385: The Behavior You're Willing to Tolerate

What if your culture isn't defined by your values, but by the behavior you're willing to tolerate? Steve Harris has spent decades helping organizations create environments where employees feel safe speaking up, leaders model the right behaviors, and ethics become part of everyday decision-making. As Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Lincoln Financial, Steve shares practical examples of how organizations can build trust, strengthen accountability, and help managers create psychological safety within their teams. You'll hear how Lincoln reframed speaking up from a compliance obligation to a business imperative, why frontline managers have such a powerful influence on culture, and how one difficult experience early in Steve's career shaped his view of the difference between what is legal and what is ethical. His stories offer valuable lessons for any leader who wants values to guide behavior when decisions become difficult. In his role as Senior Vice President and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Lincoln Financial, Steve leads the company's enterprise compliance and sustainability programs and helps shape a culture of ethical decision-making across more than 11,000 employees. Under Steve’s leadership, Lincoln Financial has been recognized five times as one of Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Companies. Before joining Lincoln, Steve spent more than a decade at The Hartford, another long-time Ethisphere honoree, and he’s built a reputation for helping organizations integrate ethics into business strategy, leadership, and culture. He's also a frequent speaker on ethics and compliance and serves on several industry and academic advisory boards. You'll discover: • Why speaking up drives business success • How managers create psychological safety • What trust looks like in practice • Why listening builds stronger cultures • The difference between law and ethics Learn more about Steve Harris here:   / stephen-harris-bb997247   Visit https://GrowStrongLeaders.com to learn more about our assessment and development tools. Get our books on Amazon: Connect with Your Team: Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills: https://amzn.to/3jL0pEI Grow Strong Character https://tinyurl.com/3zwcanxa