Currently I am teaching a grad class called Ethical Leadership.
The question I discuss with my students often is when does a situation become an ethical dilemma?
Does it happen quickly or does it manifest overtime?
In many high-profile cases, such as Enron and Wells Fargo, it may seem to outsiders that it just started with the idea of trying to increase profits which then quickly ballooned into huge catastrophes that not only affected the company’s employees but also other key stakeholders, like investors, financial institutions, and even the public-at-large.
Was it greed or ego that was really at play here or were there other factors that let this occur?
It would be one thing if business leaders learned from these experiences and put in place measures to ensure that their organizations were more ethically minded, but it seems we are seeing even more cases of unethical behavior years later.
There can be several reasons why this happens that we may not realize.
It could start with just a small compromise.
As an example, we agree to a request or we do something “this one time” but then we think that maybe it was not a big deal, so we do it again and again.
Another possibility is that the goals of the business are not well defined which leads to wrong interpretations of expectations, processes, and outcomes.
As an example, if a goal is vague then that can lead to encouraging the wrong or negative behavior.
Lastly, we are all susceptible to having blind spots, including overconfidence, insufficient feedback, and poor collaboration.
You may think you are a great leader or team member but some of your actions and even your habits are seen by others as poor.
You may also gloss over feedback you receive or have selective hearing when your manager is discussing areas where you can improve.
You may even justify it by saying to yourself “he is not with me all the time so how does he know how I am truly performing?”
All these issues can be rectified but that takes time, energy, and introspection that many leaders are sadly not willing to do.
In addition, there is the added pressure of meeting deadlines and hitting financial and performance targets while also coaching your team, responding to executive leaders and possibly other key stakeholders, and trying to keep the other areas of life in balance (if that is even such a thing!).
The last piece to this conundrum is that the way organizations are structured, how people are evaluated, and even compensation plans add another layer of complexity that needs to be addressed.
If a company truly focuses on their core values and its mission statement and has a mechanism in place to encourage employees to be able to speak up safely than unethical behaviors will be addressed quickly.
In an ideal world, leaders should have periodic meetings with not just themselves but with junior people to understand how all facets of their business are operating.
In other words, they should adopt the LBWA mentality – lead by walking around. 
During these times, leaders should always ask about not only what the employee is doing on a daily basis but encourage them to express areas where they could personally develop and how certain processes can be improved.
Be open minded and non-judgmental while listening to what the employee has to say.
You may not like everything that is verbalized but consider that it could reduce problems down the road.
This may “reset” your company culture but as change is happening faster and faster and life is more complex, now is the time to take stock of where the company and leaders are today and set a much more robust and defined plan on how to navigate the future.
Get buy-in from junior staffers so they also feel that they are part of the decision-making process and you will see a much more cohesive and engaging work environment and less unethical behaviors.