My mentor reminded me that “the opposite of honesty isn’t lying, it’s silence.”
How many times have we, as leaders, been in situations where our first response to a sticky work situation is to lie our way out of it? When we apply our ethical lens to the situation, we may hold back from lying, but then do we simply keep quiet instead? We may, wrongly, justify our silence by saying, “well, at least I didn’t lie.” However, when we say someone did not tell the truth, it could mean one of two things: that they said nothing, or they told a lie. Either way, the result is the same, they didn’t tell the truth.
In this session, I discuss the psychological and behavioural aspects of responsible leadership, and how a leader’s moral compass influences not just the leader, but the entire team.
2. Overview
1 What’s the opposite of honesty?
2 Impact of a leader’s moral compass
3 Ethical Decision-Making and The WHY?
4 How we can take action
5 Q & A
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4. When Silence Is Not Golden
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90,000 vehicles recalled in Australia
= 1m
11m vehicles affected worldwide
10m vehicles sold worldwide in 2015
$10B Estimated Cost
Group CEO resigned
Stock price fell by 1/3
5. When Silence Is Not Golden
• When did officials know about water
contamination?
• Impact of Freedom of Information Act
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7. Impact Of Leader’s Moral Compass
7Source: Based on Lewin, Lippit & White (1939)
8. Ethical Decision-Making & The Why?
• What is the goal or purpose?
• Humans are goal-seeking by design
• When goal is to help others, we often improve
performance
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9. How We Can Take Action…
• Join a human rights group
• Shared Value Initiative (adds economic & social value)
• “Shared Value is a management strategy focused on
companies creating measurable business value by
identifying and addressing social problems that
intersect with their business.” sharedvalue.org
• MacArthur Real Estate Engagement Project (MREEP)9
10. The Trigger
Next time we switch our mobile device to
Silent Mode, we’ll remember the opposite of
honesty isn’t lying, it’s Silence.
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