YLAI for Integrity

Workbook
Responsible Leadership 
and Ethical Partnerships

#YLAIforIntegrity
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 YLAI for Integrity Workbook: Responsible Leadership
and Ethical Partnerships 
Young entrepreneurs and leaders, this workbook is for you! This YLAI Network workbook will
introduce you to the core concepts of responsible leadership and will help you define your
personal values and your business values. Then you can identify what you value in forming
professional relationships or partnerships with other individuals or businesses.

This interactive workbook will guide you through various exercises, prompts, and worksheets,
helping you to define your values with a personal code of ethics, establish accountability with
your actions, and identify and achieve your goals with like-minded partners.

Section 1: Understanding Responsible Leadership and Integrity

Section 2: Defining My Values as a Responsible Leader

Section 3: Forming Partnerships With Ethical Leaders

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Section 1: Understanding Responsible Leadership
and Integrity
This section will introduce what responsible leading looks like in practice. You will be encouraged to recognize
ethical and unethical behavior and perform a self-assessment on how you currently facilitate behaviors of
ethical leaders. In this section, you will also learn the top three ways to implement integrity-building practices
for yourself and your workplace.

Exercise: Recognizing ethical behaviors

Before recognizing what makes a responsible, ethical leader, let’s assess behaviors that you already consider
ethical and responsible. 

Check the box of the statements that you believe exemplify ethical behavior as a leader. Leave the boxes blank
if you believe the statements indicate unethical behavior as a leader. 

I recruit extensively, but I employ my family first when I encourage my employees to come to me with any
it comes to hiring for my company. issues they have faced in the workplace, and they trust
they will not face retaliation. 

I support people of all backgrounds and identities, I am respectful and kind to my stakeholders, my
and I will not discriminate based on those factors at partners, my employees, my manufacturers, etc.
any point in my organization.

If someone in my workplace makes jokes that I do not pay close attention to how my stakeholders
others find offensive, I ignore it. and partners feel about me and the work environment
I have created.

I am really strict with my employees and watch their I believe it is okay to lie about impending layoffs and
every move for mistakes. large company changes to my employees
when necessary.

I communicate regularly on any regulations or updates Encouraging diversity and inclusion is not a priority
my team should know about. for me and my workplace.

I do not find it that important to be responsive I do not feel the responsibility to handle ethical
and timely.  dilemmas when they arrive

I believe it is important to collaborate and respect my I do not think it is important to communicate to my

team and encourage them to do the same. employees the laws and conduct of the office; they
should just know them.

I will be fair and I will not display favoritism in the When my employee makes a mistake, I will not ask
workplace.  questions and I will just terminate their employment.

I set an example of ethical behavior in my decisions I prohibit any form of harassment in my

and my actions. organization.

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Why do you believe some of these items are unethical? What ramifications might they have in the workplace?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Self-reflection: How ethical am I? 

Do any of these unethical items look familiar to you from your daily life, your work, or your
previous employers? 

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

You are learning to recognize what characterizes a responsible leader and the steps to become
someone that others respect and want to emulate. Knowing what not to do is just as important
as knowing what to do.

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Leading responsibly in the workplace

While recognizing ethical and unethical behavior is one of the most essential steps to leading with integrity,
there are many other ways to make sure that you are being a responsible leader and that you are creating
an environment that is ethical and responsible as well. 

Responsible leadership starts with being responsible ourselves, leading with authenticity, and upholding
ethical and moral standpoints.

Three of the most important ways to prioritize integrity as a leader include:

• Implementing a code of ethics.

• Recognizing unconscious biases.

• Fostering a culture of accountability.

Understanding these three key lessons and putting them into practice is essential to creating a positive and
ethical workplace environment, which results in a more empowered and successful organization or business. 

Implementing a code of ethics

Developing a code of ethics, or a code of conduct, for your organization is an essential step in recognizing your
ethical standards. This code helps to communicate to employees, consumers, and potential partners those
standards and your commitment to them. Aligning your code of ethics with your mission is key to giving your
organization a positive foundation. 

A good formula for creating a code of ethics is to consider what non-negotiable values exist for your
organization. These could be honesty, timeliness, teamwork, consideration, respect, etc. You should also
consider your organization’s mission, and make sure that is reflected in your code of ethics. The next section in
this workbook will go deeper into identifying your values and formulating your own code of ethics.

A code of ethics is an important piece of your internal organization, as it sets out the regulations, values, and
standards of conduct you find essential in yourself and in your employees’ behavior. It will strengthen your
organization’s morale. It also sets a solid foundation for any future corrective action, as it should help identify
clear violations of conduct — for example, if an employee was harassing another. A code of ethics is also
helpful externally, as it shows that you are a responsible company, and it shows your stakeholders,
consumers, and partners that you value integrity and are taking actions to build your company culture
with integrity in mind.

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Recognizing unconscious biases

Understanding and managing bias is the first step to building a diverse, inclusive, ethical organization
or business. 

Bias is a preference or tendency in favor of or against one person, group, or thing when compared to another.
While some biases, such as a preference for mustard over mayonnaise, may be harmless, other biases can lead
to unfair conditions and judgment. Prejudice is a type of bias against a person or a group of people based on
preconceived judgment or opinion. When people act on these prejudicial attitudes, it is called discrimination. 

Bias can be conscious or unconscious, and it can have serious implications in the workplace. Conscious bias
is when there is a known bias toward a particular person or group. For example, this is where nepotism raises
issues, as someone may prefer working with a family member over a stranger. However, it may be unethical to
exercise this bias when hiring over a more qualified candidate who is not a relative. 

Understanding and addressing bias helps to make for a stronger organization and is an essential part of
leading with integrity. While conscious biases should be readily recognized and addressed, let’s take a look at
forms of unconscious biases, biases you may not even be aware you have. These play a role particularly when
hiring or recruiting, but these biases can also lead to favoritism or discrimination, creating an unfair work
environment with low morale, low trust, and low efficiency.

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Forms of Unconscious Bias 
(With examples of their implications on hiring and recruitment)

CONFIRMATION SIMILARITY AFFINITY HALO HORNS CONFORMITY

BIAS BIAS BIAS EFFECT EFFECT BIAS

This bias This bias is This bias refers to This bias is This bias is the This bias is
involves one where our tendency to the tendency opposite of the where, if you
favoring individuals gravitate toward for positive Halo Effect, and form a different
information prefer others people we have impressions
is a tendency opinion than
that confirms who have an affinity to, of a person
your previously similar perhaps because to reflect or for negative the rest of a
existing beliefs personalities, they remind us influence impressions of a group, you’re
or biases, looks, of someone or judgement in person to reflect more likely to
instead of preferences, something we other areas. or influence change your
reviewing and beliefs. know and love. 
judgement in mind to agree
information on
its own merits. other areas. with them.
This is also
known as peer
pressure. 

For example, an For example, For example, a For example, For example, when For example,
interviewer sees an interviewer job candidate one candidate interviewing, the when a hiring
the university a learns a job lived in the same interviews job candidate may team reviews
job candidate candidate plays small town as the for a position state a preference an applicant
attended, soccer every interviewer. The and discusses for a particular and three
and has weekend, and interviewer sees attending a sports team. If members state
preconceived wants to hire a commonality well-known this opposes the their distinct
notions about this individual between them, workshop. The interviewer’s preference
that university because they making this interviewer preference, the while one other
before the could play candidate more is impressed interviewer may disagrees, the
interview. The soccer together.  favorable to hire and may unconsciously one will likely
interviewer because the two take that into have a negative conform to
takes that have that shared consideration impression for the the three other
into account experience.  more than remainder of the members’
more than the their other interview.  preferences
candidate’s qualifications. in the group
qualifications setting.
and answers in
the interview.  

Other common forms of prejudice and bias include age bias, gender bias, name bias, height bias, beauty bias,
racial bias, ethnicity bias, and far more. These biases can affect our behavior and treatment of others, hiring
of qualified candidates, and respect for employees and partners in the work environment. These biases can
lead to acts of discrimination and overall low morale. It is essential for those in leadership to set the tone for
their organization to be diverse, respectful, and inclusive of all individuals, and ensure the same among their
employees and their partners.

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Even though it may be a natural instinct for us to judge people before we know them, understanding what
can be done to avoid it can prevent us from making biased, and unethical, mistakes that could limit the
effectiveness or reputation of our organization or business.

What biases do you think you have had in the past? How are you going to work to change those biases?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Fostering a culture of accountability

While you may already be a responsible and ethical leader, there are multiple ways to continually assess and
self-reflect on how you are leading with integrity and ethics. Fostering a culture of accountability and being a
model of accountability is key to this self-reflection and will strengthen your leadership. 

Strong leaders facilitate an environment with their peers, partners, and employees where they are encouraged
to ask questions and provide feedback. Without that culture of accountability, a leader’s decisions and motives
can go unchecked, and may be criticized. The lack of transparency may lead to resentment and distrust within
the organization. 

How to build a culture of accountability

Leadership can model accountability and expect it at all levels, and encourage accountability as everyone’s
continued responsibility. 

• Define what accountability means to you and your organization.

• Establish meaningful goals together as a team.

• Support employee growth and education.

• Be transparent about your motives with your team and with your partners.

• Ask for feedback regularly from your peers and your team.

• Encourage your team to learn and grow from mistakes.

• Continue your own education and growth as a leader with resources and workshops.

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Ask yourself these questions. 

• Do I regularly get feedback from others? 

• Do I regularly and effectively communicate with my teammates and my partners?

• Do I have someone I trust to keep me accountable? 

Assess your current level of accountability and indicate areas where you are excelling and also ways
that you could improve.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Remember: A successful entrepreneur = a responsible leader. By taking steps to become more

responsible in your leadership, you and your entrepreneurial ventures can thrive! 

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Section 2: Defining My Values as a Responsible Leader
This section will focus on identifying your own personal values and beliefs, and how they translate to your
business or entrepreneurial endeavor. Exercises about defining and prioritizing personal and professional
values and developing a code of ethics are key components to help you grow as a responsible leader.

Why should I know my values? 

Whether we realize it or not, the decisions we make are often based on our values. When it comes to our
personal goals and our business goals, we turn to the core beliefs that we hold important to help us achieve
these goals. When we are clear about our values and what we find important, it helps to make important
decisions.

Prioritizing these values for yourself will create a foundation for what you find to be a priority in your business.
Knowing how to lead with these values will help you create a successful culture where you are able to achieve
your goals more effectively and be true to yourself.

What values do you admire in leaders you respect? Do you identify with those values?

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Now take a minute to think about what you want to accomplish, both personally and professionally, before
you start thinking about your values. 

What are your top three goals for yourself?

1. ____________________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________________

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What are your top three goals for your business or entrepreneurial endeavor? 

1. ____________________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________________

Great! Keep these goals in mind when you are thinking about what values you find true to you and your
business, as they will help you look at your goals in new ways. 

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Exercise: Identifying my values

Check five to seven boxes that you recognize as your top values for yourself and mark with an X
five to seven boxes for you and your business. Note that your personal values and business values
can be the same or different.

Accomplishment Accountability Accuracy Adventure

Ambition Approachability Attention Balance

Boldness Carefulness Caring Collaboration

Community Composure Confidence Consistency

Creativity Credibility Curiosity Dependability

Detail-oriented Determination Diplomacy Discovery

Diversity Education Empathy Empowerment

Enthusiasm Equality Expertise Exploration

Fairness Fairth Family Freedom

Fun Generosity Grace Health

Honor Humility Independence Ingenuity

Intellect Justice Legacy Loyalty

Order Originality Perfection Positivity

Professionalism Selflessness Service Speed

Status Structure Success Teamwork

Timeliness Tolerance Trustworthiness Uniqueness

Unity Wealth Wisdom Work-life balance

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Why are these values important to you? 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Exercise: Prioritizing my personal and business values

Now that you have recognized values that are important to you and your business, your next step is to
prioritize these values. 

Knowing these priorities will help you give direction to how to achieve your goals. For example, if you
recognize that one of your goals for your business is to reach more consumers, and two of your most
important values are creativity and ingenuity, you can deduce that you should work to use your creativity and
ingenuity to find innovative ways to reach new customers, such as engaging through a new digital platform. 

PERSONAL VALUES BUSINESS VALUES

1. _______________________________ 1. _______________________________

2. _______________________________ 2. _______________________________

3. _______________________________ 3. _______________________________

4. _______________________________ 4. _______________________________

5. _______________________________ 5. _______________________________

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Developing a code of ethics

After learning the importance of setting a well-defined and prioritized, value-oriented code of ethics
in Section 1, let’s put that into practice. This code should reflect the foundation for your company, so
it should be unique and thoroughly considered. Here are a few tips to follow before you consider the
example and complete your own code of ethics. 

• Align with your organization’s mission. • Use clear and concise language.

• Use a values-based approach. • Be specific. 

• Be functional. • Request input from your employees.

Example: Code of ethics for a sample fashion design company, Styles Limited. 
Code of Ethics: Styles Limited (SL)

• Be respectful.  SL promises to treat others with respect and act in a professional, transparent,
and honest manner.

• Encourage accountability. SL recognizes accountability as a priority. All individuals,

regardless of position, should be held accountable for their actions and regular feedback
will be encouraged.

• Give back to the community. SL will focus on researching opportunities to give back to the
local community, promote job creation and growth within the community, and facilitate at
least two volunteer projects every quarter.   

• Be sustainable. SL will promise to incorporate sustainable practices, source our materials

ethically, and manufacture and market our products taking into account environmental and
socio-economic impacts. 

• Prioritize diversity and inclusion. SL welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds
and identities. This includes but is not limited to members of any sexual orientation, gender
identity and expression, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, social and economic class,
educational level, color, sex, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and
physical ability.

• Build ethical partnerships. From our manufacturer to our marketing partners, SL promises
to form partnerships with like-minded individuals and groups who place an emphasis on
community, inclusion, and sustainability.

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 Now it’s your turn!

For your business or organization, write five to seven items that fulfill your code of ethics. They
can go back to your acknowledged values, priorities, and goals and should be specific promises
to what you want your organization to look and act like. While you should reassess and update
your Code of Ethics as necessary, you should think well into the future for how you want your
organization to be structured.  

Code of Ethics: _________________

1. ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

6. ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

7. ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

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Section 3: Forming Partnerships with Ethical Leaders

This section will reflect on the key concepts learned in the previous section and will help you properly build
future relationships and partnerships with others who share your values. This section includes a code of ethics
contract template to keep in mind when forming partnerships, as well as a Venn diagram template to identify
shared values. Additionally, you will identify your core beliefs and will be encouraged to adhere to the
actions they represent. 

Exercise: Aligning values with potential partners

Now that you have identified your personal and professional values and goals, and you have built the
foundation of your code of ethics for your business, you have a better understanding of your identity.  

When you enter a business agreement or a professional partnership, it is important that your partners and
relationships align in the values you find most important. Not doing so could result in disagreements at any
point in the relationship that could have adverse effects on your success. Finding the right partners that
recognize your shared values aids your organization’s long-term stability and impact. 

Who are your potential partners?

Whether you are looking for someone to run your organization with you, or you are looking to hire contractors
to help with your marketing efforts, you will form many relationships and partnerships with other individuals.
Here are some examples: 

• Co-owners • Contractors • Stakeholders

• Employees • Manufacturers • Local businesses and schools

• Funding partners • Investors • Suppliers

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Who do you need to partner with? Who would make your business or organization better,
and in what ways? 

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Tips for aligning with like-minded partners

• Ask questions. Get to know your partners, avoiding unconscious biases, and
getting to know their values and their own goals.

• Be honest. Be upfront about your intentions and your goals. 

• Create partnerships with others who understand leadership.

• Create relationships with others who have mapped out their values and a code of
ethics for themselves or their business.

• Get references. Ask others who have worked with these individuals or groups if
they are good partners, or if any issues arose.

• Discuss the potential partnership with your current partners or people you trust.

• Make sure that you and your partner agree about both the goals of the company
and the methods.

• Follow your intuition. If something feels wrong about your partner’s character or
beliefs, it may require you to reassess your relationship.

• Think about the long-term as well as the short-term potential benefits and issues
with this partnership. 

• Write a formal partnership agreement with the goals and values of your
new partnership.

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Exercise: Aligning my values with my partners

Using this Venn Diagram example, you can see how Business 1 on the left values community, creativity,
and health highly. Business 2 values justice, carefulness, and timeliness highly. These two businesses’ most
important values that align with one another include teamwork, trustworthiness and faith as their most
important values.

This is to say, just because one business does not value creativity as highly as the other business values
carefulness, that doesn’t mean they will not work well in a partnership. Often, these different values may
reflect their strengths and be beneficial in a partnership. However, if a business values teamwork highly, and
their potential partner does not believe in teamwork, that could result in issues and disagreements that could
make this partnership unhealthy.

So it is important to make sure those key prioritized values align in the middle of this Venn Diagram, and to
understand which values do not align to understand if these differences mean you can work together or not.

Community Teamwork Justice

Creativity Trustworthiness Carefulness
Health Faith Timeliness

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Now it’s your turn!

After recognizing your prioritized values, before you enter a partnership, consider utilizing this Venn Diagram
to assure your values align where they most matter to both you and your
potential partner.

Next steps: If you want to take a partnership to the next level, consider developing a shared, written code of
ethics agreement so that both organizations can operate within your established shared values. This can make
your partnership stronger and more resilient through individual or shared challenges. Understanding that you
know what to look for when you are considering a partnership, it is important to create an agreement that
illustrates your shared values and an outline of your partnership.

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Congratulations! 

By completing this workbook, you have successfully taken an important step to becoming a more responsible
leader, and thus a more successful entrepreneur. By understanding ethical behavior, identifying your
values, recognizing unconscious bias, building a code of ethics, and promising to partner with like-minded
professionals, you are leading with integrity and you will set the path to inspire others to do the same. 

Take this information with you to each partnership you create. Responsible leadership is adaptable, so you
should regularly reassess and reconsider your values along your ever-changing entrepreneurial journey. 

Responsible Leader Promise

Now understanding the importance of my values, my ethics, and forming ethical partnerships,
I promise to implement my code of ethics, stay true to my values, and form relationships and
partnerships with like-minded people. 

Sign here: ___________________________________________________________________

Additional Resources

• YLAI Online Course - Fundamentals of Responsible Leadership for Entrepreneurs

• YLAI Online Course - Responsible Leadership on Transparency and Good Governance

• Managing Bias - Facebook

• Google re:Work’s lesson for unbiasing in the workplace

• Project Implicit Self-Assessment

• Accenture - Responsible Leadership Report

• United Nations Development Programme - Business Integrity Toolkit for

Young Entrepreneurs

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