number of things well. We need to have clear expectations for what ethical leadership looks like in our organization; we need a congruent system for managing ethics that sends a consistent message; and we need a clear message about what taking responsibility for ethics really means to us.

Ethics 240

Ethics Trends Education Globalization 240

Leading in Context

JULY 16, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Today I''m sharing hand-picked resources about how to build an ethical culture. The most recent one was just published this week by Government Executive magazine. They acknowledge complexity, and are based on performance improvement and ethical principles. This collection provides practical advice for how to build high trust cultures and keep the ethics conversation alive.

Ethics 238

Ethics How To Trends Magazine 238

Leading in Context

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Last week I wrote about how to prepare for leadership future by staying centered in ethical values. Grounding our work in values is critically important but it''s not enough. There''s much more to being ready for the future of leadership than just staying aligned with positive values. This week I''m sharing a graphic about 5 other variables that need to be in place to build a (positive) ethical culture.

Ethics 237

Ethics Trends Positioning Organization 237

Leading in Context

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton This week the Alliance of Trustworthy Business Experts from Trust Across America-Trust Around the World is holding a social media awareness campaign called #Trustgiving2014, In support of that campaign, I am featuring 10 posts about what it means to be a trustworthy leader. They include individual actions and organizational commitments that build trust.

Ethics 237

Ethics Trends Media Commitment 237

Leading in Context

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton We are expected to make ethical decisions in a rapidly changing global society, where there is increasing awareness of what "ethical" means. The question of where ethics is headed has been the focus of my research over the last four years. I have learned that to be considered ethical, we must consider more constituents, honor more dimensions of ethics, and lead ethically through higher levels of complexity.

Ethics 237

Ethics Trends Leadership Development Globalization 237

Leading in Context

JULY 2, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Workplace issues are complex and opinions vary about the right thing to do in challenging situations. This complexity and uncertainty combine to create a "murky uncertainty" that may keep people from giving us their best, most ethical performance.

Uncertainty 237

Uncertainty Ethics Organization Leadership 237

Leading in Context

MAY 28, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton As we strive to build ethical organizations, we must remember that our target is moving. As the world changes, ethical expectations change. It would be easier to develop ethical leaders and build ethical organizations if ethics were a fixed destination. A point on the map. A line in the sand. But it''s just not that simple.

Ethics 237

Ethics Trends Blog Leadership Development 237

Leading in Context

MAY 7, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton In the 200th Leading in Context Blog Post, I wrote about Learning at the Speed of Life. To celebrate the 250th post, I want to reflect on what it''s been like to work every day in the stretch beyond the comfort zone.

Blog 237

Blog Ethics Leadership Development Development 237

Leading in Context

DECEMBER 24, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton This holiday season I wish you wonder - the joyful, expectant mindset that comes with not knowing how things will turn out, but thinking they''re going to be good. I don''t mean the ordinary type of wonder, such as wondering what you''ll have for dinner. I''m talking about the magical kind of wonder. This type of wonder refreshes our hopefulness, and keeps us open-minded and expectant.

Ethics 236

Ethics Positioning Leadership 236

Leading in Context

OCTOBER 22, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton During the recent 2014 NeuroLeadership Summit, Jamil Zaki (an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Stanford) talked about an interesting experiment the Stanford Neuroscience Lab did. The team took a large number of Fortune 100 statements of company values and generated a word cloud from them to see which word would appear most often.

Ethics 236

Ethics Leadership Development Development Leadership 236

Leading in Context

DECEMBER 10, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton As we head into the New Year, use these questions to plan how you will transform your leadership, your workplace and your world.

Ethics 254

Ethics Planning Leadership 254

Leading in Context

MAY 14, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton Sometimes in the rush to make a quick leadership decision, we end up "dumming down" an issue to speed up the process. "Dumming down" an issue may make the decision easier to make, but it may also lead us to make choices without considering current information, trends or context. Decisions made that way can cause problems.

Ethics 236

Ethics Trends Information Organization 236

Leading in Context

OCTOBER 15, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton To build a strong ethical culture, leaders should take a positive, preventive approach to ethics. That would include communicating clear ethical values and expectations and quickly stopping any unethical behavior. But those things are not enough by themselves. There are cultural factors that either enable our prevention efforts or disable them.

Ethics 232

Ethics Leadership Development Positioning Organization 232

Leading in Context

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

'By Linda Fisher Thornton It would be "easy [.] for organizations and leaders to become frozen by the magnitude of the changes under way" (McKinsey & Co., Management Intuition For the Next 50 Years). Success in future leadership requires being nimble and adaptive, flexing with constant change, and being ready for anything. How should we stay grounded as we avoid crises and manage our way through a maze of increasing expectations?

Ethics 231

Ethics McKinsey Leadership Organization 231