Leadership and Ethics - Teach It

I do not believe that unethical behavior can unknowingly occur if a leader has proper values and intentions. A leader who is ethically based will not knowingly break laws, deny rights, endanger lives or deceive or exploit employees, customers, stake holders or society.

However, I do believe that an ethically based leader may find him or herself in situations where they have discovered that they have acted inappropriately due to others in power who have deceived others in order to take advantage of the situation. For example, if a leader discovers funds have been misused, or expenses exaggerated, or discrimination or other unethical behavior has occurred in a department or company, this becomes the moment of truth for any ethical leader. At that moment, an ethically based leader will make a decision to fight to correct the problem within the company, notify authorities or leave the company. This may seem simplistic, but I believe that if more leaders stood up against unethical behavior, there would be less of it.

In my opinion, the problem of corporate scandals relates to a general decline of ethical standards within society as a whole. An employee who cheats on an expense account, or takes supplies from the supply room, is as guilty of stealing as the corporate executive who cheats employees, customers or stockholders. While, one may be more costly, and has greater negative impact than the other, they are both ethically incorrect. For this reason, more time and energy needs to be spent teaching general ethics to employees and executives. With communication and training, it is clear to all involved what is ethical, and how to address problems when they are discovered.

I believe that a true leader must not only drive results for a company, but must also realize their social contract they have with employees, customers, the community, etc When profits, career advancement, and greed are not balanced with a social conscious, then grey areas between right and wrong become more difficult to distinguish. When misuse of funds, or misappropriate use of employees, discrimination, etc., occur all of us have a choice. We can ignore it, and become accomplices to the problem. We can fight to improve the situation in order to be leaders in improving the situation. Or, if we cannot improve the situation internally, we can leave to find a better ethical match somewhere else.

James Gehrke is the President of Magnify Leadership and Development.
Magnify Leadership and Development
6232 South Vinecrest Drive Murray, Utah 84121 Phone: 801-266-0849
Email: info@magnifyleadership.com
Website: http://www.magnifyleadership.com

After various promotions in Sales, Sales Operations, Training & Development, and Sales Management and Training, he headed Pfizers Learning & Development for all of Europe, Canada, Africa, & the Middle East where he was instrumental in the development of a global management curriculum and other training initiatives to enhance organizational effectiveness for over 30,000 employees. He has worked on many high levels, cross functional teams addressing issues such as Field Force Effectiveness, Change Leadership, Leader Behavior Development, Executive Coaching and many others.

Since starting his own training company, James has developed and trained both public and private leadership, coaching, targeting and territory management sessions for hundreds of participants in various industries. James is bilingual and can teach in both English and Spanish. To contact Magnify Leadership and Development, visit us at http://www.magnifyleadership.com

How Do You Define Integrity Within Your Business Ethics Or Business Values Statement?
Recently during a radio interview, one of the hosts made this statement:Integrity is putting your values into action. Robin S...

The Critical Importance of Business Ethics For Effective Leadership
How important are business ethics to being an effective leader? According to the American Management Association, it is an i...

Work Ethics - A Paradigm Shift
Work ethics is a hot topic in todays business and educational worlds. Yet, how do we define this hybrid phrase with the word...

Ethics - Perspective Of A Felon
Does it come as a big surprise that a convicted felonindeed, a white collar criminalwould have developed some thoughts about ...

Corporate Ethics - Ensuring Business Stability
For businesses to reach financial stability, good morale and client satisfaction, corporate ethics must be a guiding policy f...

To Understand the Lack of Business Ethics Look to Education
So you want high business ethics? Well, that may just be a pipe dream if the data from existing universities is confirmed th...

Self Importance Reveals Your Own Business Ethics and Unimportance
How many times have you attended a business networking event and observed the following: People talking on the cell phones wh...

Are Poor Business Ethics From Your Management Team Costing You Business Relationships?
Much is written about the lack of integrity, poor work ethics and business ethics of the rank and file employees. Yet, is yo...

Business Ethics Training - Why Important?
Many people wonder if business ethics is just a buzzword that has been tossed around lately, due to some of the aggressive ta...

A New Era of Unethical Behavior - Nu Leadership Series
Wealth in the new regime flows directly from innovation, not optimization; that is, wealth is not gained by perfecting the kn...

Integrity The Foundation of Leadership
In the post-Enron world of the early-21st century, integrity, and its cousin ethics, are words that get plenty of air time an...

Poor Ethics Reflect Poor Business Professionalism & Potentially Poor Business Results
Years ago, when earning my Masters, I came across What to Do If Youre Riding a Dead Horse?and put it into one of those save f...

Pragmatic Ethics; Are You a Liar in Disguise?
Have you ever met someone who puts themselves out as ethical at every turn, always talking about ethics like a Catholic Pries...

To Change Business Ethics Starts By Changing Beliefs
Are the business work ethics and values in your organization suffering? Would you like to improve these critical skills nece...

Define Your Position: Values, Ethics & Leadership
Some call it wearing ones heart on the sleeve; others call it wearing their emotions. If the discussion is of values and ethi...

The Ugly Issue of Sex, Lies, and Credibility - Nu Leadership Series
An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. r Dwight D. EisenhowerHave you ever ...

How To Build A Business Ethics Program
Recent corporate financial scandals have highlighted the importance of business ethics and legal compliance. Yet a recent Nat...

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that examines just rules and principles within a commercial context; the various ...

Basics Of Ethics And Morals
Throughout history, man has always struggled with the issue of right and wrong and ethics and justice. According to the dicti...

Teens Face Ethical Dilemma-Can We Help?
In a recent survey, teens reported, by a stunning margin (81%) that they felt significant pressure to succeed or achieve no ...