Why is ethics at the heart of good leadership?

In the field of leadership, we often talk about effective leadership, good leadership, or great leadership.

But how do we know when a leader is good or great?

How do you measure your ‘goodness’ as a leader?

Do you focus on fiscal figures alone or do you also consider the impact of your actions on others? Do you reflect on the type of company culture you want to create, and the type of contributions to society and the wider world you want to make? Have you, for example, helped to create a culture where employees feel safe, experience a sense of belonging, where they can feel free to engage, are motivated, and can be creative?

Many leaders recognise the major role they now play in moving organisations, communities, and society towards a more connected, inclusive, and sustainable future. But there are many who don’t yet know how.

What leaders do matters

As leaders we determine, influence, and shape company culture: what we model, how we show up, how we act, and how we are. We always have an impact on others and organisational life. As leaders, we can create conditions that allow and encourage others to be well, grow, develop, and flourish. The opposite is also true.

The things that arise in this world do so because of the conditions that gave rise to them. And when those conditions change, those things change too.

When we meet employees, peers, and colleagues with kindness, interest, curiosity, and non-judgement, people can unfurl, open up, feel safe, develop in creative and skilful ways. As a result, they want to engage and contribute to the success of the organisation.

As leaders – how we act, manage, engage with others – we create the conditions which allow others to thrive. That’s what I call ethical and hence good leadership. It’s the bedrock to a successful organisation and to a good and just society.

What are ethics really?

For many of us ‘ethics’ has a negative connotation, often reminding us of our religious upbringing and doing our best to be ‘good’. But ethics has nothing to do with obedience or morals imposed by an authority. Ethics is not an idea, it’s a practice. It’s our natural sense about what is good and right.

The desire that most of us have to contribute to a good and just society has ancient philosophical roots. For example, Aristotle (384 BC) saw ethics at the heart of wellbeing and as a practice that informed the good life that was in service of others. He believed that ethics required virtues such as courage, generosity, justice, equity, and amiability as well as contemplation and reflection.

What is ethical leadership?

At its core, ethical leadership is about making life-affirming choices, even – and especially – when the professional environment makes this difficult.

The practice of ethics involves: being willing to develop awareness of self and others, examining one’s attitude and mindset, considering relational impacts, connecting to and acting in line with one’s inner values, and committing to learning.

There will always be moments – from everyday unkindness to microaggressions, bullying, and systemic discrimination – where leaders can make a positive difference. These situations test a leader’s integrity, moral courage, and willingness to take personal responsibility.

Leading ethically requires slowing down: taking time to reflect, gather information, deliberate, and check in with one’s emotions (emotional literacy), values, beliefs, and intuition about what feels right.

Good leadership requires leaders to ask themselves some important questions: who am I? What do I stand for? What do I truly care about? What can I live with, and what is not acceptable? When do I need to speak up and take a stance?

So how do some leaders resist workplace pressures and stay aligned with their ethical values?

These leaders remain true to their moral compass. Often, this clarity emerges through experience – past regret, the appreciation of others, or a growing awareness of the harm their actions may have caused. Over time, these moments help leaders identify the values they are unwilling to compromise, in professional life or elsewhere.

The well-known Japanese poet, Ryōkan (1758-1831), puts this very well: “If you point your cart north, when you want to go south, how will you arrive?”

Leading ethically comes from within

Traditional leadership models and approaches offer limited guidance for navigating ethical practice and tension, relational strain, and unintended harm. In this context, ethics must move beyond policy and intent into lived everyday leadership practice, attending to and caring for self, others, and the wider system.

A practical framework for leading ethically

Over the past six years, I have developed a practical framework to enhance their understanding and practice of ethical leadership.

By practice I mean consciously engaging with what is already happening, with the intention to interrupt unhelpful patterns and create new ways of thinking, feeling and acting.

Awareness: what do I notice?

Ethical sensitivity begins with slowing down and noticing – waking up from autopilot to what is happening within and around you.

Ask yourself:

• What is happening here?
• How am I responding?

Do I speak up, change a course of action or stay silent, avoid the experience through exclusion, withdrawal, distraction? Or do I slow down, gather information, reflect, deliberate, talk it through with a peer and seek conversations?

Our actions and responses are often accompanied by dissonance – a felt sense that something is off. When we act against our values, we may experience what I call healthy shame: a signal that our inner compass is working.

Attitude: how am I meeting this moment?

Our attitude shapes everything i.e. how we attend to ourselves, others and a situation.

Ask yourself: am I open, curious, and kind – or closed, defensive, and judgemental?

When you feel closed, resentful, judgemental, it’s a signal to take a few conscious breaths with self-compassion and to ask: how do I want to be, how do I want to show up in this situation?

Relationality: how am I relating?

Ethical leadership requires looking beyond the individual perspective. We are relational beings – intrinsically interconnected and interdependent. We always impact each other with our thoughts, communication and behaviour.

Ask yourself:

• What do I need and want?
• What does the other person need and want?
• What does the team need and want right now?
• What does the organisation, network, community, world need and want?

This shifts leadership from an ego-centric to a systemic, eco-centric approach.

Inner values: what matters most?

Intuitively we know what is most important to us and yet fear, busyness, and uncertainty can cloud our inner compass and compromise or undermine what you hold most dear. In challenging moments, pause and ask:

• What are my deepest values and beliefs?
• What do I care most deeply about in this situation?
• What feels life-affirming here?

Notice the body’s signals – mind, heart, gut.

Learning: what am I learning?

Ethical leadership is inseparable from learning.

• What am I learning in this situation?
• What am I learning about myself?
• What might I need to unlearn?
• What could I do differently next time?
• Where does my focus need to be now?

Practice, practice, practice

Leading ethically is among the most challenging – and meaningful – aspects of leadership. It’s at the heart of effective and good leadership. As leaders we may not always lead ethically, solve an ethical dilemma or make an ethical decision. Sometimes we may need to find a middle way or make a compromise in the midst of complex organisational life.

What matters most is our willingness to engage: to speak up, to turn towards difficult issues, and to have honest conversations. When we do, as leaders, we can create change – or at least open the space for more tolerant, open, kind, inclusive ways of working to emerge. Even when these actions go unnoticed, over time they shape cultures where people feel safe, dignified and like they belong.

Some questions for reflections to take away

Where in your context of leadership can you begin to lead ethically?

• Start a conversation about ethics in leadership, what it is and its importance in your workplace. Notice where ethical sensitivity is missing, where it is already present
• Share the practical framework for leading ethically with your team and make time for collective inquiry and learning
• Remember that thoughts, words and actions have consequences both positive and negative
• Making more and more life-affirming choices, however small for self and others, can profoundly shape organisational wellbeing and success, as well as enhance your overall experience of life