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How To Be An Ethical Leader

How To Be An Ethical Leader
by Paula Fernandes

You don't have to look much further than the news to find stories of corrupt leaders engaged in all sorts of ethical breaches. As the adage goes, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." An abuse of power can get people into trouble, destroy careers and even bring down entire industries.

So how do entrepreneurs and business owners rise above the fray and establish themselves as ethical leaders? The consensus of many experts in this area is that it must be done intentionally, by modeling ethical conduct and weaving it organically into every level of their organizations.

"For leaders to be viewed as ethical, they must ensure that everyone – leaders, team members, customers, everyone – is treated with trust, respect and dignity in every interaction," said S. Chris Edmonds, executive consultant and founder of The Purposeful Culture Group. "To accomplish that, leaders must create a culture where values – how people treat each other – are as important as results, every day."

Creating a culture of ethics

To create this sort of ethics-focused company culture, start at the top, says leadership consultant and author Linda Fisher Thornton in her book "7 Lenses: Learning the Principles and Practices of Ethical Leadership" (2013).

"Ethical leaders have a tremendous impact on how people in their organizations behave and what they achieve," Thornton said. "Effective leaders focus on what's right and exemplify to their people that they are there to help, and not to exploit the vulnerabilities of others."

Once a company's leaders are on board, the next step is to instill this commitment to ethics throughout the organization. This may seem a bit daunting at first, but it is necessary in creating a business environment where ethical lapses are the anomaly and not the norm.
 
"Employees behave ethically when the required ethical behavior is described to them in unambiguous terms and then modeled consistently at every level of the organization and recognized and rewarded," said Paul Glover, who provides ethics training and coaching to organizational leaders.

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