I was recently asked to share a view on the intersection of morals, ethics and values. After much consideration and research, I came up with a framework that has helped me understand what’s required for ethical leadership.

You see, our morals or beliefs about what’s right or wrong are based on societal or cultural influences, religious teaching, and/or parental guidance. These beliefs provide our moral foundation and are difficult to change. They become hardwired like our DNA. Because I was raised in a southern Baptist household in the Bible-belt of the USA, most of my beliefs are based on scripture. When I have a question about what’s right or wrong, I go to the Bible as my source of truth. Others may rely on a different source of truth but most major religions have very similar tenants about integrity, love and concern for humanity.

Our values are the few prioritized beliefs that drive our behavior. Most of us have a few moral truths that take precedent over all other beliefs and evoke strong emotions when violated. For instance, if integrity is a personal value, you will likely be angry when lied to. If family is a personal value, you might go into debt if a relative is in need or become anxious if you haven’t talked to a sibling in a while. Alignment of personal values between individuals is how strong relationships are established. Alignment between personal values and corporate values, is how strong organizational cultures are created. Yet there is a difference between espoused values and lived values. Personal integrity is when our decisions or choices are aligned with our beliefs and values.

Ethics is related to this decision making process regarding what’s right or wrong. When we are living our truth, I believe, we are happier and more productive. However, because everyone’s moral compass is different, we are sometimes faced with ethical dilemmas. These are situations where there is no clear right or wrong based on our beliefs of the decision for the greater good conflicts with our personal beliefs.

Leaders are responsible for making decisions that affect others. They must choose the direction which will create a better future for all stakeholders. This means providing an ethical compass within organizations. There will be tough choices and ethical dilemmas. Others may disagree on what’s right. That’s okay; that’s leadership. Ethical leadership requires knowing your values and living your truth.

“Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17 (NLT)

Yes, you are amazing! My sister, you are regal and your confidence comes from knowing whose you are not who you are. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are a black woman in a white man’s world having the audacity to think of herself as a leader! Let me remind you that Jesus “made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). How far can you climb before they recognize your strength and your grace under pressure and feel threatened? What approach will they use to put you in your place? It matters not what they think or what they do. We serve a higher power. We have on the whole armor of God and praise is our battle cry. We know with certainty that we were made in the image of our creator and that there is a purpose for our existence. So go on with your bad self! Speak boldly into the darkness. Shine the light on evil. You were made to rule and have dominion over this earth. Not as an owner who seeks to dominate, but as a steward who knows that the earth is the Lord’s and all the fullness of it. We nurture it as a mother nurtures her child with no need for praise or even acknowledgment. If they never say thank you. If they never recognize the love that spills over from your cup. If they never give you a title or even call you by name. If they never acknowledge your glorious beauty. God sees you! He sees you and he loves you dearly.

Ever wondered if there was a class that some leaders took on how to be a bad boss? Well, here is my list of seven habits that can totally disengage the people that work for you:

1. Make everything urgent. Nothing irks people more than a supervisor who lacks the ability to prioritize. When every assignment is rushed and last minute, it’s clear that there was no planning. Occasionally, this can be overlooked but when it becomes routine you simply lose credibility as a leader.

2. Underutilize skills and talents within the team. No one wants to be overworked and underpaid. However, being underutilized is just as frustrating. Wasted talent is bad for the organization and bad for moral. If you don’t know the strengths of each person on your team, it’s time to learn and leverage them.

3. Assign the same task to multiple people to see who does it best. Your employees deserve respect and wasting their time will not win you friends or help you to influence people. This tactic may have given you options to choose from or guaranteed at least one result but when an employee knows that you are wasting their time, they will eventually stop making any effort.

4. Take credit for the work of others when its recognized as good. When your employees do well, it’s a reflection on you anyway. If you’re going to take credit for the good stuff, you better be ready to take the blame when things go wrong too. Every one has an ego and a good boss is one who develops and recognizes the contributions of their team.

5. Assign as many tasks as possible and hope that someone will need what your teams produces. There should be no shortage of real work with the lean organizations that we have now. That’s why creating work unnecessarily is just another way to waste someone’s time. Even inexperienced employees learn best by having real work to do.

6. Be vague and general in your guidance so employees can guess what you want. We used to call this the “bring me a rock” approach because more likely than not you will bring the wrong rock. Instead, think through the purpose of each task and why it’s important to the overall objectives of the team before delegating. This will help employees understand the bigger picture and build commitment.

7. Spend as much time as possible away from the office so your team can learn to be self-directed. The absentee boss is delightful. Maybe it’s a sign of trust that the team is capable to get things done. However, what does that say about the value of the leaders position. If a member of your team hasn’t had a one-on-one with you in the last month, you can bet their priorities are different from yours.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen each of these habits impact the effectiveness of a team and have a very negative impact on employee engagement. I’m hoping that by sharing this from an employee perspective, it will help those who want to be effective team leaders. If you recognize habits of your own, just no that it is never too late to learn new ones.

“Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17 (NLT)

Yes, you are amazing! My sister, you are regal and your confidence comes from knowing whose you are not who you are. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are a black woman in a white man’s world having the audacity to think of herself as a leader! Let me remind you that Jesus “made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). How far can you climb before they recognize your strength and your grace under pressure and feel threatened? What approach will they use to put you in your place?

It matters not what they think or what they do. We serve a higher power. We have on the whole armor of God and praise is our battle cry. We know with certainty that we were made in the image of our creator and that there is a purpose for our existence. So go on with your bad self! Speak boldly into the darkness. Shine the light on evil. You were made to rule and have dominion over this earth. Not as an owner who seeks to dominate, but as a steward who knows that the earth is the Lord’s and all the fullness of it. We nurture it as a mother nurtures her child with no need for praise or even acknowledgment.

If they never say thank you. If they never recognize the love that spills over from your cup. If they never give you a title or even call you by name. If they never acknowledge your glorious beauty. God sees you! He sees you and he loves you dearly.

The world of work is changing for professionals.  Two factors are changing the nature of how we work:  geographic dispersion caused by corporations increasing the reach of their organizations around the world and growing multiculturalism as people interact across the countries regularly (Adler and Gunderson, 2008).  Many of us now participate in meetings from our home office, in cars, airports, or trains, as well as in the office. Whether you work on a global team that has members in every region of the world, telecommute from a home office, participate in a virtual classroom, or you spend your days traveling to do business, learning how to shine virtually is a new skill that is required.  Here are my 5 tips for making virtual work for you:

1. Frequent check-ins.  Your boss or professor may know that you’re working hard where ever you are, however, it’s up to you to let them know that you’re doing an amazing job.  Checking in frequently with updates on projects, success stories, questions about their priorities and new ideas for continuous improvement will show that you’re the same go-getter that always exceeds expectations.  You can send a text message, email, or pick up the phone and call.  Don’t wait for him or her to call you to see what’s going on in your area.
2. Keep it professional.  When you’re on a call its easy to get so relaxed that it comes through in your voice.  Remember to sit up straight so that your voice sounds professional and clear.  Put your phone on mute when you’re not talking to cut down on background noise.  Jot down the names of people on the call so you can address people by name and by all means participate.  Make sure that you add value to any discussion and ask questions if you don’t understand or didn’t hear something that was said. Chances are others didn’t either.
3. Master virtual body language.  We all know that over 70% of communication is done with body language and not words. This means that if no one can see you, it’s extremely important to use your words more effectively to get your message across.  Build up your emotional vocabulary so that you can describe what you’re feeling to others.  For example, “I’m very excited about this proposal and wish that you could see my enthusiasm over the phone!”  You can also use mindfulness to focus on the emotion that you want to convey so that it comes across in your tone of voice.
4. Get a professional headshot.  You want people to put a face with the name so put your best face forward.  Use a picture in an introductory slide when doing a virtual presentation so that everyone knows who is speaking.  Keep your picture up to date on internal collaboration sites as well as on LinkedIn.  Smartphone pictures are okay as long as you dress professionally and take the pic in a professional or neutral setting.  Remember, this picture may be the only image some people ever see of you.
5. Be a virtual leader.  You can demonstrate your leadership ability over the phone as much as you can in person.  Great leaders have vision, let them hear about your plans for a better future.  A vision is simply an idea that describes something better than what we have today.  Great leaders have a strategy for how we get from here to there.  What resources are required?  What are the steps that we need to take?  Great leaders engage others to achieve the vision by understanding their needs and motivations.  Get to know other members on your team and what makes them tick.  Inspire them by being inclusive and getting their input on your plans. Finally, great leaders get things done.  Let your team know about the progress that you are making towards your collective goals. Show that you are pulling your weight.

Working virtually is here to stay.  We live in a knowledge-driven and highly competitive business environment so we must learn to shine where ever we are.

Follow my blog post for more helpful tips to develop a more masterful you!

Valeria Edmonds, Masterful You

You can reach me for virtual coaching at akavaleria@masterfulyou.org