A difficult economy does not only test balance sheets. It tests character. It reveals whether an organisation’s values are real convictions or convenient slogans. It shows whether integrity is part of corporate culture or merely a luxury retained in good times and suspended in bad ones. These pressures make the question of leadership especially urgent.

This became clear to me during a recent executive retreat with the board of a major Nigerian company. The official agenda was corporate transformation, but the deeper conversation soon moved beyond strategy, technology, capital and competition. That discussion led to a more fundamental question: how should leaders make ethical decisions when economic pressure makes compromise look practical, even necessary?

Nigeria’s economic hardship has placed businesses under severe strain. Inflation is high. Exchange rates are unstable. Operating costs are rising. Consumer purchasing power is weak. In such conditions, shortcuts become tempting. Bribery is disguised as facilitation.

This post was originally published on this site.