Relationships with others have always been important to me, and I learn something from every person I meet—about them, about the world, about life, about myself. As inherently social creatures, the natural tendency of humans to form communities is evidence of the importance of interpersonal relationships, and building relationships with a strong sense of ethics and moral direction promotes longevity of those connections.

Organizations are built on relationships, and thus, sound ethics are crucial to successful organizational leadership. Good ethics practices contribute to increased productivity and higher morale among organizational members (Hrehová, 2018). I have experienced this time and again in both my professional and volunteer work, with regard to nepotism, excessive use of positional power, and unfair advantages. These situations have demonstrated Hrehová’s point that “individual behavior does not exist within a vacuum” (p.290). A lack of ethics on the part of one organizational member can generate a series of unethical actions internally and potentially contribute to the erosion of ethical standards across the organization. Several of my fellow nonprofit volunteers have said explicitly that the poor ethics of past leadership had alienated so many group members that the organization nearly ceased to exist.

It is not enough for leaders to have a strong moral character, they must also intentionally promote a culture of ethical behavior across the organization (Johnson, 2022). Leaders who demonstrate ethical conduct garner a more positive perception from other organizational members and are ultimately more effective as leaders (Hrehová, 2018). I hold integrity in extremely high regard, and as someone who strives to be an authentic leader I do my best to encourage those I work with to develop themselves into strong ethical leaders and community members as well.

My personal ethics are heavily embedded in my professional work. I will absolutely emphasize my potential for success in a new endeavor, but I do not overstate or understate my own credentials for any reason. As a commercial photographer, I work with people often. Building relationships with my clients is crucial in order to help put them at ease and encourage the behavior and genuine expressions that create their images, so I engage in conversation that helps us get to know each other. Aside from the fact that I am simply not an actress, I find that the most successful way to build relationships with my clients is through honesty in conversation. I am truthful about who I am—I even make a mildly self-deprecating statement about my poor sense of humor, which usually gets a chuckle and nice smile—and I treat them with respect. People pick up on dishonesty, and when they recognize genuineness they open up much more readily. I always ask a client before I touch them to adjust their hair or to shift their pose, so that they have a chance to offer permission and do not feel invaded. Simply respecting others, even those I only work with for an hour or so, allows me to build trust with them, and they are comfortable returning to me in the future and recommending me to others.

Honesty in what I can provide for my clients is also important. While I do everything I can to fulfill a client’s image or product request, I am straightforward with them if I simply do not have the capability or the resources before they invest with me. For example, I receive occasional requests for wedding photography, which is very different from commercial work and not something that I offer. Although I could land the job by undercutting other photographers, and I could stumble through the event, I do not believe this is the best show of integrity on my part, nor would it serve the client, so I politely turn down the request and refer them to a photographer whom I know is good and advertises weddings. This shows respect not only to the person who asked for services, but also to the larger photographer community. If I allowed myself to deliver subpar work outside my field at a lower price then what other photographers charge, I would devalue other photographers’ work and worth. I would also devalue myself and my own work, since my skills are best utilized for commercial work. This could essentially contribute to the erosion of the ethical foundation of the entire retail photography industry.

Another request I get periodically is for video work. All professional digital cameras these days do have video capability, including mine, but I know that I do not possess the skills to produce a high-quality video, so I typically refer video work out to a local videographer whom I have worked with and know will do a good job. A few years ago I received a request for commercial photography and videography. I was comfortable with the photography request, but since I do not do video work, I reached out to a videographer whose work I know and asked him if he would be interested in handling that part of the project. In this way, I was able to confidently submit a proposal for the full project, ensure the client would receive high-quality still images and videos for their investment, and support another professional in my creative arena. Incidentally, when the videographer needed updated headshots a few months later, he called me because he trusted me as a person and as a skilled photographer. Additionally, the person who reached out to me for the original job contacted me again a couple years later when she was employed elsewhere, and she hired me for another job based on her positive previous experience with me.

Effective ethical leadership is also directly tied to group member tenure, work quality, and morale (Hrehová, 2018), and I have seen this firsthand in my volunteer work. A change in leadership, with more authentic and ethical members at the helm, has engendered more trust and engagement among the general membership and a renewed relationship between the nonprofit and the larger community. As a part of that new leadership, I have experienced an increase in the perceived value of and respect for the organization.

According to Northouse (2017), authentic leaders demonstrate four important psychological and behavioral components: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relationship transparency (p. 222). I believe that my experience in both professional and volunteer leadership exemplifies these four elements.

My personal ethics are strongly tied to the Five Principles of Exemplary Leadership as well (Kouzes & Posner, 2017), as all five principles are very relational. In terms of modeling the way, Confucianism not only dictates how I treat others, but also indicates to others how I would like to be treated. My ethics inspire a shared vision of a community of integrity and mutuality. They challenge the processes of how things are done at many levels in our society, including my political and humanitarian activism. I believe my personal ethics enable others to act, whether through direct discussion or encouraging others by example. I also believe that my ethics encourage the heart. The world today is often a challenging place to be and to negotiate, and showing ethical courage may offer strength to others as well.