Ethics & Leadership in Business Development

In the 24 + years of working as an entrepreneur, there have been some unique characteristics that separate pioneers and industry leaders from the rest.  It doesn’t seem to matter what organization they work for, or the services, the client base or the economic climate. These individuals are in fact the top 3% of the professionals in their field.  In addition to learning to think as CEO’s, Presidents, entrepreneurial leaders of Business Development units, we’ve discovered they have acquired the behavioral characteristics of a leader. They have learned how to set strategic and operational objectives in putting together plans, how to be visionaries and see opportunities for their organizations that other individuals may miss, and in the role of Business Development, they have mastered the 12 Core Competencies, a benchmark to measure leaders.

When asked if leaders are born or bred, the general consensus is that leadership can be taught.  While few of us have had the opportunity to be formally trained or mentored in leadership, all of us are called to be a leader at different times and circumstances in our lives.  Leadership is first about who you are as an individual, not what you do, and the term character best describes the core characteristic of a leader.  It is this part of an individual that inspires others, so we see character as the summation of an individual’s principles and values, core beliefs by which one anchors and measures their behavior in all roles in life.  Principles and values of a positive leader include loyalty, respect, integrity, courage, fairness, honesty, duty, honor and commitment. 

Character also serves as the governor of our principles and values... Morale serves as the counsel or wise advisor of them. Character development begins with the very first things we learn as children when we become self aware. Morale is knowing the difference between right and wrong and, for the most part, this is inherent. Morale speaks directly to a state or function of mental processing while character speaks to the culmination of all these things expressed in behavior.

However, the law aims to influence this purely human function with fleeting and transient doctrines which change from interpretation to interpretation. Even the dictionary changes with the times according to the Architects of the Social Construct dominating the times. Ethics also speak to behavior - it is the habitual observation and application of moral principles (or a code of conduct). Leadership training emphasizes that understanding leader values and principles is only the first step in development.  A leader must also embrace values and practice the application of principles, living them until they become a habit. This facilitates the process of reprogramming immoralities learned in error (in developmental years).

In the Business Development role, success requires a fusion of who we are as an individual (personality), along with our principles, values, ethics and their application.  It’s a unique combination of what we know, how we apply it and what we do.

Be sure to make ethics an important part of the development and practice of your business. Also, look for its presence in the practice of other businesses of which you are a consumer and hold them accountable.


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