Ethical role model Thuli Madonsela
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Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela (born 28 September 1962) is a South African advocate and Professor of law, holding a chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University since January 2018. She served as the Public Protector of South Africa from 19 October 2009 to 14 October 2016. In 1996, she helped draft the final constitution of South Africa promulgated by then President Nelson Mandela.
Efforts to foster ethical behavior in organizations often direct attention to top executives and company policies and programs. Doing so, however, overlooks an important influence on the ethical behavior of people: the behavior of others whom people view as ethical role models. Through in-depth interviews, we asked experienced managers to explain what led them to single someone out as a role model for ethical behavior at work. These managers pointed to four general categories of attitudes and behaviors that characterized their ethical role models: everyday interpersonal behaviors (e.g., taking responsibility for others), high ethical expectations for oneself (e.g., sacrificing self-interest to do what is right), high ethical expectations for others (e.g., holding others ethically accountable), and fairness in dealing with others (e.g., soliciting input from others). Contextual factors mattered too; the interviewed managers generally singled out people they knew well, rather than distant executives, as ethical role models, but the role models business success often was considered irrelevant. These observations have important implications for fostering ethics in organizations, especially concerning questions of performance appraisal, promotion into leadership positions, and the responsibility of all managers--not just high level executives--to model ethical behavior.