President John D. Willis founded Leadership Ethics Online in 2006, while director of a graduate program over a master’s degree he designed from the ground up in the area of dispute resolution.
The degree was designed to be the most competitive in the field.
He studied every ethical standard of practice for every employment application included or considered in the curriculum: the ethics codes of professional associations in law, employment and labor, health care, construction, manufacturing, insurances, and public accounting, among others.
He reviewed most of the federal ethics codes, and consulted and partnered with U.S. agencies with missions to mediate and settle multiparty disputes and required graduate students to study their standards of practice: the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the U.S. Institute for Environmental Dispute Resolution. To these he added major players in arbitration: the American Arbitration Association, Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.
This research–coupled with his academic studies of the history of ethics in the West (with some attention to Eastern system)–led him to two conclusions:
- Ethics codes, regulations, and laws designed to protect the public and private sectors, were in great abundance.
- The problem was no dearth of codes, regulations, and laws, but an equal abundance of individuals willing to circumvent them, or willing to assist the circumvention through legal and illegal means.
Therefore, he decided to found a company dedicated to leadership ethics in order to work with one leader, one organization at a time. Leadership Ethics Online could not reach for training and voluntary compliance all the leaders in the United States, yet he believed it was within his power to reach a few.
Academic Credentials
- PhD, MA The University of Chicago
- MDiv Emmanuel School of Religion
- BA Kentucky Christian University
Teaching and Administration in Higher Education
- Sullivan University (Founding Director, M.S. in Conflict Management)
- The University of Louisville (adjunct)
- Indiana Wesleyan University (adjunct)
- Maryville University, MO (adjunct)
Certifications
- Administrator The Conflict Dynamics Profile®
- Administrator The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator
- Administrator The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
- Mediator The United States Postal Service
- Mediator The International Center for Dispute Resolution
- EEO Enforcement Commonwealth of Kentucky – State EEOC Commission
Ethics Policy and Hearing Panels (past)
- The American Bar Association, Section on Dispute Resolution
- The Association for Conflict Resolution
- The International Ombuds Association
Public Education Projects
“Ethical Principles for Government Leadership for Municipal Clerks,” The Kentucky Municipal Clerks, Louisville, Kentucky
“Touring Ethical Dilemmas and Solutions,” The Kentucky Tourism Council, Frankfort, Kentucky
“The Clerk as Peacemaker,” The Kentucky Municipal Clerks, Paducah, Kentucky
“The Clerk as Peacemaker: Transforming Your Municipality Through Conflict Resolution,” The International Institute of Municipal Clerks, Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana
“Preventing and Managing Multi-Party Disputes in Government: Towards an Office of Dispute Resolution in Louisville Metro Government,” Conflict Resolution Week in Louisville Metro
“Increasing the Bottom Line: Managing One Percent Change,” The Holiday Inn Hurstbourne, Management Group
“Managing Conflict in the Workplace,” Illinois Municipal League, 92nd Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois
“Enculturation, Trauma, and Neutrality: Adverse Impact of Experiences on Professional Process and Judgment,” 17th Annual Conference, Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Greenbelt, MD
“A Thousand Year Dynamic: Continuing Impacts of the Crusades on Current International Relations,” Frazier Historical Museum, Louisville, KY
“Litigation and Conflict Prevention in Ecclesial Communities: Bishops Session,” The Kentucky Council of Churches, Annual Assembly, Bardstown, KY
“Conflict Prevention and Management in Your Life and Congregation: General Session,” the Kentucky Council of Churches, Annual Assembly, Bardstown, KY
“Moses, Jesus, Muhammad: What Did the Prophets Teach on Religious Violence and War?, The First Annual Symposium on Religious Violence and Peacemaking, Annual Meeting of the Association for Conflict Resolution, Sacramento, CA; organized and chaired presentations by Reformed rabbi, Shiite imam, and Christian NT scholar, distributed the paper, “The Deadly Spiral: Unlocking the Enigma of Religious Violence”
“A Religious Response to Child Abuse and Neglect” [clergy as mandated reporters, corporal punishment, and cooperative efforts between religious, legal, and social service professionals] The Broome County Child Abuse Council, Binghamton, NY
“Traditio Dissensionis: Foundations for Religious Hatred in Scripture and Exegetical Tradition,” The Casassa Conference, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California
“Who Is a Christian?,” The Jewish-Christian Dialogue [American Jewish Committee, Archdiocese of St. Louis, National Conference of Christians and Jews], St. Louis, MO
Professional Leadership in Society
- Community Leadership – leading and organizing conflict resolution programs for uninsured families, social service delivery, senior services, community poverty and hunger, services for mentally disabled, literacy, and discrimination
- Religious Leadership – racial reconciliation, clergy sexual abuse and accountability, ethical fund raising, ethical volunteer recruitment and management
- Publication Leadership – books, academic journals, nationally syndicated and local newspapers, and Internet websites