Good Leadership Shapes Ethical Business Behavior

Julie Starr • March 22, 2022



Today, there are perhaps more up-and-coming entrepreneurs than ever before. People who have a vision of doing things in a new way, and innovating within spaces that have traditionally been dominated by largely rigid thinking.

In this new climate, the modern entrepreneur often has a much greater sense of ethical investment in the wellbeing of the planet, and in the ways that their business will impact things like sustainability.

But even as the importance of sustainability and eco-consciousness continue to grow, many businesses still drop the ball or fail to be consistent with regards to their ethical promises.

It’s well known that good leadership within the context of any business is highly important and can make a major difference in how likely that business is to enjoy success. Leadership training courses such as lean six sigma certification are sought after for a reason.

Here are some ways in which good leadership shapes ethical behavior within a business — and why you, as a business leader, should take your role and your ethical responsibility particularly seriously.

Leaders largely model the overall level of accountability within a business

Have you ever encountered a business where a culture of non-accountability seemed to pervade the organization? Where everyone consistently passed the buck and refused to accept blame or responsibility for anything?

If you have ever come across such a business, there are a couple of things that almost certainly applied to that situation. Firstly, the culture within that business was almost certainly very toxic and unpleasant to be around, and secondly, the leadership of that business almost certainly modeled that same negative behavior.

For better or for worse, the way that leaders conduct themselves within a business — and particularly with regards to things like their willingness to accept accountability — will tend to shape the rest of the culture of the company in a downstream manner.

If you pay lip service to things like sustainability , but always completely delegate every aspect of a sustainable business practice, and fail to accept any responsibility for how sustainability initiatives play out, then you should expect everyone else in the business to follow the same example.

This lack of accountability does, of course, have implications for just about every aspect of your business — ranging from supplier relationships to the efficacy of marketing campaigns.

As a leader, one of your core responsibilities should be to model accountability.

Good leaders can continuously realign the business with its ethical vision

A major part of the role of a good leader within a business is to maintain a broad overview of things, and to attend to the big picture concerns — particularly with regards to things like the long-term trajectory the business is on.

For this reason, among others, good leaders can and should be instrumental in helping to continuously realign their businesses with the ethical vision those businesses are or should be, aligned with.

As the leader of a business, it’s up to you to ask the right questions, to hold the members of your team accountable, and to stay in touch with your own sense of whether or not things are consistently heading in the direction you want them to be.

Leadership is responsible for the iterative steps a business takes in a given direction, day after day

Every business will tend to advance largely as a result of iterative daily steps in one direction or another — and this understanding is essentially behind the popularity of the Japanese concept of Kaizen in business, which emphasizes continuous small improvements over time.

As a leader in your business, you can ensure that the business continues advancing in an ethical direction, by helping to adjust course when that business takes steps in a direction that proves to be detrimental to broader concerns such as sustainability.

Good leadership can significantly influence office interactions and dynamics

Office culture can either make working for a business into a completely beneficial and uplifting everyday experience, or it can make it into one long-drawn-out struggle.

Good leadership has a lot of power to significantly influence office interactions and dynamics.

Firstly, this is done through modeling good behavior as described earlier. But it is also accomplished via means such as ensuring good channels of communication within the company for things such as raising concerns, in addition to providing a good HR structure for supporting personal wellbeing.

By Julie Starr August 9, 2025
Running an online business can feel like a constant balancing act. You’re trying to grow, keep customers happy, and still have time for yourself. The trick to making it all work long-term is to build habits and systems that last. You don’t need a complicated plan or endless resources to do it either. Here are five straightforward ways to make your business more sustainable without overcomplicating things. Focus on long-term customer relationships If you want your business to last, you need customers who keep coming back. That doesn’t just happen because you’ve got a good product or service. It’s about making people feel valued every time they interact with you. Simple things like remembering their name, following up after a purchase, or sending a quick thank-you email can make a huge difference. People are far more likely to support a business they feel connected to, so keep those relationships personal and genuine rather than purely transactional. Make your marketing work smarter A big part of sustainability is making sure your marketing isn’t draining your time or money. You want it to be efficient and get results. This is where working with seo consultants can help. They know how to make sure people can find your business online without you throwing cash at random ads. Even if you can’t hire someone right now, you can start by focusing on keywords, improving your website’s loading speed, and posting valuable content that answers the questions your customers are already asking. Streamline your products or services It’s tempting to try to offer everything to everyone, but that’s rarely a good idea. The more you offer, the more time, money, and resources you’ll end up using. Instead, focus on the things you do best and make them as good as they can be. When you streamline what you’re selling, you can put all your energy into perfecting it, which makes it easier to maintain quality over time. Customers notice when you consistently deliver something great, and they’ll trust you more for it. Keep an eye on your finances No matter how much you enjoy the creative or customer side of your business, the numbers are what will keep you going long-term. That means knowing what’s coming in, what’s going out, and where you can cut costs without cutting quality. Set yourself a monthly check-in to look at your spending and profits. If you spot something that’s not working financially, don’t leave it for months, hoping it will improve. Tackle it early and you’ll avoid bigger problems down the road. Look after yourself You can’t run a sustainable business if you’re running yourself into the ground. Burnout isn’t just bad for you, it’s bad for your customers and your bottom line. Make sure you’re setting boundaries, taking breaks, and switching off when you can. That might mean scheduling a full day without work every week or turning your phone off after a certain time. The more balanced you are, the better decisions you’ll make, and the easier it will be to keep your business moving forward without constantly feeling like you’re in survival mode. Sustainability in business isn’t about doing one big thing; it’s about making intelligent, consistent choices that build over time. Start small, keep checking in on your progress, and before you know it, your business will feel a lot steadier and more future-proof than it did before.
By Julie Starr August 8, 2025
Are you hoping to build a heavy industry business? It’s the kind of company that can have globally sweeping positive and negative effects. On the one hand, you’re contributing to the industry, ensuring there’s enough supply to meet demand, and you can do your best to operate in a sustainable way that prioritizes the environment. But on the other hand, the heavy industry has long been the most significant business polluter in the world. Despite advancements in industry technology and usage, their ranking relative to other sectors, such as food and beverage , and shipping and logistics, has remained unchanged as of 2025. Requiring extensive use of large, heavy, and expensive machinery, the fumes produced by heavy-duty factories in sectors like mining, aerospace, nautical, and metal production regularly cause harm to both human and animal life. It’s why anyone interested in investing or scaling within an industry like this needs to focus on their company’s carbon footprint. There are various ways to ensure you’re limiting your harmful output and waste, and you’ll want to use as many as possible within your operation. Check out our recommendations below. Work with Green Suppliers No matter what stage you sit at in the hypothetical supply chain, you’re likely to source at least part of your overall production material from a supplier. If that’s not the case, you’ll still need to work with companies that provide machinery and equipment, as well as replacement parts for these industrial items. All in all, to make as sustainable a choice as possible, you’ll want to commit to working with a ‘green’ supplier who makes eco-conscious choices at every step. Eco-friendly suppliers will strive to both implement sustainable practices within their production line, as well as provide sustainably made and/or extracted materials. The products and/or parts they send out are likely to be recyclable when they reach their end-of-life period, or they’ll run a scheme where you can send old or broken parts back to them. Offset Your Carbon Emissions Offsetting carbon emissions converts the waste output from your operations into something more positive. If you’re interested in programs like this , you can use official government platforms or climate charity websites to contribute. You’ll be able to find a variety of projects that have been undertaken to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and they’ll be located in various regions across the world. You can choose to patronise as many of them as you wish, but if you want to focus on specific types, you’ll also be able to do so. When approaching a program like this, it’s usually best to offset month by month, as this helps you stay on top of your carbon footprint. Be sure to invest in as much carbon removal per tonne as your business has potentially contributed to the atmosphere in the last month. But before you go any further, there’s one thing you need to keep in mind here: Carbon offsetting is just one sustainable practice you can turn to, but it’s not the only one your business will ever need to use. Yes, it’s one of the most sustainable practices a heavy industry business can invest in. But that’s only true when it’s partnered with real-time carbon-lowering efficiencies within day-to-day operations. Repair, Rather Than Throw Away Repairing is the best option if a repair is possible. This should be the first step when evaluating old or broken-down equipment. If it can be salvaged, it should be. Otherwise, you’ll have to replace the equipment in question. Not only is that expensive, but it also means more waste to manage. And not all heavy industry tech can be recycled. Sometimes it’s potentially hazardous and needs to be disposed of carefully, and this could have harsh impacts on the surrounding environment. Repairing is your best bet, at least 80% of the time. You can get back up and running faster, and you don’t need to account for a large investment at short notice. And more equipment can be repaired than you might think. It’s not just small, singular parts that can be pulled out. Entire internal systems in even large vehicles, such as freighter ships, can be replaced by secondary parts. A marine logistics provider or deep-sea fishing operator would save a lot of money just by ordering a Cummins Rebuild Kit for one of their vessels. Deciding to put the ship out of commission and eventually scrapping it will contribute to the large-scale waste common in companies like this. Aiming to repair and limit environmental damage will get that same boat back onto the waters in seaworthy condition. Operate with Lower Emission Logistics Shipping your products to businesses and markets always generates a carbon footprint. Unless you’re operating only within the local area and you’re able to transport products back and forth on foot, this is an unavoidable issue. And seeing as you’re a heavy industry business, that’s not very likely. But some shipping options are better than others. Indeed, there are low-emission choices to be made, and you’ll want to look into these logistic partners only. You’ll likely find that air travel is a total no-go zone. Alternatives to this are long-haul road transportation or a traditional shipping company that operates via sea. Yes, even trucking your products over land generates a lot less carbon waste that can damage the environment than flying something! Staying Green as a Heavy Industry Player Working sustainably within the heavy industry is a career-long project. You’ll need to continually make moves to consider what could be streamlined into something greener and less consuming next. In the end, this can help your long-term costs decrease and stay low. Fewer risky investments, fewer fees from environmental bodies, and more productive time within your business. So, it’s not going to be easy, but it will be worth it