1. An ethical leader’s standard of ethical conduct begins and ends with one’s personal ethical principles.

There’s no such thing as business ethics—there’s only ethics…Ethics is ethics. If you desire to be ethical, you live it by one standard across the board. John C. Maxwell

2. An ethical leader’s core values have at the center the quality of integrity—a basic honesty, reliability, and soundness in moral values.

And always, always, remember that no one can take your integrity from you…you and only you can give it away. Gen. Charles Krulak

There is no path to integrity; integrity is the path. Michael Dowd

3. An ethical leader demonstrates at least the five core and universal values identified in a global ethics survey: honesty; responsibility; fairness; respect; and compassion.

Three purposes or goals—service to society, economic health, and ethical values—should drive a company in equal measure. Dennis Bakke

4. An ethical leader takes responsibility for acting ethically in all organizational matters, works to set a high moral standard, and strives to be an example of integrity.

There are five factors that come into play when someone compromises his [her] ethics: pressure, pleasure, pride, priorities, and power.  John C. Maxwell

Maintaining high standards of honesty and integrity in today’s business world takes an inner toughness and resolve to persevere, often under extreme pressure or even under the threat of losing your job. Fred A. Manske

5. An ethical leader takes responsibility for encouraging, even requesting, the organization adhere to the highest ethical standards of the profession or business as well as those of the stakeholders and community, which it serves.

Doing nothing is doing something. Some of the worst decisions are the ones that were never made. Michael Josephson

It [one’s decision] is not to decide simply between right and wrong and between good and evil, but between right and right and between wrong and wrong. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Ethical values always imply standards of worth. They are the standards by which we measure the goodness of our lives.  David B. Ingram & Jennifer A. Parks

Community Trusteeship Program 5/12/10 – Bill Raisch and Mel Witmer