Kultura organizacyjna i przywództwo

Język angielski w zastosowaniu zawodowym

Autor

Afiliacja

Ben Stanley

Wydział Nauk Społecznych, Uniwersytet SWPS

Vocabulary: ethics and leadership

The vocabulary below comes from the text The Ethics of Leadership and from our in-class discussion. Every term appears in everyday business English — it is worth knowing not only the definition but also examples of the contexts in which the word typically occurs.

Core ethical principles

Term	Definition	Example in context
Integrity	Adhering consistently to strong moral and ethical principles	“A leader’s integrity is tested most in difficult moments.”
Transparency	Being open, honest and clear in communications and decisions	“The company published quarterly reports to ensure full transparency.”
Accountability	Taking responsibility for one’s actions and their consequences	“Senior managers must accept accountability for strategic decisions.”
Fairness	Treating people equitably, without favouritism or discrimination	“Fairness in promotions builds trust across the team.”
Compliance	Adhering to relevant laws, regulations and ethical practices	“Compliance with anti-bribery legislation is non-negotiable.”
Sustainability	Operating without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs	“Sustainability is now central to our corporate strategy.”
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)	Voluntary actions contributing to society beyond legal obligations	“Our CSR programme funds local educational initiatives.”

Ethical risks and problems

Term	Definition	Example in context
Conflict of interest	Competing interests that might impair impartial decision-making	“He declared a conflict of interest and recused himself from the vote.”
Bribery	Offering something of value to influence an official’s actions	“Bribery of public officials carries heavy criminal penalties.”
Corruption	Dishonest conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery	“Corruption at board level destroyed investor confidence.”
Insider trading	Trading securities based on material, non-public information	“She was charged with insider trading after dealing on leaked results.”
Ethical dilemma	A situation with no clear right answer involving competing principles	“Terminating the supplier created an ethical dilemma for the CEO.”

Governance, oversight, and protection

Term	Definition	Example in context
Whistleblower	An individual who exposes illegal or unethical activities within an organisation	“The whistleblower was protected by confidential reporting procedures.”
Stakeholders	Individuals or groups affected by an organisation’s actions	“Stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, and local communities.”
Code of ethics	A formal statement of an organisation’s values and ethical guidelines	“All new hires sign the company’s code of ethics.”
Ethical leadership	Leading by example and promoting ethical conduct through personal actions	“Ethical leadership begins with personal integrity at the top.”
Corporate culture	The shared values, attitudes and beliefs that characterise an organisation	“The merger failed because of incompatible corporate cultures.”
Due diligence	Reasonable steps to satisfy legal requirements or identify risks	“Due diligence revealed significant environmental liabilities.”
Risk assessment	Systematically evaluating potential risks in a business activity	“A full risk assessment must precede any new market entry.”
Mitigation	Taking action to reduce the severity of an event or decision	“Ethics training is part of our mitigation strategy.”

Leadership vocabulary (word families)

Core leadership terms shown across their noun, verb, adjective, and adverb forms.

Concept	Associated terms
Direction	leadership, leader, lead, leading
Negotiation	negotiation, negotiate, negotiable, negotiator
Endurance	resilience, resilient, resiliently
Planning	strategy, strategise, strategic, strategically, strategist
Development	mentorship, mentor, mentoring
Creativity	innovation, innovate, innovative, innovatively, innovator
Inclusion	inclusion, include, inclusive, inclusively
Tact	diplomacy, diplomatic, diplomatically, diplomat
Drive	motivation, motivate, motivational, motivator
Authenticity	authenticity, authenticate, authentic, authentically
Power-sharing	empowerment, empower, empowering
Cooperation	collaboration, collaborate, collaborative, collaboratively
Vision	vision, envision, visionary
Transparency	transparency, transparent, transparently
Delegation	delegation, delegate
Decision-making	decision, decide, decisive, decisively

Grammar: modal verbs in ethics and leadership

Modal verbs (modal auxiliary verbs) are crucial for talking about ethics and leadership in English, because they let you express varying degrees of obligation, certainty, possibility, and recommendation — and it is precisely these nuances that matter in conversations about organisational culture.

Why modal verbs matter in business ethics

• Nuance — ethical issues are rarely black and white; modals express varying degrees of obligation, certainty, and possibility.
• Diplomacy — modals soften statements and avoid unhelpful absolutes.
• Precision — different modals signal very different meanings; choosing the right one matters.
• Negation changes meaning — the negative form of a modal often shifts its function entirely (compare must not with don’t have to).

Obligation and necessity: must, have to, need to

These express actions that are required or essential.

Modal	Use	Example
must	Strong moral or legal obligation; no flexibility	“Companies must comply with anti-bribery legislation.”
have to	External obligation imposed by rules or circumstances	“We have to disclose conflicts of interest under the new regulations.”
need to	Practical necessity	“The board needs to address these allegations before they become public.”

Negative forms — critical distinction

Negative form	Meaning	Example
must not	Prohibition — the action is forbidden	“Employees must not accept gifts from suppliers.”
don’t have to / don’t need to	Absence of obligation — the action is optional	“You don’t have to report minor procedural errors, but it’s encouraged.”

Common mistake: Polish students often treat must not and don’t have to as interchangeable. They are not. Must not = forbidden; don’t have to = not required.

Advice and recommendation: should, ought to

These express what is right, advisable, or expected — but without compulsion.

Modal	Use	Example
should	General advice or expectation	“Leaders should model the behaviour they expect from their teams.”
ought to	Similar to “should” but with a stronger moral dimension	“We ought to consider the impact on local communities before expanding.”

Past forms — criticism of past action or inaction

Form	Use	Example
should have + past participle	Criticism of a past failure to act	“The board should have acted sooner when warning signs appeared.”
shouldn’t have + past participle	Criticism of a past action that was wrong	“The CEO shouldn’t have approved the deal without consulting the ethics committee.”
ought not to have + past participle	More formal criticism of past action	“The manager ought not to have concealed the complaint.”

Negative forms

• should not — advice against an action: “Companies should not prioritise short-term profit over employee welfare.”

Possibility and speculation: may, might, could

These express uncertainty, speculation, or tentative suggestions.

Modal	Use	Example
may	Reasonable possibility; also formal permission	“This decision may have long-term consequences for our reputation.”
might	Weaker possibility than “may”; more tentative	“The restructuring might not achieve its intended goals.”
could	Possibility or suggestion (less forceful than “should”)	“We could set up an independent ethics committee to oversee compliance.”

Negative forms — another critical distinction

Negative form	Meaning	Example
may not	Perhaps not / not permitted	“The merger may not receive regulatory approval.”
might not	Tentative possibility of a negative outcome	“Stakeholders might not accept the proposed changes.”
could not / couldn’t	Impossibility or inability	“The auditors could not verify the financial statements.”

Common mistake: may not does not mean the same as could not. May not = maybe not / forbidden; could not = was unable to / is impossible.

Past modals: deduction and missed possibility

Form	Use	Example
must have + past participle	Strong deduction about the past	“They must have known about the problem.”
may have / might have + past participle	Speculation about the past	“The board may have been aware of these irregularities.”
could have + past participle	Missed possibility	“We could have avoided this if we had acted sooner.”
can’t have + past participle	Strong disbelief about the past	“She can’t have known the information was confidential.”

Ability and willingness: can, will, would

These express capacity, intention, or hypothetical outcomes.

Modal	Use	Example
can	Ability or general possibility	“A single ethical failure can destroy years of trust.”
will	Certainty or strong intention	“We will conduct a full investigation into these allegations.”
would	Hypothetical outcome or polite suggestion	“A transparent leader would share this information with stakeholders.”

Negative forms

Negative form	Meaning	Example
cannot / can’t	Inability, impossibility, or strong prohibition	“We cannot ignore evidence of wrongdoing.”
will not / won’t	Refusal or strong negative intention	“The board will not tolerate conflicts of interest.”
would not / wouldn’t	Hypothetical refusal or disbelief	“A responsible leader would not make that decision unilaterally.”

Common mistake: can’t is ambiguous — it can mean “is unable to” or “is not allowed to” depending on context. Polish students sometimes default to can’t when must not (prohibition) or could not (inability in the past) is more precise.

Summary: strength of modals

From strongest to weakest on the obligation/certainty scale:

• Obligation: must > have to > need to > should / ought to > could
• Certainty: will > must (deduction) > should (expected) > may > might > could
• Prohibition: must not / cannot > should not > would not (refusal)

Grammar: word forms

Why word forms matter

• Precision — the right form conveys exact meaning.
• Professionalism — correct usage demonstrates competence.
• Clarity — appropriate forms prevent misunderstanding.
• Fluency — natural usage creates smooth communication.

Word form categories

Category	Function	Examples
Nouns	Name concepts, objects, or people	leadership, innovation, negotiation
Verbs	Express actions or states	motivate, delegate, collaborate
Adjectives	Describe or modify nouns	innovative, strategic, authentic
Adverbs	Modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs	strategically, collaboratively

Common suffixes and what they signal

Category	Typical suffixes	Examples
Nouns (concepts)	-tion, -ment, -ity, -ness, -ism	collaboration, empowerment, authenticity, fairness
Nouns (people)	-er, -or, -ist, -ant	leader, negotiator, strategist, consultant
Verbs	-ise / -ize, -ate, -en	strategise, motivate, strengthen
Adjectives	-al, -ic, -ive, -ful, -ous, -able	strategic, effective, impactful, negotiable
Adverbs	-ly	strategically, proactively

Transformations in context

The same idea can be expressed with different word forms depending on sentence structure:

• Adjective: “The team needs to be more strategic.”
• Noun: “The team needs to improve its strategy.”
• Verb: “The team needs to strategise more effectively.”
• Adverb: “The team needs to think strategically.”

Full word form table (leadership vocabulary)

Noun	Verb	Adjective	Adverb	Person
leadership	lead	leading	—	leader
negotiation	negotiate	negotiable	—	negotiator
resilience	—	resilient	resiliently	—
strategy	strategise	strategic	strategically	strategist
mentorship	mentor	mentoring	—	mentor
innovation	innovate	innovative	innovatively	innovator
inclusion	include	inclusive	inclusively	—
diplomacy	—	diplomatic	diplomatically	diplomat
motivation	motivate	motivational	—	motivator
authenticity	authenticate	authentic	authentically	—
empowerment	empower	empowering	—	—
collaboration	collaborate	collaborative	collaboratively	collaborator
decision	decide	decisive	decisively	decision-maker
transparency	—	transparent	transparently	—
delegation	delegate	delegated	—	delegate
vision	envision	visionary	—	visionary

Not every combination exists — e.g. leadership* has no natural adverbial form, and resilience has no verb. In the exercises, mark such empty cells with an X.*

Common word-form mistakes

• Using a noun where a verb is needed: “They decision to restructure.” → “They decided to restructure.”
• Using an adjective where an adverb is needed: “They managed the crisis strategic.” → “They managed the crisis strategically.”
• Confusing -ing and -ed adjectives: “I was boring by the meeting.” → “I was bored by the meeting.” (The meeting was boring; I was bored.)
• False word forms (calques from Polish): Polish nouns ending in -acja map to English -ation in many but not all cases — but watch for irregular forms: strategia → strategy (not strategiation).

Leadership styles

Six leadership styles on which our case studies are based. Each has its place — a skilful leader switches between them depending on the situation.

Style	Key focus	Strengths	Weaknesses	Best used for
Visionary	Inspiring with a compelling long-term vision	Motivates during change; provides purpose and direction	Can lack focus on present-day details; may seem unrealistic	Launching new initiatives; major organisational shifts
Coaching	Developing individuals’ strengths and long-term growth	Boosts individual performance; builds loyalty and retention	Time-intensive; ineffective if employees resist feedback	Developing potential; addressing skill gaps
Affiliative	Building harmony, repairing rifts, emotional support	Heals rifts, improves morale, builds strong bonds	May prioritise harmony over confronting performance issues	Times of stress; healing fractured teams
Democratic	Collective decision-making and buy-in	Builds commitment; generates a wider range of ideas	Time-consuming; less effective in crises	When team input is needed; building consensus
Pacesetting	Exemplary performance, setting high standards	Achieves rapid results; sets very high standards	Leads to burnout; creates stressful atmosphere	Short-term urgent projects with highly skilled teams
Commanding	Top-down control, demanding compliance	Essential in genuine crises; enables swift coordinated action	Severely damages morale; stifles creativity if used routinely	Genuine emergencies; urgent turnarounds

How to match style to situation

• Crisis vs. calm: commanding fits a crisis; affiliative fits calm recovery.
• Skilled vs. developing teams: pacesetting fits skilled specialists; coaching fits those still developing.
• Strategic shifts vs. routine work: visionary fits change; democratic fits consultation on complex issues.
• Tense relationships vs. united teams: affiliative heals rifts; commanding exploits existing unity to act fast.

Communication patterns for ethics discussions

Expressing a position diplomatically

• “In my view, the priority here should be…”
• “I would argue that the company has a responsibility to…”
• “While I understand the commercial logic, I’m concerned that…”

Proposing action

• “We could consider setting up an independent review…”
• “One option would be to…”
• “It might be worth exploring whether…”

Disagreeing politely

• “I take your point, but I’m not sure I agree that…”
• “That may be true, although…”
• “I see it slightly differently — from my perspective…”

Talking about hypothetical past actions

• “With hindsight, they should have consulted the ethics committee first.”
• “If the board had acted sooner, this could have been avoided.”
• “A more transparent leader would have disclosed the conflict.”

Hedging claims about the future

• “This may have long-term consequences.”
• “We might need to revise our position if…”
• “It’s possible that stakeholders will not accept this.”