Often, we speak of business ethics as though it might be different from everyday run-of-the-mill ethics. But ethics is ethics. To be an ethical leader means to be ethical in everything you do, in both our business and personal lives. Ethics speaks to a whole, congruent person. When people act differently at work than they do at home, you will begin to see fractures that can lead to collapses in ethical behavior. External problems of this nature are problems of inner positions and thinking. Before someone bends the rule, before someone breaks the law, there is an identifiable behavior leading to a breakdown in integrity.
Certainly, the underlying reason for business is to make a profit, but if it can’t be made honestly, then it can’t be made. Expediency may lead to short-term gain, but long-term success can only come from a commitment to doing what is right even when that course of action may not seem to be in our short-term best interest.
Ethics or simple honesty is the building blocks upon which our whole society is based, and business is a part of our society, and it's integral to the practice of being able to conduct business, that you have a set of honest standards.