Personal Ethics Skills, Values, And Intergrity In Organization

Ethics is very personal. In so many ways ethics is the very “how?” and “why?” of relationships. Your integrity, values and fortitude are expressed in your ethical behavior and position in all your relationships. Among your relationships, those at work and/or your membership in organizations must be attended to with a special kind of care, similar to but different from those of a domestic nature. Why?

Earning Your Living. It is very likely that your work is how you support and sustain your household in financial terms (including any benefits that might come along with your job). Most people “need” their jobs. Your ethical behavior at work is how you ethically earn your income. We presume here that your job is fundamentally an ethical undertaking. In this essay, robbery, theft, fraud and other similar enterprises which damage persons or property are excluded from our discussion. The extent to which you earn “an honest living” has much to do with how ethically honest you are. Thus, to be ethical, you must do honest work. Ethical work in an ethical work place helps you keep your job, too.

Your Influence on an Organization. Membership, both at work and by way of belonging to groups, is where you impact and influence how your industry’s or organization’s reputation is formed, for good or ill. Truthfulness, honesty, fairness, dependability, quality, helpfulness, etc., all help form public opinion of your group and industry. Note how people tend to group other people together by types and then render a universal statement about them all based on an experience or report about one or a few of them. Politicians, the media, lawyers, bankers, bureaucrats, and the like all bear the impact of a negative label. You as an individual who is thoughtful and responsible have the opportunity to leave others with positive memories of their dealings with you. Frankly, many positive memories fade away, but negative ones often outlive their usefulness. All the more reason for you to give serious consideration to how you relate to others. We certainly seem to need many more positive memories than the negative ones.

Growing an Ethical Organization or Business. Presuming you have an ethical leadership group in your business or organization, your personal ethical behavior will be both attractive to them and supportive of them. Thus, how the many behave together ethically actually increases the ethical qualities and intensity at that group and industry. Your ethical behavior makes it easier for them to be ethical, and they in turn make it easier for you to be ethical. There is a mutual benefit to all concerned when we each and all commit to being our best.

Good Example. Others watch how we do our business. They consider and talk about us and our business. One never knows fully just how much of a positive influence might come about from our ordinary ethical behavior, i.e., from our ethical second nature. If it is true that “what goes around, comes around,” then the positive impact of our ordinary goodness may be great. You might be an unsung hero already!

Personal Peace. Ethical people sleep well. Those who have embraced a deliberately healthy ethical way of life simply don’t have to worry excessively about stories they’ve told, mistakes they’ve made or weaknesses they have. They have already engaged reality from a healthy perspective and committed themselves to being their best. They can be proud of and comfortable in what they have done and how they have done it. They can tell their families and friends what they are up to and will likely be respected for their genuine selves.

Ultimately, all these reasons become even more important the greater one’s personal ethical awareness becomes. Those who study the ethics of being in an organization are those who take themselves and their memberships seriously, and want the world to be a good and healthy place for all. One doesn’t become a very ethical person by accident. It takes effort, help, some degree of learning and a desire to be good.

So, if you enjoy (a) earning an honest living, (b) having a positive moral organizational influence, (c) building your organization or industry’s positive reputation, (d) giving a good personal example to others, and (e) the genuine peace and well-being that comes from an ethical life, then you will enjoy what you learn from the deliberate study of organization ethics. Your “ethical awareness” can always increase by a systematic and understandable presentation of how personal ethics works in organizations. Your ethical presence can be a powerful force in the lives of those around you!

For more information and for the opportunity to arrange for a seminar on Organization Ethics go to this site and click on the Organization Ethics web page. Author & presenter: Nathan Mamo.

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Tags: analysts, behavior, business, ethical, honor