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. This post will begin to unravel HOW to do that.
I included this guidance on ethical thinking in a previous post:
Ethical thinking means we never lose sight of our positive purpose. We choose to be the sum of our values, not our challenges.
How do we make sure we are acting as the sum of our values and not our challenges? We need to find ways to keep ethical values alive so that the “values voice” is heard just as loudly as these voices:
- Shrinking profit margins
- Tight product development timelines
- Lean staffing and heavy workload
Exercising Our Values Voice
When our “values voice” is at least as loud as those other voices, we can avoid these unethical scenarios that can happen when we address our challenges without values:
- Shrinking profit margins (Unethical Scenario: making more money by ignoring ethics)
- New product development timelines (Unethical Scenario: cutting safety corners to meet deadlines)
- Lean staffing and heavy workload (Unethical Scenario: overworking employees instead of finding innovative ways to do work)
Don’t let it happen in your organization. Challenges are “loud” and urgent.
People need to learn how to think through their difficult challenges while staying grounded in ethical values. The first step is making it clear that our values always drive our choices. To avoid having your team get pulled away from ethics, exercise your “values voice.”
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Unleash the Positive Power of Ethical Leadership®
©2017 Leading in Context LLC
Leading in Context 
Linda:
Thank you once again for your powerful insights about ethics and leadership. You capture so many important concepts that so badly need to be understood in today’s world. Would that our leaders act as you describe!
Cam
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