Leading in Context

MAY 19, 2021

By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethical leaders can't really "control" organizations, but there are specific things they can do to bring out the best in others and teams to move the organization forward. Here are five things ethical leaders can and should control to have a positive impact on the organizations they lead.

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Leading in Context

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

By Linda Fisher Thornton After I published “Prevention or Cure: Your Choice” about reducing ethical risk and creating a positive culture a reader asked for more information about the business case for prevention.

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Leading in Context

MARCH 15, 2023

By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethical Culture is a System of Systems Don’t assume that an ethical culture will just happen in your workplace. Even if you are a good leader, ethical culture is a delicate thing, requiring intentional positive leadership and daily tending.

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Leading in Context

MARCH 16, 2022

By Linda Fisher Thornton In How Do You Recognize an Ethical Leader (Part 1) I shared 3 special qualities and behaviors that define ethical leadership. These three additional leadership outcomes even more directly impact others in a positive way.

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Leading in Context

APRIL 2, 2014

In spite of all the bad news you see in the media about ethics, we don''t build ethical cultures by focusing on the negative. Let''s face it - thinking about fraud, embezzlement and conflict of interest won''t make us better leaders. But that''s what many of us are focusing on in our organizations.

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Leading in Context

DECEMBER 27, 2023

Under the right conditions, employees may nudge each other to stay in the lane, and a positive, high trust culture helps create those conditions. And the potential problems that can happen (if an employee crosses the line and does something unethical) are numerous. Employees Nudge Each Other to Stay in the Lane

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Leading in Context

DECEMBER 28, 2022

By Linda Fisher Thornton The focus of this week’s post is on Ways to Inspire Leaders to Lead With Positive Ethical Values. Here are 3 ways to inspire leaders to reach for positive values – that also help you “do good” in your organization, community and world. .

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Leading in Context

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Each day brings new challenges that consume our time and require us to grow into higher levels of ethical awareness to avoid missteps and miscalculations. As we try to find stable footing in unstable times, ethical agility will be a factor in our success.

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Leading in Context

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

By Linda Fisher Thornton How do we help young people become ethical leaders? This is an important question because our long-term future depends on how well we prepare young people to make positive ethical choices and honor multiple dimensions of ethical responsibility.

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Leading in Context

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

By Linda Fisher Thornton The first post in this series, "The Missing Domain: Ethical Thinking" explored WHY leaders need to fill the gap and help people develop ethical thinking. I included this guidance on ethical thinking in a previous post: Ethical thinking means we never lose sight of our positive purpose.

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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.

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Leading in Context

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

By Linda Fisher ThorntonThere are many ways to define "ethical leadership" but there is increasing global interest in learning "ethical leadership" in a holistic and authentic way. This authentic ethical leadership takes us beyond laws and regulations, beyond respect for others and beyond traditional definitions of a business "win."

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Leading in Context

FEBRUARY 22, 2017

By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethics has a compounding effect on culture, and our leadership choices determine whether that effect will be positive or negative. Being diligent about ethics in every decision brings the culture ethics dividends. Being careless about ethics brings ethics penalties.

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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. There''s much more to being ready for the future of leadership than just staying aligned with positive values. Grounding our work in values is critically important but it''s not enough.

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Leading in Context

DECEMBER 11, 2013

By Linda Fisher Thornton I speak and write about the future of the ethical leadership, and how leaders and organizations can prepare for it. Today, I want to share with you the picture of the future that I see, based on a powerful movement toward positive, proactive ethical leadership.

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Leading in Context

AUGUST 6, 2014

By Linda Fisher Thornton Don''t assume that an ethical culture will just happen in your workplace. Even if you are a good leader, ethical culture is a delicate thing, requiring intentional positive leadership and daily tending. Why does building an ethical culture require so much more than good leadership?

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Leading in Context

AUGUST 13, 2014

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.

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Leading in Context

OCTOBER 9, 2013

Ethical leader don''t settle for the easy answers that offer them the most advantages. They intentionally take on tough questions like these: "What do ethical leaders do every day that makes such a positive difference in their organizations?" "How How does the ethical leader of the future think?". "How Ethical Leader'

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Leading in Context

SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

Because we are part of a connected society, we cannot think about ethics on a small scale. Our daily choices can have a global ripple effect, and that effect can be either positive or negative depending on our choices. We need to think on a global scale, and consider the long term impact of every decision.

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Leading in Context

DECEMBER 3, 2014

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.

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Leading in Context

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

By Linda Fisher Thornton CEOs are in a unique position to make ethics a priority through their everyday actions, but simply modeling ethics isn''t nearly enough. Here is a starting list of 5 actions CEOs can take that move organizations toward an ethical culture.

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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.

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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.

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Leading in Context

APRIL 15, 2015

By Linda Fisher Thornton Last week I blogged about 40 Ethical Culture Gaps to Avoid. This week, I''m sharing a ''What To Do" list of 40 Ways to Build an Ethical Culture. This list includes many ways to incorporate ethical values into daily organizational leadership. Use this "ethical to do list" to assess your culture.

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Leading in Context

JUNE 17, 2015

By Linda Fisher Thornton My Applied Ethics students asked a great question that I want to answer in today's post: "Which Values Are Ethical Values?" Quick Overview Not all values are ethical values. Some values, such as efficiency, do not have an ethical component.

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Leading in Context

JANUARY 18, 2017

Leaders need to be inspired to lead with positive values while dealing with the goals and expectations of multiple stakeholders. Here are the previous posts in the series if you missed them: Ready to Change the Ethics Quo (For Good)? Part 1 (Improve Accountability) Ready to Change the Ethics Quo (For Good)?

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Leading in Context

APRIL 8, 2015

By Linda Fisher Thornton Leaders set the tone for how ethical values are applied. They mentor those they lead, and serve as positive role models. for them to talk about ethical values and model what they look like in action. They must also fiercely protect the ethics of their organizations. It is not enough, though.

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Leading in Context

MAY 6, 2015

By Linda Fisher Thornton How do we help young people become ethical leaders? This is an important question because our long-term future depends on how well we prepare young people to make positive ethical choices and honor multiple dimensions of ethical responsibility.

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Leading in Context

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Will we work together to carefully paint a background theme of positive values, or will we just give everyone brushes and "see where it goes?". Context Ethical Organization 7 Lenses 7 lenses of ethical leadership define ethical leadership developing ethical leaders'

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Leading in Context

OCTOBER 21, 2015

By Linda Fisher Thornton While I specialize in positive, proactive ethical leadership, I frequently get asked questions about unethical leadership. In particular, readers ask about the damage that toxic leaders do in organizations and what situations and circumstances lead to ethical failures.

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Leading in Context

MARCH 23, 2016

By Linda Fisher Thornton Ethics and detachment don't mix well. In fact, combining high ethical expectations with an aloof stance can lead to trouble.

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Leading in Context

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

By Linda Fisher Thornton When we lead for the greater good, we leave a positive legacy for future generations. At this highest level of ethical leadership, we ensure quality of life and opportunities for others we may never meet, well into the future. We intentionally create a better world.

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Leading in Context

APRIL 22, 2015

We could make a powerful positive difference through our leadership. Complexity Ethical Leader Ethical Thinking 7 lenses of ethical leadership define ethical leadership ethical leadership context ethical leadership questions leadership blog'

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Leading in Context

APRIL 11, 2018

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?

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Leading in Context

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

By Linda Fisher Thornton I am a long-time advocate of systems thinking. It has risen in importance as an increasing number of our greatest human challenges can't we understood or resolved without it. Today, I'm taking a look at new findings on the human microbiome, which is known to impact the brain in important ways.

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Leading in Context

JANUARY 10, 2018

we can turn our attention to the longer-term impact we have on others - our positive legacy. . By Linda Fisher Thornton When we think about leadership in the "here and now" we tend to think about what will be most effective in the short run. When we think about our leadership over decades, though.

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Leading in Context

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

By Linda Fisher Thornton Positive leadership is a new term that is popping up regularly in articles. What kind of leadership do we describe as positive? What does it mean?

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