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Here’s How and Why to Be an Ethical Leader
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• “Pride: I feel good about myself. Don’t be
arrogant. If your ego gets in the way, you’re
not doing the right thing. I don’t need the
acceptance of other people to feel important.
A balanced self-esteem keeps my ego and my
desire to be accepted from influencing my
decisions.”
• “Patience: I believe that things will eventually
work out well. I don’t need everything to be
perfect. I am at peace with what comes my
way! Probably one of the hardest things we do
is having patience. We make decisions every
day, some quickly. If it’s a big decision, which
may involve big dollars and involve personnel,
what you may need to do is take a step back.”
• “Persistence: I stick to my purpose, especially
when it seems inconvenient to my intentions.
When you know it’s right, be persistent. That’s
very important. If you’re wishy-washy, staff
will know. As Churchill said, Never! Never!
Never! Never! Give up!”
• “Perspective: I take time to enter each day
quietly in a mood of reflection. This helps me
to get myself focused and allows me to listen
to my inner self and see things more clearly.
Take some time with tough decisions.”
Mee considers the role of an ethical leader is
to “create an environment that fosters trust,
motivates and inspires their employees to achieve
results.” He continued: “Effective leaders need to
be authentic, bring out the best in people and be
receptive to feedback. What does it mean to be
authentic? It’s the quality of being genuine. What
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you see is what you get. Being authentic means
that your actions mirror what you believe and feel,
and that there is no contradiction between what
you do and what you say. Authenticity is strongly
connected to building trust.”
To demonstrate that you are authentic, you need
to provide honest opinions. “Don’t sugar coat,”
he said. “Act with integrity. Promote trust among
others. Disclose by sharing thoughts, feelings,
and rationale when appropriate. If you tell people
why they are doing something, they are more
likely to follow you. Display confidence but avoid
arrogance.”
It’s also important to bring out the best in people,
Mee said. “Cultivate and optimize others’ talents
and capabilities.”
Using an analogy, Mee said if you put people on
a bus, make sure they’re in the right seats. “If I
have an employee with no passion, not getting
things done – that employee is not doing what
their passions are, what they want to do. Look at
their strengths. Give them responsibility in line
with their strengths. You can turn an organization
around. It inspires performance and morale. Look
at what people are doing right. If they’re doing a
great job, let them know right away.”
Quoting Eileen Bistrisky, President and CEO of
Effective Leadership Consulting, Mee said, “Great
leaders are not the best at everything.”
He summarized: “They find people who are the
best at different things, and bring them together
on the same team. Always surround yourself
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THE EDGE SPRING 2023