The sweet sound of ‘ethical leadership’

I can recall when the words ethical and leadership went hand in hand. From my early years, I remember my father serving so well as a role model for ethical leadership, even though I had no clue at the time what it meant or more importantly, what it entailed. But I do remember my father had a set of values and principles, which played a big part in how he conducted his life.

Growing up in a small Midwestern town, I often sought examples of leadership with characteristics similar to those of my dad, you know, integrity, principles, values, etc. And so I began to model my life and behavior after my father and the people who’s images and reputations were branded into my psyche.

Now that I’m older and fully embracing my Baby Boomer mentality to want to hang on to the good old days, I yearn for the restoration of ethical leadership and have it mean something. This desire, in part, could be a direct result of the recent implosion of Wall Street due to the greed of unethical corporate leaders. And yes, you could say it is because ethics is sorely lacking in our politicians. We need ethical leadership because without it we cannot survive. 

Think about the role we all play as leaders in our respective communities, in our homes and on our jobs. Especially on our jobs where many of us do not have a leadership title but we all have a leadership role. You don’t have to be out front to be an effective (or ethical) leader. Some of the best leaders lead from behind and are comfortable being in the background.  

Over the course of the next several weeks and months, I will be blogging about leadership and the lost art — or skill — of ethical leadership. I invite you to post comments on your thoughts about ethical leadership. Share examples of leaders with integrity and values. My hope is that we can begin to identify the essence of true leadership, explore some examples of such and learn how we can manage our own brand identities. Let’s see if we can start a movement to change how we perceive leadership and restore the sweet sound of ‘ethical leadership!’