Ethics and Leadership

     It is very common to hear the words ethics and leadership in the same sentence or at least in the same conversation. We have heard many news stories in the recent years about unethical acts by key leaders in key organizations like WorldCom, Enron, Fannie Mae and Tyco to name just a few. If you do a Google search you will find hundreds. As a result a tremendous amount of focus and money has gone into increasing the education and training on proper ethical behavior. Unfortunately, I can sum up all of this expensive training for you in one sentence - do what is right, and don't do what is wrong.
     As you can see, this level of training may not solve all of our problems since what is right and what is wrong is still not defined. But what would happen if we ignore this aspect of leadership and continue to do the best we can in other areas? Is being an ethical leader even important? The answer to these questions is that it is extremely critical to focus on this subject and if you are not an ethical leader - you will not be a leader for long. The reasons being an ethical leader are so critical is because if you are not you create an environment that is unfair, authoritative, controlling, insincere, and ultimately demoralizing to the point that your team, department, division, business, or corporation fails. It can fail because it was exposed for illegal practices or it can fail because you have lost your most critical asset - your employees. If your department or company experiences high level of turnover due to unethical leadership you are never able to move forward since you have to train and retrain new staff. Creativity cannot flow. Productivity is stagnant since the people that are there are going through the motions and more than likely spending most of their time looking for other jobs.
     So let's define ethics. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ethics as “discipline dealing with good and evil and with moral duty." As I first read this definition I automatically wondered how is "discipline" defined as well as "moral." Discipline is defined as "field of study or subject." Moral is defined as "conforming to standard of right behavior." Okay, now that we have defined ethics, discipline, and moral - do we know what ethical leadership looks like? If you're anything like me, then you probably still do not. So let’s look at the definition of ethics one more time. “Discipline dealing with good and evil and with moral duty.” I finally saw the most critical components of the definition and underlined them for you. Most of us do know what good and evil looks like since it is very intrinsic and does not require much training. When something bad is happening to you - you feel it in your gut, you feel uncomfortable, and you question what is going on. When something good is happening to you - it is clear as day because you have a big smile on your face. You feel peace and joy, and you want to feel like that again. Ethical behavior is nothing more than how you make people feel! How do you think the people at Enron felt when they were asked to produce financial books that they knew were not accurate? Do you think they felt peace and joy and asked for more? I would venture to say no. More than likely they felt very uneasy, they questioned what was happening, and they probably felt very uncomfortable knowing they might lose their jobs. Focus on how your actions are making people feel and you will be able to determine if you are an ethical leader.
     Unfortunately, there are leaders that do not know how they are making people feel. There are other leaders that may want to know and are wondering how can I find out how my employees feel? Ask them! It would be a safe practice if you are looking to improve your leadership ability to start asking your employees on a frequent basis - what do you think of this plan? Please provide me your feedback on what we discussed here today. Please know that I value your opinion and want to know what you think and how you feel. You may be amazed at what you find out if you just ask. I have to pre-warn you. What you hear you may not always like - but that's what separates leaders from non-leaders. If you truly want to improve your ethical behavior and as result your department, company, etc., then you have to start paying attention to how you are making people feel. And if ever in doubt, start asking. One of the best leadership books out there with a tremendous focus on good and evil and with moral duty is the bible. If you are already reading it regularly, then begin to see the teachings from a leadership perspective. If you are not reading the bible, then I strongly suggest you begin. The greatest leader of all time is Jesus Christ. Being a leader is getting people to willingly follow you no matter where you go - Jesus did that. His following has extended beyond his time on earth and thousands of years. To this day, millions of people are still following Jesus.