Ethics and Integrity
Most of us know what it means to act ethically in theory. The harder part is what we do when the right choice is inconvenient, when someone we trust is involved, or when no one else seems concerned.
For leaders, those choices don't affect only us. People notice what we let slide, what we correct, and whether we follow the same standards we expect from everyone else. Over time, this shapes what people across the organization come to see as acceptable.
Ethical leadership is about putting our values into practice consistently, not just saying what we believe. It starts with the example we set and the expectations we reinforce. What would our teams say they see from us right now?
Self-Assessment:
Ethics and Integrity
Please take a few moments to reflect on the following questions. Where can you identify opportunities for growth in your leadership?
Are my actions consistent with the ethical standards I expect from others?
Am I transparent and truthful in my communication with the people I work with?
When I make a mistake, am I willing to acknowledge it and take responsibility for correcting it?
Is respect reflected in how I treat people, regardless of their background or position?
Would employees feel safe raising a concern with me without fear of retaliation?
Do I recognize people when they make the ethical choice, especially when it isn't the easiest one?
Are my expectations for ethical behavior clear to the people I lead?
Would I apply those expectations consistently, regardless of someone's title or position?
This self-assessment is a starting point for understanding Ethics and Integrity as a leader. Reflect on your responses, identify areas for growth, and use feedback from others and your ECFL Leadership Coach to guide your development.
Ethics provides principles that help us determine what conduct is right, while integrity means acting consistently with those principles. Ethical leadership puts those principles into practice through the decisions we make, the way we treat people, and how we use the authority we've been given. It can also mean questioning a policy, instruction, or common practice when it conflicts with our ethical responsibilities.
Ethical leaders communicate honestly and act consistently with the standards they expect from others. Over time, that consistency builds trust and helps make honesty and transparency part of how the organization operates.
Ethical leadership can also strengthen the environment people work in:
Clearer Standards: When leaders consistently model and explain ethical expectations, employees have a clearer picture of what acceptable behavior looks like.
Greater Trust: When leaders' actions match the standards they communicate, people have more reason to trust what those leaders say and do.
More Willingness to Speak Up: How leaders respond to questions, mistakes, and concerns can make it easier or harder for employees to raise an issue when something seems wrong.
More Consistent Accountability: Ethical leadership makes it clearer that standards apply across the organization, rather than changing based on someone's position or influence.
Even when we know our ethical standards and intend to follow them, our decisions don't happen in isolation. The people around us, the goals we focus on, and even our own past behavior can shape what we notice and how we respond. These influences aren't always obvious in the moment, which is part of why they’re important to know in advance.
“Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things.”
Behavioral ethics studies why people make the ethical and unethical decisions they do. The concepts below give us language for influences that can shape our choices without us realizing it. As leaders, recognizing them can help us pay closer attention to our decisions and the example we set for those who take cues from us.
Conformity Bias: People take behavioral cues from those around them rather than relying on independent judgment, and ethical decisions follow the same pattern. Knowing others are making an ethical choice makes it easier to follow suit, and the reverse is also true. As psychologist Dan Ariely notes, "cheating is contagious." Our teams watch what we do, so our conduct becomes an important cue for how they decide to act.
Moral Equilibrium: Most of us keep a running mental scoreboard that compares our image of ourselves as good people with what we do. A lapse can leave us wanting to restore that image through a good action, a response known as moral compensation. On the other side, doing something good can sometimes make us feel we've earned room to relax our standards later, a tendency called moral licensing. Neither happens every time, but recognizing this kind of mental accounting can help keep past behavior from becoming an excuse for what we do next.
Ethical Fading: The ethical side of a decision disappears from view when our attention moves to something else, such as profitability or winning. When we're focused only on a particular outcome, we may fail to recognize that an ethical question is part of the decision at all. Euphemisms such as calling a bribe "greasing the wheels" can help the process along. Recognizing when we put ethical concerns behind other factors is the first step toward counteracting it.
Incrementalism: Often called “the slippery slope,” incrementalism can move people toward unethical behavior gradually, as minor shortcuts add up over time. Accounting fraud, for example, can begin with relatively small changes that become larger as the behavior continues. Repeated exposure can make each step feel more routine, making it harder to recognize how far we've moved from the original standard.
An organization's ethical culture is shaped by what we, as leaders, model and reinforce, as well as what we correct or overlook. Let's explore some recent findings on ethical leadership practices in today's workforce.
Despite the widespread acknowledgment of ethical leadership's value, a gap persists between stated principles and actual practices. The 2024 Global Integrity Report, conducted and published by EY Forensic & Integrity Services, found concerning differences between what organizations say about integrity and some of the choices people report being willing to make.
Among the report's key findings:
"The willingness to act without integrity appears to be on the rise." Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they would be willing to behave unethically in at least one way if doing so would improve their career progression or compensation, compared with 25% in the previous report.
"Leaders need to act on what they say." The report also found that willingness to act unethically for personal gain increased with seniority. While 25% of employees said they would be willing to do so, that number rose to 51% among senior management and 67% among board members. These findings don't tell us exactly why the differences exist, but Conformity Bias gives us another reason to pay attention to the example leaders set: people notice what those with greater authority treat as acceptable.
The report also revealed another concern: respondents across organizational levels had encountered wrongdoing or concerns they chose not to report. Nineteen percent of employees reported withholding a concern, compared with 43% of board members. People may stay silent for different reasons, including believing nothing will be done, concerns about possible consequences, pressure from others, or loyalty to the people involved.
What can we take away from these findings? The data points to an important gap between stated standards and behavior, as well as continued reluctance to report concerns. Ethical culture depends on more than saying integrity matters, as leaders must live it through their decisions, responses, and expectations.
Where do we start in putting ethical leadership into practice? One place is with the example we set. Respect is an important part of this. Ethical leaders treat people fairly, communicate honestly, and take concerns seriously regardless of someone's background or position. How we respond when someone questions a decision or raises a problem also matters. If people believe speaking up will lead to embarrassment, retaliation, or dismissal, they are more likely to stay quiet.
The example we set grows out of who we are, and Ken Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale, authors of The Power of Ethical Management, describe five keys to ethical leadership they call the Five P's of Ethical Power:
Purpose: A purpose is an ongoing mission we never finish, such as improving the lives of others, and a personal purpose statement reflects our values by revealing who we are and why we lead.
Pride: Healthy pride is a realistic and positive opinion of our abilities and limitations, and it gives us the strength to do what we know is right even when our egos might suffer.
Patience: Acting according to our values doesn't always bring the quickest or easiest result. Patience means being willing to tolerate setbacks or disappointment rather than abandoning those values for an immediate payoff.
Persistence: Ethical leadership requires us to keep returning to our standards, including when doing so is inconvenient or unpopular. Persistence means following through on what we believe is right instead of allowing pressure, resistance, or a difficult outcome to move the standard. When we do fall short, it also means acknowledging the mistake and recommitting to that standard.
Perspective: Keeping the bigger picture in view helps us look beyond the immediate reward or pressure in front of us. Considering who will be affected, what the longer-term consequences may be, and which principles are involved can help keep short-term concerns from becoming the only ones that matter.
“Everyone makes mistakes, but only a person with integrity owns up to them.”
Each of these keys is tested when loyalty and standards collide. It's one thing to talk about what it takes to act ethically in the workplace, but another to be put in a compromising position. What would you do in this situation? Read the story and then reflect on each of the questions that follow.
Raising the Stakes
Giles is a senior manager at Sunnydale Industries, a leading tech and manufacturing firm. He has worked closely with Willow, a trusted colleague and fellow manager, for over five years. One afternoon, Xander, a junior employee, comes to Giles with serious allegations against Willow. Xander claims that Willow has been falsifying safety inspection reports to cover up violations she considers relatively minor. Giles is shocked and doesn't want to believe the allegations against Willow, as she has always been a reliable and dedicated team member. However, Giles also understands the importance of maintaining the company's high safety standards, which are crucial to the company's reputation and employees' well-being.
As Giles listens, Xander explains that the problem didn't appear all at once. From what he has seen, Willow first began approving reports with small discrepancies when production deadlines were tight, reasoning that the issues could be corrected later and didn't create an immediate danger. Other managers had occasionally treated similar discrepancies as paperwork problems rather than safety concerns, and Xander says he hadn't seen anyone question the practice.
According to Xander, over time, the discrepancies grew more significant, and adjusting the reports became more routine. He believes Willow became increasingly focused on keeping production moving and meeting deadlines rather than on what the reports were meant to protect. He also says Willow had pointed to her team's strong safety record as evidence that she could use her own judgment about which issues really mattered. Xander says this is the first time he has formally raised a concern because, until now, he wasn't sure anyone else saw the practice as a serious problem.
Ask Yourself:
How should Giles respond when Xander first raises the concern?
What steps should Giles take to preserve the information and involve the appropriate safety, compliance, HR, or other organizational channels without assuming that either Xander or Willow is right?
How can Giles keep his loyalty to Willow from distorting his judgment while still making sure she is treated fairly?
Where do you see Incrementalism, Ethical Fading, and Moral Equilibrium influencing the decisions described in the story?
How might Conformity Bias have helped make the behavior feel more acceptable before Xander spoke up? How could Giles's response now influence what Xander and the rest of the team do the next time they see something questionable?
What processes should Sunnydale Industries have in place to handle such situations fairly and transparently?
Organizations that embrace ethical leadership are better positioned to navigate challenges and build trust among their teams. But ethical culture doesn't develop from values statements alone. Instead, it’s reinforced through the expectations leaders set, the behavior they model, and the way they respond when these standards are tested.
Let's look at several best practices that can help you uphold ethical standards:
Define and Communicate Expectations: It's easy to assume everyone knows what the right choice looks like. In practice, people may interpret situations differently, especially when under pressure. Be clear about what you expect and explain the values or reasoning behind those expectations. Ask what the organization stands for, and consider drafting a code of ethics with team input so the standards carry shared ownership. Share both the content of the standards and how strongly the organization is committed to upholding them. People should also understand what happens when those expectations aren't met.
Be a Good Role Model: People look to their leaders to understand what behavior is acceptable. Follow the same standards you expect from others, and acknowledge it when your own behavior falls short. If we expect others to act with integrity, we must also expect it from ourselves.
Apply Accountability Consistently: Holding people to ethical standards doesn't mean much if accountability depends on someone's title or position. If employees are expected to follow a standard, leaders should be held to it as well. This also means holding yourself accountable: if you make a mistake or fail to meet an expectation, acknowledge it and take responsibility for correcting it. Moral Equilibrium makes this especially important, since a record of good work can make a lapse easier to excuse. Consistent accountability shows people that ethics are part of how your team and organization operate.
Recognize and Reinforce Ethical Behavior: Employees whose conduct embodies the organization's ethical standards deserve specific recognition, and acknowledging their choices helps show everyone what the standard looks like in practice. At the same time, be careful with performance-related incentives. Goals or rewards that make the outcome seem more important than how it is achieved can pull attention away from the ethical side of the work.
Keep Your Values in View: Regular reminders can help keep the organization's values visible in everyday decisions, so build them into the work rhythm. Stories help carry the message, and one well-known example comes from Arthur Andersen, a firm admired for decades in part because of the story of its founder telling a large client there was not enough money in Chicago to persuade him to fudge the numbers. The contrast between this founding story and the firm's later role in the Enron scandal reminds us that stated values aren't enough. Leaders have to reinforce those values through what they prioritize and permit.
Make It Safe to Speak Up: People need a way to raise a concern before a questionable decision becomes a larger problem. Make it clear that employees can ask questions or report possible misconduct without retaliation, and respond calmly when they do. Protect confidentiality where appropriate, involve the right people or reporting channels, and follow up so employees know their concerns are taken seriously. How we respond to the person who speaks up teaches everyone else whether speaking up is really safe.
Ethical leadership is built through repeated choices, especially the ones that would be easy to excuse or overlook. What leaders correct, reinforce, and permit helps determine whether ethical standards remain real in everyday practice.
This week, identify one standard you expect from the people you lead and pay attention to how consistently your own choices reinforce it.
Elevate your understanding of Ethics and Integrity by taking flight with the following resources. Use this opportunity to navigate, uncover, and expand the horizons of your leadership influence.
