Ethical leadership on a page

The four images above represent the major concepts supporting a discussion about ethical leadership:

​The Chinese symbols for trust ​(or trustworthy, or reliable).  Everything we do either builds or destroys trust.  Building trust should be our priority.

Ethical leadership continuum.  Being ethically aware is good.  Making ethical decisions is better.  Inspiring others to be ethical is best.  It’s all about behavior.

Rules and values are mutually supportive.  Use values when you can, rules when you must.  Values inspire and fill the gaps between rules.  Rules support orderly governance and equal protection.

How we do things is just as important as what we do.  Ethical leaders ask their team members how they plan to accomplish their goals (or how they have accomplished them).  The “how” question sends a strong message about the importance of ethics and compliance.