Ethical leadership and moral courage

Reflecting this month on ethical leadership and moral courage, I’ve been raiding my memory banks for leadership I have experienced that’s shaped my life…it’s taken some metaphorical digging, through the layers of jobs, organisations, countries and multiple other permutations including how I was feeling at that time.

I was hoping to find exemplars to point to, that I did and could say “I want to be a leader like that person was to me”.

I didn’t find that!

What I did find was examples of where I decided NOT to lead in the ways I had been led.

For example:

• the boss that believed their role was to say yes to everything anyone else asked for, and then hope to be able to work backwards to the position that aligned with what our organisation needed/had decided on. This felt like giving in from the beginning…and often the other party wouldn’t move having had the “yes” in the first instance, which led to compromise beyond what was a positive outcome for the organisation and its purpose.
• the leader who felt it was ok and justified to tell me they agreed with and valued my work, but they just didn’t like me as a person.
• the leader who would agree with a well worked through strategy and design when with the team, but always folded on the first challenge from the Board and threw the work and the team under the proverbial bus.

So, where do we find our role models and everyday heroes?

If we can’t find them in our experience of work, we need to both look elsewhere (in other forums, disciplines, in community and global environments and history) and we need to shape ourselves into what we know to be ethical, to be courageous…to be role models for others.

And after all the professional memory lane wandering, looking closer to home I am fortunate to have people in my personal life who lead with integrity, who act with the courage to do what’s right in the right way, and who moonlight in my mind as my superheroes.

Which reminds me to talk to them about how much they mean to me, and how I admire their traits and role modelling.

Who do you have in your life who merits a thank you and acknowledgment for the often hard and sometimes lonely life of the ethical leader? 

Thank you for reading our blog post! We hope you found it informative and engaging. If you enjoyed our content, we have more to offer through our podcast and monthly newsletter. Here's how you can stay connected and get even more value from Humans at Work.

Book Jules as a speaker: you can book Jules to speak at your event, be a panelist or to come and talk to your organisation - either online or in person.  Book a free initial conversation via Calendly. 

Support us: consider supporting us on Ko-fi here if you liked this content.  This will help us continue celebrating diverse humans and our collective ability to improve social equity and environmental regeneration through individual, organisational and system-level change!

Check out our Podcast here: Listen to other human stories and hear how their unique personalities and experiences have shaped them. These fireside chats illustrate how joyous it is to engage with another person, to be curious, and to recognise the value they bring just by being there.

Sign up to the Human Hub: Stay up-to-date with the latest Humans at Work newsletter. By joining the human hub, you'll receive regular updates delivered straight to your inbox. We value your privacy and promise not to spam you! To sign up, fill out the subscription form on our website.

Connect on LinkedIn: Follow Jules via Jules' LinkedIn.  And don't forget to join the conversation by following Humans at Work on Linkedin, to get real-time updates and engage with other like-minded individuals. 

Jules and the Humans at Work team greatly appreciate your support, and look forward to connecting with you!