A634.9.4.RB – A Reflection of our Learning
A Reflection of our Learning
Ethics and Corporate Responsibility has been for some reason that I cannot explain has been very challenging to me in comparison with the other ten courses that I have completed so far. At first, my first impression of the course was that how complicated can the course be. I have lived my life and placed myself on high moral and ethical standards based on my mother’s influence, my teachers, instructors, mentors, etc. But I was wrong. I found myself digging very hard, reading the instructions and still found myself sometimes confused as to how to phrase my thoughts and put them into words.
This course had made me look deeper into who I am and the ethical and moral standards that I uphold. I have always believed that ethics is that of our moral beliefs that conform to the way we live and the way we create our world through the choices we make every day. We are the best of who we are when we ethically live our lives in excellence, compassion, accountability, and empathy for others. Ethics is the peace of mind that we experience every time we are making decisions that are right for us and to others at the same time.
Morality on the other hand, primarily pertains to the manner we behave that affects the people around us. Therefore, when we give moral reasoning, we must consider due weight to the interest of others (LaFollette, 2007, p. 54) and we must consistently and actively try to avoid bias that may cloud our judgment. To which, I grew up living my life following the Golden Rule that my mother and our school’s Mother Superior thought us how to live.
Putnam (n.d.) states that the Golden rule can be described as the consistency of principles, but it does not replace our moral norms or ethical standards to which is giving us the stability and reliableness. Putnam (n.d.) continued that the golden rule unites and speaks to us despite the differences in our notions and culture. The Golden Rule indicates that we human beings have our own worth and values and surpasses the divisions of class, status, or race (Putnam, n.d.).
Hoch and Kunreuther (2005), studies revealed that we, as individuals, are very inconsistent in recognizing or determining our choices or decisions. They further indicated that our inconsistencies do not randomly transpire, but instead, those inconsistencies are susceptible to and are in accord with the climate of our decisions or judgments. Furthermore, they claimed that the context of our determinations or choices is affected by our preferences powerfully and congruently.
Thus the inconsistency in recognizing our decisions may often lead to a slippery slope. Leaving and managing our daily lives is a slippery slope in itself. It is a journey that we have to take regardless. Whether we deliberately lead our lives critically and soundly or we let it manage us. Life goes on, and it happens. Practicing self-awareness is the only way I can think of to ensure that my experience and actions do not swift down slowly on a slippery slope.
Whether we like it or not, we will always live our lives on a slippery slope. Making crucial or straightforward decisions daily will not always be black and white. There will be times that we may move beyond a cookie-cutter choice since at times they can create more issue than a resolution. As LaFollette (2007) stated, we should always reflect on the things that we do where it would lead us to “act when we should, to refrain from acting when appropriate, and to have the wisdom to discern the difference.”
During the many years of employment, I have met and worked with different types of leaders. The hardest leaders to deal with in my experience was working with a leader like Elizabeth Holmes, who does not allow their followers to challenge their decisions openly and who lead through the absence of trust from CEO down to the employees that is extremely noticeable and yet, they do not care. Leaders like Holmes’ who are practicing a coercive leadership style combined with their unethical or egotistical behavior or character make a work environment very stressful and very unproductive.
The presence of ego in the workplace is the biggest challenge that the workforce faces to adequately perform their individual tasks, and most importantly, ego hinders the success of teamwork. False pride, fear of making mistakes, and self-doubt are some of the characteristics that result in an overactive ego (Blanchard and Blanchard, 2012) where a leader like Holmes or a member of the workforce puts their own self-interest and self-gratification above all. Thus, leading to unethical decision-making since ego-based decisions only result in filling the gap of the individual’s self-worth and departmental or organizational goals become the least of importance.
Through my many years of being a member of the workforce, I have not only met and worked egotistical or unethical leaders, but the experiences that I appreciate and treasure most is working with authentic and genuine leaders like Steve Jobs. Authentic and genuine leaders create an environment of creativity, open-mindedness, and create a workplace culture where employees feel valued. When employees feel valued, they have self-confidence and are very eager to positively contribute to the success of the organization’s bottom line.
Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple Computer and founder of NeXT was one of the competent and consummate leaders that I believe inspired me to aspire to develop my leadership traits, skills, abilities, and lead with high moral and ethical standards. Jobs was what can be described as the epitome of an excellent leader who was a company builder and motivator. He was the type of a leader who thinks, acts and communicates from the outside in. Jobs believed in the “why” behind what we are doing, and put those “whys” into not just words but actions. In short, leaders like Jobs lead by example and live it. Jobs believed in building a company like Apple and NeXT from the heart and not just to gain revenues.
Conclusion
My perceived value of this course was to learn more or make a new discovery on how I can improve or develop my ethical and moral actions and behavior to be an influential, respectable, productive, and successful leader. I firmly believe that to be a prominent leader like Steve Jobs, I need to possess a strong moral and ethical standards of behavior with a strong commitment to my vision and values. Great leaders like Jobs want to inspire positive change that will influence humanity.
I am a proponent and a firm believer that the management team, as well as the members of the workforce of every organization, should have a formalized code to live by for a successful organization to operate ethically and morally. It is of utmost importance that all members of the workforce from the executive level to the non-management level to have a full understanding of how their personal values impact others. Their perception of themselves affects their stakeholders and the entire organization and their community, therefore, they must hold themselves accountable morally and legally to gain success ethically.
Through this course, I have gained an affirmation that when management establishes and abides by the codes, he or she made accountable for, it will make a significant difference in the workplace culture and environment. The management’s established codes give a guideline for how an individual with the management position and members of its workforce should behave. The management’s established codes stimulate a positive emotion when one acts and behaves in a way that exemplifies the code as well as triggers a negative emotion when one behaves in a manner that violates the code (Khurana and Nohria, 2008).
References
Blanchard, K. & Blanchard, S. (2012). Don’t let your ego hijack your leadership effectiveness.
Fast Company. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/1840932/dont-let-your-ego-hijack-your-leadership-effectiveness.
Claire, A., & Velasquez, M. (n.d.). Can ethics be taught? Retrieved
Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st edition.).
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Khurana, R., & Nohria, N. (2008). It's time to make management a true profession. Harvard
Business Review, 86(10), 70-77.
LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Putnam, M. S. (n.d.). Reflections on the golden rule. Retrieved from
http://www.globalethicsuniversity.com/articles/thegoldenrule.htm.
Comments
Post a Comment