Ethics Leaders provide insight to professionals in honor of Global Ethics Day

To recognize Global Ethics Day on October 19th, Emily Miner, Ty Francis, and Arieana Thompson of LRN Corporation have put together some tips to help you become the most ethical leader you can be.

Ty Francis, MBE, Chief Advisory Officer LRN Corporation:

“Ethical culture starts at the top. Companies with an inspired ethical culture have supportive leaders who embrace mission, purpose, shared values, and ethical behavioral expectations. They develop supportive leaders and experience values-based performance.

How well a company performs in building an ethical culture can have a significant impact on many facets of business, including customer satisfaction, employee loyalty, innovation, adaptability, and business growth. Organizations with an ethical culture fare better—they witness a 40% increase across key business metrics. It’s not only the right thing to do to have a strong ethical culture—it literally pays in the long run.”

Emily Miner, CCEP, Director, Advisory Services LRN Corporation:

“In an era of stakeholder capitalism, where consumers and employees alike are looking for responsible businesses aligned with their values, leaders are called to commit to building a strong, ethical culture. It’s the expectation. Given that leaders cast a long shadow and have a disproportionate impact on culture, this work must start at the very top.

Employees are increasingly looking to business leaders to be a kind of moral compass, as shown in Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer research. The old adage, “you can only take care of others after you take care of yourself,” holds true as a business leader. What are your values? How are those expressed through your leadership and the example you set for others? You can only create an engaged culture within your organization if you understand what you’re trying to accomplish.”

Dr. Arieana Thompson, CPQC ,E&C Advisor, LRN Corporation:

“It’s important for companies to have a common set of values and cultural ideals everyone comprehends. From the CEO to the board to team members and first-year hires, everyone should be on the same page.

It takes an entire organization to uphold standards of workplace conduct and to understand they will be held accountable for doing that. Upholding ethical culture is not just the responsibility of HR or an ethics and compliance team. Culture is a living and breathing entity that involves everyone. The moment leadership thinks ‘we’ve arrived’, a culture has stopped growing and advancing. Cultivating an ethical culture in an organization is like raising a child in that your responsibility never stops, but it does evolve as the child becomes their own person.”