An organisation run by ethical leaders who practice ethics vs merely talking about it (conceptual) has the potential to create a culture of psychological safety and trust. Where employees feel they are treated with respect and kindness, and where people feel they belong, can speak up, be creative and thrive.
So how can we influence leaders to lead ethically?
Leading ethically is a practice that all leaders can engage in, cultivate and further develop through ongoing and dedicated training and development offered and promoted by L&D personnel. This article provides guidance for facilitating this practice but first of all, let’s remind ourselves what we mean by ethics.
we can create conditions that allow and encourage others to grow and develop.
Ethics are, as I like to say, our ‘inner basic goodness compass’ that guides our actions (or non-actions) of thinking, communicating and behaving.
Often our inner compass gets buried under the surface of the demands of everyday work life. This is particularly true for leaders who suffer from high demands to do more, faster and better in an increasingly complex, uncertain and brittle world.
Ethics as an inherent compass
Ethics is not a skill we acquire like learning a language, marketing or accounting. It’s our inherent intuition for what is good and right for ourselves, others, the organisation and world.
It lies much deeper than our conditioned personality and behaviour, which are always a mix of positive and negative tendencies and it refers to our primordial nature, which is unconditionally wholesome because it is intrinsically attuned to reality, to how things are.
If we place ethics at the heart of organisational development it will inevitably influence company culture because as leaders we determine company culture: what we model, how we show up, how we act and how we are.
We always have an impact on others and organisational life. And as leaders, we can create conditions that allow and encourage others to grow and develop.
How L&D can play its part
Here’s how L&D staff can play a hugely influential role by consciously placing ethics at the heart of organisational training and development.
First:
Invite and facilitate a conversation with your senior leadership team about ethical leadership.
Ask: What does leading ethically mean for you? How do you know you lead ethically? What is its importance in the workplace? And how, as a leader, can you establish a regular self-reflective practice?
Start with the things that leaders are already doing well and that are guided by their ethical awareness and the values that drive their actions.
Second:
Follow on from this exploratory conversation and encourage and help leaders to use the framework below for ethical practice in leadership for regular self-reflection.
To further support leaders in this, you could establish and host a regular reflection practice for your leadership team.
It doesn’t have to be a long session (30-60 minutes) but it has to be regular for it to become a positive practice and part of company culture. Leaders in turn can then introduce reflection practice to their teams.
Awareness
What have you noticed today in yourself and others?
Where have I pursued my own interests at the expense of others?
Where have I judged someone harshly?
Where have I acted from a lack of clarity?
Where did I listen attentively to a colleague and was in good communication?
Attitude
What has my attitude been today?
What has my overall attitude been today?
Where have I been unkind, judgemental, reactive, dishonest, aggressive, or dismissive?
What did it feel like in the body?
Where have I been kind, non-judgemental, open, honest, compassionate, inclusive?
What did it feel like in the body?
Relationships:
How have I related and connected to others today (or not)?
Who have I disliked today and, consciously or unconsciously, pushed away or pushed out?
Where have I turned towards others with interest and generosity?
Have I included everyone as best as I could?
Have I harmed anyone through my words, my way of thinking or behaving?
Where have I chosen to walk away from a situation or someone?
Values
What is it that most matters to me and where have I fallen below my own standard?
What happened here?
Where have I not shown up in the way I wanted to show up?
Where have I been the leader I want to be and which value(s) was I in touch with?
Where have I been guided by self-interest, wanting, pride or grandiosity?
Have I favoured some over others and why? What are my unconscious biases?
Learning
What have I learned today?
What do I need to unlearn?
What could I do differently next time?
What can I get curious about?
Where does my focus need to be now?
- Encourage leaders to buddy up with a peer leader to hold each other accountable on their ethical practice and to share feedback and learning. Support leaders by setting up a simple buddy system and check in with leaders on their regular buddying.
- Set up regular slots during which leaders get the opportunity to share their experience of leading ethically. Hearing leaders speak from and share their own personal story is powerful because it connects us to our humanity. It’s the very thing that most shapes company culture. This could be part of your regular staff meetings. And if you don’t do these yet, perhaps it’s time to start them.
- If your company culture doesn’t support the practice of ethical leadership, you can do what I call practising ethics horizontally vs vertically (top down). This means that you start with your own L&D team and introduce reflection practice on ethical leadership in 1:1 or team meetings; you can model inviting feedback, and making time and space for reflection on one’s actions, communication and behaviour. Change always begins with one person or team. Its ripple effect hardly ever goes unnoticed.
Leading ethically requires courage.
Leading ethically requires a brave and sturdy heart that can love our imperfections, can listen, speak up, hear feedback, make amends and learn.
Leading ethically requires courage. Without courage no other virtues are possible.
Leading ethically has nothing to do with morality, sentimentalism or weakness and all to do with being human, authentic and with seeing ourselves and others as they really are.
