Why Leaders MUST Focus on Doing the Right Thing
By: Patty Prosser
It feels like leaders are challenged in more ways today than ever before. From my perspective, never have our ethics as leaders been more tested. That is why keeping our leadership compass focused on doing the right thing is more important than ever.
As a leader, choosing to do the right thing means prioritizing long-term values, ethics, and the well-being of your team over short-term popularity or convenience. True leadership requires courage when faced with pressure, uncertainty, or personal discomfort.
Why Ethical Leadership Matters
Build Trust
When your actions consistently match your words, people learn they can rely on your honesty and integrity. Trust becomes the foundation of your leadership.
Set the Standard
Your team watches everything you do. Your behavior defines what is acceptable and what is not.
Protect the Future
Short-term fixes may solve immediate problems, but principled decisions create lasting success and stability.
How to Practice Ethical Leadership
Acknowledge Reality
Face difficult problems directly instead of avoiding or minimizing them.
Speak Up Early
Address small issues before they grow into larger, more complex challenges.
Own Your Mistakes
Take responsibility when decisions go wrong and focus on making them right.
A Structured Approach to Ethical Leadership
In difficult moments, leaders must rely on a structured decision-making framework rather than emotional reactions.
Create an Ethical Framework
Define Core Values: Identify and write down three non-negotiable principles before a crisis occurs.
Filter Choices Early: Evaluate every decision against those core principles.
Seek Blind-Spot Feedback: Ask a trusted peer to challenge your thinking and assumptions.
Evaluate Long-Term Impact
Use the Newspaper Test: Imagine your decision on tomorrow’s front page.
Skip the Shortcut: Avoid solutions that fix today’s problem but create tomorrow’s consequences.
Prioritize Human Impact: Consider how your decision affects people, not just performance metrics.
Execute with Courage
Accept Temporary Dislike: Respect is more important than popularity.
Communicate the “Why”: Clearly explain the reasoning behind difficult decisions.
Welcome Accountability: Encourage your team to question and understand your choices.
How You Know You Are Doing the Right Thing
Leaders recognize they are doing the right thing not by the absence of conflict, but by internal alignment and long-term stability. While the right choice may feel uncomfortable in the short term, it brings clarity over time.
Internal Signals
The Pillow Test: You sleep peacefully at night because your conscience is clear.
No Cover-Up Needed: You feel no need to hide, spin, or justify your decision.
Core Value Alignment: Your actions align with your personal and organizational ethics.
External Signals
Respected Critics: Even those who disagree with you still respect your integrity.
Generational Stability: The decision holds up well over time.
Culture Reinforcement: Your team feels safer and more secure when principles are prioritized.
Warning Signs You Are Choosing the “Easy” Thing
Immediate Relief
The decision only relieves short-term pressure without addressing root causes.
Compromised Standards
You begin making exceptions or excuses you normally would not accept.
Isolation
You feel the need to hide the decision-making process from others.
Final Thoughts on Ethical Leadership
Doing the right thing is not always easy, but it is always the foundation of lasting leadership. As leaders, we have many choices we can make. I hope these suggestions make it easier to choose the right one.
Have a Prickly Leadership Challenge?
If you have this or another “prickly” leadership issue you’d like me to address in future blogs, please reach out to me directly, and I promise to try to address it!
There’s more than one way to tackle a problem or issue. Sometimes you just might need a little help! And, as always, if you or other leaders in your organization are facing similar challenges, please visit our website at The Center for Leadership Excellence, www.cleindy.com.
Patty Prosser Co-Founder and Coaching Practice Leader for The Center for Leadership Excellence, 317-727-6464 and pprosser@cciindy.com