Ethical Leadership and Stopping the Spiral of Incivility with Audrey Murrell

Today’s episode is focused on highlighting ethical leadership and putting a proactive end on the spiral of incivility. In the work place, whether we’re leaders, managers or part of any team structure, we can face this at any time. 

I’d like to introduce and highlight the expert on this matter, Associate Dean at the University of the Pittsburgh Business School and Director of the Berg Center for Leadership and Ethics, Audrey Murrell. She is a woman of influence who conducts research, teaches, consults and helps organizations better utilize and engage their most important assets - their human and social capital. 

SHOW NOTES:

Audrey shares that rudeness, bickering, work place behavior, demeaning personalities, taunting…all are examples of incivility. They are not the cost of doing business, they are costly to business. They may start off as something small or manageable, but they are creating a downward spiral for businesses (1:10).  

When incivility is not corrected it has a whole host of consequences for the organization. It erodes culture and affects turnover (2:13).

There are many reasons that incivility is on the rise: we have a tendency to ignore incivility hoping that it will go away itself. Another reason why it may be on the rise is that leadership and higher-ups may be the instigators of bad behavior without ramification or are not providing proper discipline in their own workplace (4:13).

“Leaders must establish norms of zero tolerance for incivility.”

— Audrey Murrell

Audrey always starts off meetings in her unit acknowledging the positive behavior of her employees but also create a model for the norm in the workplace (7:25).

The best way to counter negative behavior is to reinforce positive behavior (8:45).

Audrey will look for people who can be partners with her in this practice. She and a colleague made a pact to model positive vs. negative behavior in their workplace. Overtime they continued to add people to their pact to change their negative workspace into a positive one (10:00).

Careers in reality are not steps, but much more like a labyrinth with adjusting to change and tackling obstacles. Audrey believes that education is transformational both to our thinking and our opportunities. She’s also very passionate about mentoring, specifically peer-to-peer mentoring (11:15).

“I really hate the word networking, it sounds very transactional. I talk about relationships because there is a mutual benefit.”

— Audrey Murrell

Effective leadership is not only about what you do and your skill-set, but it’s also about finding the right context and the environment that is right fit for you as a leader (16:00).

Want to lead and you don’t think you are getting that support from your organization? Look outside your organization to develop your leadership skills, negotiation, organization…at volunteer opportunities, church, community events, etc. It may not be at your job, but it is definitely in your community (19:00).

Ethical leadership is so powerful because you can’t be an effective leader without being ethical and being ethical and particularly shaping the ethical climate and culture in an organization requires leadership (21:30).

Want to star putting Audrey’s insight into action? She recommends seeking ethical role models in your organization that you can talk to and learn from. She also advises to seek training for leadership and ethics within your organization. Lastly, she suggests to connect within your community and push yourself outside your comfort zone. Do something different because that’s where you need your growth (23:20).

“Leaders push themselves even if it’s outside their comfort zone.”

— Audrey Murrell

Audrey works to stop and acknowledge the amazing things their students are doing and to celebrate with them and for them. It’s what keeps her going! (28:18).

If you would like to learn more on leadership and ethics or incivility, please go to audreymurell.com for more information. 

Thank you readers, to tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave us a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story!