What causes people to act unethically in the workplace? According to a survey by the American Management Association, the answer might surprise you. The researchers found that the most common cause of employee misdeeds is not greed, a desire to further one’s career, or even an attempt to protect one’s job. Instead, almost 70 percent of those surveyed blamed their ethical misdeeds on the pressure imposed by supervisors and administrators to meet unrealistic goals and deadlines. Corporate executives, under great pressure to succeed, often pass that pressure down the ladder to rank-and-file employees. Trying to further one’s career came in a distant second.4
List five specific things leaders can do to reduce ethical misdeeds at work.