The importance of being ethical. Essential skills for effective leadership.

The healthcare industry today is in transition from a service industry subject to public regulation to one of self-regulation. The impact of deregulation is severe. Traditional values are being tested; new values are emerging. Can healthcare providers, particularly Catholic providers with their rich history and mission, afford to hang on to traditional values? How do administrators remain competent and compassionate at the same time? Perhaps the time is right to institute corporate ethics to serve as a lifeline for healthcare leaders much in the same way that clinical ethics has served clinicians. The mix of values to which a corporation is committed forms a foundation for practicing corporate ethics. For instance, a corporation can develop means for information gathering and ethical reflection that can shape policy and decisions. Six practical principles for exercising corporate ethics are (1) the chief executive officer is committed to corporate ethics as a management method, (2) the corporation's mission and values are continuously scrutinized to see that they are understood and owned, (3) those responsible for governance and management develop structures and leadership styles consistent with the corporation's value system, (4) the policy-making and decision-making processes include specific ways to ensure that the corporation carefully weighs values as part of business decisions, (5) the corporation evaluates and rewards all employees according to value-driven performance standards, and (6) corporate policy and performance are evaluated annually to determine where the corporation is consistent with its mission and values and where it needs improvement.