Understanding (and Preventing) Ethical Leadership Failures January 15, 2014 14 Comments By Linda Fisher Thornton Understanding What Causes Ethical Leadership Failures Ethical leadership failures can be caused by different types of problems that may compound. Some of these problems are individual and others may be embedded in the organizational culture. In 7 Lenses, I describe the kind of proactive ethical leadership that builds ethical cultures. The book is a road map for how to lead ethically in a complex world. While 7 Lenses is written from a positive perspective to help leaders avoid ethical problems and create ethical cultures, I often get asked “What causes ethical failures? What goes wrong?” So this week I am exploring that question from two perspectives – that of what individual leaders do (or don’t do) and common organizational problems. Individual and Organizational Causes 11/14/19, 11:18 AM Page 1 of 5 Here is a starter list of some of the factors that can lead to ethical failure. The list includes things that individual leaders do (or don’t do), and things that organizations do (or don’t do) to set a positive example and support ethical thinking and behavior. These factors are connected, and it is often difficult to isolate just one of them when something goes wrong. See if you recognize any of these happening in your organization. Individual Ignoring Boundaries (Ignoring Ethics Codes And Organizational Values That Forbid An Action) Failing to Use Self-Control (“I Will Do This Even Though It’s Not Allowed”) Entitlement View (“I Definitely Deserve This Even Though It’s Not Allowed”) Prominent Personal Values (“I Think This Is Really Fine To Do Even Though It’s Not Allowed”) Crowd Following (“Everybody Else is Doing It, So It Must Be Fine”) Lack of Moral Compass (“Nobody Specifically Said That I Can’t Do It, So It Must Be Fine If I Do It”) Organizational Lack of Clarity (“What Does Ethical Mean Around Here?”) No Ethical Leadership and Behavior Standards (“There Are No 11/14/19, 11:18 AM Page 2 of 5 Rules About This”) Oversimplified Rules (“Just Do the Right Thing”) Lack of Positive Role Models (“Who Is Doing It the Right Way?”) No Training or Coaching (“How Will I Learn It?”) No Accountability, No Enforcement (“Nothing Bad Happens If I Do It, Even Though It’s Not Allowed”) No Performance Integration (“We Say We Want Ethics, But We Reward and Promote Based on Sales and Output”) When Problems Happen, Scapegoats Are Quickly Fired (Instead of Learning From Mistakes and Fixing the Culture) Compounding Factors Keep in mind that ethical failures may or may not be due to just one of these factors, but several that compound to create a ripple effect. Here are a few examples where the problem is worsened due to a combination of factors. There are no ethical leadership standards and no positive role models (no way to be sure what to do) A leader has an entitlement view and there is a lack of clarity about wha ...

1. Understanding (and Preventing)
Ethical Leadership Failures
January 15, 2014 14 Comments
By Linda Fisher Thornton
Understanding What Causes
Ethical Leadership Failures
Ethical leadership failures can be
caused by different types of
problems that may compound. Some
of these problems are individual and
others may be embedded in the
organizational culture.
In 7 Lenses, I describe the kind of
proactive ethical leadership that
builds ethical cultures. The book is a
road map for how to lead ethically in a complex world. While 7
Lenses
is written from a positive perspective to help leaders avoid
ethical
problems and create ethical cultures, I often get asked “What
causes
ethical failures? What goes wrong?”
So this week I am exploring that question from two perspectives
– that
of what individual leaders do (or don’t do) and common
organizational
problems.

2. Individual and Organizational Causes
11/14/19, 11:18 AM
Page 1 of 5
Here is a starter list of some of the factors that can lead to
ethical
failure. The list includes things that individual leaders do (or
don’t do),
and things that organizations do (or don’t do) to set a positive
example
and support ethical thinking and behavior.
These factors are connected, and it is often difficult to isolate
just one
of them when something goes wrong. See if you recognize any
of
these happening in your organization.
Individual
Ignoring Boundaries (Ignoring Ethics Codes And
Organizational
Values That Forbid An Action)
Failing to Use Self-Control (“I Will Do This Even Though It’s
Not
Allowed”)
Entitlement View (“I Definitely Deserve This Even Though It’s
Not
Allowed”)

3. Prominent Personal Values (“I Think This Is Really Fine To Do
Even
Though It’s Not Allowed”)
Crowd Following (“Everybody Else is Doing It, So It Must Be
Fine”)
Lack of Moral Compass (“Nobody Specifically Said That I
Can’t Do
It, So It Must Be Fine If I Do It”)
Organizational
Lack of Clarity (“What Does Ethical Mean Around Here?”)
No Ethical Leadership and Behavior Standards (“There Are No
11/14/19, 11:18 AM
Page 2 of 5
Rules About This”)
Oversimplified Rules (“Just Do the Right Thing”)
Lack of Positive Role Models (“Who Is Doing It the Right
Way?”)
No Training or Coaching (“How Will I Learn It?”)
No Accountability, No Enforcement (“Nothing Bad Happens If I
Do
It, Even Though It’s Not Allowed”)
No Performance Integration (“We Say We Want Ethics, But We

4. Reward and Promote Based on Sales and Output”)
When Problems Happen, Scapegoats Are Quickly Fired (Instead
of
Learning From Mistakes and Fixing the Culture)
Compounding Factors
Keep in mind that ethical failures may or may not be due to just
one of
these factors, but several that compound to create a ripple
effect.
Here are a few examples where the problem is worsened due to
a
combination of factors.
There are no ethical leadership standards and no positive role
models (no way to be sure what to do)
A leader has an entitlement view and there is a lack of clarity
about what ethical leadership means in the organization (it is
easier to justify entitlement, when ethical expectations are
unclear).
A leader lacks a moral compass and the organization lacks
ethical
leadership standards (the leader may act based on personal
ethics, which may be slanted toward self-gain).
11/14/19, 11:18 AM
Page 3 of 5
A leader has trouble with ethical boundaries and there is no
accountability for ethical behavior in the organization (It
increases
the chances of ethical problems when both the leader and the

5. organization lack clear ethical boundaries).
Problems within the ethical culture clearly make it harder for
individual
leaders to stay on an ethical path.
Preventing (or Identifying and Correcting) These Problems in
Your Organization
Now imagine what can happen when you have 3 or more of
these
factors (and perhaps others not named here) happening at the
same
time. Each additional factor can make it easier for problems to
develop. Our goal as leaders is to prevent the problems that lead
to a
failure of ethical leadership. To do that we need to start talking
about
the dynamics that cause ethical problems and how to keep them
from
happening in our organizations. How do we start the
conversation? Talk candidly with leaders at all levels about
issues
named above that may have become a problem in your
organization.
For a detailed conversation guide, see Leading the Conversation
About
Ethical Leadership. For an understanding of how to manage
ethical
performance in the organization see Managing Ethical
Leadership as a
Performance System.
Feel free to name additional factors that you have observed that
can
lead to ethical failure in your comments.

6. 11/14/19, 11:18 AM
Page 4 of 5
For more, see Linda’s book 7 Lenses and the 21 Question
Assessment: How Current is My Message About Ethics?
2014 Bronze Axiom Business Book Award Winner
About 7 Lenses
[email protected] @leadingincontxt @7Lenses
© 2014 Leading in Context LLC
11/14/19, 11:18 AM
Page 5 of 5
Assignment Name
Understanding Mental Health Disorders in Children
Course Learning Objective
B. Assess the impact of environmental, cultural, and religious
influences to the healthy development of children.
D. Evaluate different theoretical approaches to child therapy.
Purpose of the assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student the
opportunity to demonstrate the ability to discuss a specific
mental health disorder in general and as it relates to a specific
child/case.
Description of the assignment
Choose a case from Jones and colleagues (2016). Identify the
mental health disorder being presented in this case. Find at
least 5 academic sources related to the diagnosis that you

7. identified. These should not include your textbooks. At least
one of these references should include a discussion of the
impact of socio-economic factors related to the disorder. Create
a 3 to 4 page summary of how the diagnosis presents
specifically in children.
Your thesis statements should read:
"(Specific client from Jones et al.) seems to present with
(specific DSM-5 mental health disorder)." The body of your
paper should then Your thesis statements should read:
"(Specific client from Jones et al.) seems to present with
(specific DSM-5 mental health disorder)." present the
following information:
· General overview of the disorder.
· Socio-cultural factors of the disorder.
· Specific symptoms as they relate to children.
· Specific symptoms within the case from Jones and colleagues
that support your thesis statement.
1.
This assignment is due by Sunday of Module 4.
Points Assigned
100 points
Grading Criteria
See Rubric