Something that I stress heavily in my senior capstone class is the importance of ethics. We look at this through the lens of business ethics. That’s a little different than personal ethics. But there are elements that ring true for both. When looking at a business ethics scenario, there are three main questions that need to be answered to determine if a situation is ethical or unethical. The first is, “Is the action illegal?” That feels pretty obvious, but it is a good place to start. Then we ask, “Is the action against company or professional standards?” That helps narrow it down a bit. Lastly, we ask, “Who is affected by the action and how?” This is where it gets interesting.
We can look at the first two questions and pretty obviously know whether or not something is illegal or against company standards. If we don’t know off the top of our heads, a quick Google search or a skim through the employee handbook can provide you with a definitive answer. The tricky part is always question three. This part is harder because it causes you to think seriously about who could be affected by your actions. When I teach this concept in class, we go through several scenarios and look at these three questions to determine if the situation is unethical. It’s always interesting to see how the students answer question three.
When you put your own ethical dilemmas through this formal, question three is the one that will make you see the situation for what it really is. Take, for instance, your ethical dilemma is that you are hungry, and you see that someone else has a hot pocket in the freezer. If you are considering eating it, you have a clear answer as to what you should do by going through these questions. If you even make it to question three without convincing yourself it is wrong, at that point you will be forced to think of that hungry student or coworker who will miss out on lunch because of your selfishness.
In our society people do a lot of unethical things, and sometimes they are even rewarded for it. You can easily put yourself in a place in which you are complacent with making bad decisions and having poor ethics by ignoring these three questions. In the case of the hot pocket, many people would not think twice about taking it. They would respond to their hunger by eating that hot pocket. Some might look over their shoulder to make sure no one is watching, but many never even get to the point where they think about who is affected by their actions.
Personal ethics are so important because they shape how other people feel about you and your reputation. You might get away with some unethical decisions here and there, but a person with poor ethics will be found out. People don’t trust people with poor ethics. They might reward those people with attention, but in the back of their heads, they know that that person would turn on them in a heartbeat if it benefitted their interests. That is not a good relationship. When you are an ethical leader, you can inspire your employees to do great things. Ethical leaders grow more sustainable companies because people actually want to work for them. There are so many benefits to maintaining good ethics. Next time you find yourself in an ethical dilemma, start using those three questions to guide you. Before you know it, it will become second nature.
- Bria