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, besides telling people how important ethics is and demonstrating it in everyday behavior and choices.
5 Ways CEOs Can Build an Ethical Culture
1. Expect respectful, ethical behavior, and quickly correct behavior that doesn’t measure up
2. Make it safe for people to talk about the ethical grey areas they encounter in their work
3. Talk about the organization’s values, ethics expectations and industry ethics codes
4. Give people the opportunity to practice making good ethical decisions
5. Talk openly about the ethical decisions you are making, and why they are so important
Why is proactively making ethics a priority so critical? CEOs protect the character of their organizations. They set the example that others follow. They have the responsibility for creating a ripple of ethical behavior, choices, and conversations throughout their organizations.
Forward-thinking CEOs embrace this responsibility to protect the character of the organizations. When they talk openly about their own efforts to make ethical decisions, they also magnify that learning on an organizational scale.
For more, see Linda’s book 7 Lenses and the 21 Question Assessment: How Current is My Message About Ethics?
2014 Bronze Axiom Business Book Award Winner
About 7 Lenses
Info@LeadinginContext.com @leadingincontxt @7Lenses
© 2013 Leading in Context LLC
Leading in Context 
The safety issue you raise here is so important. People must feel encouraged to speak up and question.
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There is another way that is perhaps implied in your list but may need to be more explicit. That is to support middle managers who make ethical decisions and come down very hard on those who rely on unethical techniques to enforce their control. I’ve seen some very ethical CEOs tolerate unethical behavior by middle managers because they “got the job done” or hit their financial goals. That negated any positive influence from the top. The CEO has to lead by example but also be an enforcer when others refuse to get the message.
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The question is, what happens what happens when the CEO is perceived as going outside of that ethical box on a regular basis. The banking/financial services sector has come under a lot of scrutiny for this in recent history.
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