10 Trends Shaping the Future of Ethical Leadership

By Linda Fisher Thornton We need to get leadership right because so much depends on it. Many global factors are driving changes in ethical leadership expectations, and in high-stakes times, how we handle ethical leadership development can make or break our success. This week I've created a graphic that brings the expectations and priorities into clearer focus.

Ethical Awareness is a Moving Target

By Linda Fisher Thornton How well is your organization navigating the ethical pitfalls of the working world? If you're finding it to be a major challenge right now, you're not alone. Why is it so hard to navigate ethical minefields now? There is currently a "toxic soup" of factors at play...

Top 10 2020: Leading in Context Blog

By Linda Fisher Thornton Of the 52 individual posts published on the Leading in Context Blog in 2020, these 10 were the most popular. See if you notice a theme that connects these new topics that readers accessed most frequently.

Senior Leaders: Set Clear Expectations For Values

Senior leaders set the tone for the organization's ethics, but the senior leadership responsibility for values leadership includes much more than that. Today, I'll look at the senior leader responsibility for sharing clear expectations, and explore more important roles that go well beyond setting the bar for expected behavior.

Ethics is Actionable

Some people think about ethics as a theoretical concept that lives in procedures and regulations, but they're missing the point. Ethics is not just an esoteric concept. It's an actionable responsibility.

Foster Your Ethical Brand Reputation

By Linda Fisher Thornton Connect Magazine invited me to weigh in on why ethical brand reputation is so important and how brands can build and foster stronger images.­ In this article I share practical advice on protecting ethical brands and five top leadership trends I see unfolding in 2020.  It's worth a read for those who want to use the time during the pandemic to figure out how they can build a stronger company and a stronger brand that is ready for an uncertain future. 

Leadership Lessons We Can Learn From Isolation

By Linda Fisher Thornton Some people may think that the change we are experiencing as a result of COVID-19 is a temporary inconvenience, but it's much more than that. It's a wake-up call that we have been living too close to the edge, rushing through precious moments. We have been postponing sustainable practices that can contribute to our wellness and the well-being of the planet. Now that the pandemic has slowed the clock on the daily rush hour and frequent flyer miles, we can see what clean air looks like. Our leadership responsibility, like the air above our cities, is clear.

Are Best Practices Really Best?

By Linda Fisher Thornton Organizations are facing multiple connected challenges. First, they need to prevent ethical mistakes in a high speed, highly transparent business environment. Second, they need to engage leaders in relevant ethical learning so that the principles "stick" and are used to handle real problems. Third, they need to help leaders apply ethical thinking so they don't just take "best practices" at face value.

10 Tricky Questions About Ethics and Leadership Answered

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Go Into the New Year With Answers

This week I'm sharing answers to your burning questions about ethics and ethical leadership - What is it? How do you stay up to speed in spite of rapidly accelerating expectations? Why is ethics such a contentious topic, and defined in so many different ways by different people?

The leader groups I work with find that clarity on these and other questions informs their leadership and their decision making. Use this curated collection of posts to shore up your knowledge for the new year:


It's time to stop telling leaders they will only succeed if they are "better than" the competition. It's time for business schools to stop telling students that they are "better than" their peers in the class or "better than" students in other programs. It's time for teachers and religious leaders to stop telling people they can be "better than" everyone else.

Interview on the Leveraging Thought Leadership Podcast

By Linda Fisher ThorntonToday I'm sharing my recent interview with Peter Winick on the Leveraging Thought Leadership Podcast.  We had an interesting conversation about my journey including how I got my start, challenges I faced and "growing into" this important work.

Ethical Leadership: Complexity, Context and Adaptation

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Ethical leadership requires growth, a willingness to acknowledge complexity and an understanding of the broader context in which we lead. Use these resources to improve your ethical awareness, learn about how the leadership context is evolving and check for learning blind spots.

Is Our Ethics Who We Are Or What We Do?

By Linda Fisher Thornton

This week's question is about what defines our ethics - "Is our ethics based on who we are or what we do?" Some people would argue that we have a persona, a manner, either ethical or not. Others would say that it is our decisions and actions that define how ethical we are, and therefore our ethicality changes from moment to moment.