Ethical Leadership in Tough Situations

Have you had this call before? Someone feels they have been wronged by one of your members—or worse, that the member allegedly committed a felony against that individual, who may or may not also be a member of yours. Now they expect you to either call out the member publicly or make it your responsibility to right the wrong.

While we must respect and uphold the law, associations and chambers are not enforcement agencies. However, we do have an obligation to our organization and its members to behave ethically in our dealings internally with staff, the board and committees, as well as outward-facing with members in all that we do—using an equity lens as we do it. It goes without saying that associations and chambers must act ethically and fairly in their general dealings with the communities they serve.

If you have a member who allegedly does something illegal, an association's role may be to provide the affected party (whether they are a member or not) with resources for them to follow up on. It's often not just the police. It could be a licensing body or the state's attorney. But "may" is the operative word—if they aren't a member of yours, do you owe them anything? Technically, no; but ethically and humanly, yes. Showing compassion is always appropriate.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE's Center for Association Leadership.