From the authors of Elements of Mentoring, this handy guide pulls the existing research on the delicate balance of professional ethics into one concise source.
Johnson and Ridley explore seventy-five of the most important and pithy truths for supervisors in all fields, including questions of integrity, loyalty, justice, respect, and delivering one's best in the business environment. The authors delve into all aspects of ethical conduct, including:
-- Excellence in the workplace
-- Dignity & respect
-- Compassion for co-workers
-- Coercion & power
-- Self-reliance and fidelity
-- Ethical decision-making and morality
Succinct and comprehensive, with examples and takeaway advice, The Elements of Ethics for Professionals is a must-have for any professional or business leader striving to create an ethical workplace.
From the authors of Elements of Mentoring, this handy guide pulls the existing research on the delicate balance of professional ethics into one concise source.
Johnson and Ridley explore seventy-five of the most important and pithy truths for supervisors in all fields, including questions of integrity, loyalty, justice, respect, and delivering one's best in the business environment. The authors delve into all aspects of ethical conduct, including:
-- Excellence in the workplace
-- Dignity & respect
-- Compassion for co-workers
-- Coercion & power
-- Self-reliance and fidelity
-- Ethical decision-making and morality
Succinct and comprehensive, with examples and takeaway advice, The Elements of Ethics for Professionals is a must-have for any professional or business leader striving to create an ethical workplace.
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Overview
From the authors of Elements of Mentoring, this handy guide pulls the existing research on the delicate balance of professional ethics into one concise source.
Johnson and Ridley explore seventy-five of the most important and pithy truths for supervisors in all fields, including questions of integrity, loyalty, justice, respect, and delivering one's best in the business environment. The authors delve into all aspects of ethical conduct, including:
-- Excellence in the workplace
-- Dignity & respect
-- Compassion for co-workers
-- Coercion & power
-- Self-reliance and fidelity
-- Ethical decision-making and morality
Succinct and comprehensive, with examples and takeaway advice, The Elements of Ethics for Professionals is a must-have for any professional or business leader striving to create an ethical workplace.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780230615748 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | St. Martin's Press |
| Publication date: | 05/21/2025 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 234 |
| File size: | 652 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Elements of Ethics
For Professionals
By W. Brad Johnson, Charles R. Ridley
Palgrave Macmillan
Copyright © 2008 W. Brad Johnson and Charles R. RidleyAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-230-61574-8
CHAPTER 1
Taking the High Ground Matters of Integrity
The story of ethics for professionals begins with integrity. A commitment to ethics must start with the decision to live and work in accordance with a set of moral principles. What's more important, one's actions must be consistent with these principles at all times and in all contexts. Integrity speaks of wholeness, coherence in one's behavior, and adherence to a set of principles. Nowhere should integrity be more apparent than in the face of adversity, for therein can be found its true test.
In this first section of The Elements of Ethics, we distill the virtue of integrity into 13 essential elements. Professionals of all stripes must maintain congruence and transparency in their work. They make themselves accountable, protect confidentiality, and avoid inaccuracies in describing their services. Ethical professionals know their personal vulnerabilities, private agendas, and signs of emotional distress. They take steps to prevent these issues from harming their colleagues and clients as well as from taking a toll on themselves. Finally, professionals defined by integrity are quick to acknowledge their mistakes and make amends.
As a moral virtue, integrity may sound like it should come naturally. Don't be fooled. Behaving with honesty, truthfulness, and consistency can be a hard feat to accomplish. Functioning as a principled professional and adhering to a code of ethics at all times, in all places, throughout all facets of one's personal and professional life, and over the long term requires Herculean commitment. It also requires sage guidance and social support. Remember that the price of unprincipled action ultimately will be more costly than the price of integrity. The damage exacted on colleagues, constituents, your organization, your profession, and you and your family can be immeasurable. Just look at the well-publicized ethics dramas in the news. We believe that each of the following elements highlights the dire importance of integrity in the life of every professional.
1
Become Congruent
During a cross-country flight en route to a job interview, Amanda had a brief conversation with an older gentleman sitting next to her. When he discovered that Amanda was seeking the athletic director job at a regional university, the passenger smiled conspiratorially and whispered, "I sure hope you'll not get too wrapped up in all those NCAA rules. A lot of us fans are more interested in winning than in the details of recruiting. Don't you think smaller schools need to flex the rules now and then to compete?" Without missing a beat, Amanda looked the gentleman in the eyes and replied, "If I am hired, I can assure you that every NCAA recruiting rule will be observed and strictly enforced. The best programs win without cheating. I will hire the best coaches and give them the resources they need, but I will not tolerate rule infractions for a second." At this, the passenger raised his eyebrows, nodded, and became quiet. The next morning, Amanda was shocked to see this same gentleman sitting behind the university president's desk. She was hired on the spot.
Mirrors don't lie. When you peer at yourself in a mirror, what you see is what you get—the real, unabridged you. Your mirror might reveal a smile, youthfulness, shining white teeth, and good posture, or reveal gray hair, wrinkles, and an oversize figure. For better or for worse, your mirror tells the truth. Now suppose you could look into a psychological mirror that reflects the inner you. On the inside, we would see your likes and dislikes, preferences, prejudices, deep feelings, values, attitudes, dreams and aspirations, and personal secrets. As the mirror peels away the veneer, how would you look on the inside?
William Shakespeare, in Hamlet, had something to say about truthfully reflecting on who you are as a person. "To thine own self be true, / and it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man" (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3). Being truthful with oneself is the first step on the path to becoming an ethical professional. The truth allows you to travel far along that path. Famous psychologist Carl Rogers used the term congruence to describe the state of being true to oneself. Consistency is the second step on the path to becoming an ethical professional. It allows you to seek harmony between your own values, beliefs, and behaviors. The ethical life requires an integrated sense of self in relationship to others. It is a fundamental consistency between moral convictions and behavior across time and situations. In essence, ethical professionals must "be" who they "are" at all times and in all relationships.
If congruence sounds simple, it's not. Being honest with ourselves and being consistent can be painful. Because of their pain, some professionals fail to "walk the talk," as it were, putting into question their real ethics. How many professionals truly are perceived by subordinates and colleagues as genuine? How many "straddle the fence" when it's time to make a hard decision? And how many behave hypocritically or act in bad faith when they think no one is looking? Here is what you should know: Congruence is an aspect of character that develops over time. Sometimes it is months and years in the making, and usually it evolves out of a process of deliberate self-reflection and openness to constructive feedback.
Why is congruence so fundamental to the ethical life? The evidence from business, education, and counseling provides an answer. Healthy relationships and interpersonal trust hinge on honesty and consistency. The colloquial saying "Say what you mean, and mean what you say" speaks to this point. When people around us find genuine harmony between our words and actions, their concern about hidden agendas or fears of manipulation are dispelled. People see us as safe, and because of their feelings of safety, they more freely lower their defenses, stop playing games, and are less prone to try to manipulate us. These responses are hard earned. They are earned through the aforementioned process of deliberate self-reflection, but we never arrive at a point whereby we are beyond another careful look at ourselves. Furthermore, going through the process requires enough comfort with who we are that there is no motivation to put on a facade.
There is another reason for becoming congruent: Incongruence is self-defeating, and it evokes unnecessary emotional pain. Unless you are a psychopath, a person who doesn't feel normal pain for wrongdoing, you will experience guilt or shame in any rift between your beliefs or between your beliefs and behaviors. Psychologist Leon Festinger (1957) proved this point in a famous series of experiments. He discovered that when people are asked to lie—to behave in violation of their own beliefs and values—they experience a powerful sense of distress and a subsequent drive to eliminate this distress by justifying their behavior. Termed cognitive dissonance, nearly all human beings experience this unpleasant internal state when they attempt to hold incompatible thoughts (e.g., "Lying is morally wrong" and "I can lie to make a sale now and then") or live with incompatible thoughts and behavior (e.g., "I believe protecting confidentiality is essential" and "I just divulged personal information about a colleague"). As the distance widens between our ideal moral self and real moral self, we can expect to feel greater dissonance and increasing distress.
The solution to cognitive dissonance is simple: Be truthful with yourself—however painful that might be—and act in accordance with your internal values. If you discover personal difficulty with moral congruence, then it may be time for a deliberate process of moral reckoning. It may be time to confront your incongruence. It also may be time to become an orthodox observer of the principles you claim as your own.
Key Components
• Be clear about who you are and what you believe.
• Seek consistency between your emotions, values, and behavior.
• Remember that congruence develops over time.
• Understand that congruence begets freedom in people around you.
• Recognize that incongruence is ultimately self-defeating.
2
Stay Transparent
As director of human resources for a Fortune 500 Company, Steven developed a reputation for innovative, effective, and cost-efficient employee assistance programs. His programs quickly garnered national attention. When other companies began to solicit his services as a consultant, Steven initially kept a low profile. He feared the moonlighting would anger his boss, even though he was conscientious in conducting the extra work outside normal business hours and off the premises of his employer. As Steven's reputation grew and more consulting came his way, his anxiety about keeping it under wraps intensified. In coming to grips with the strain resulting from his cloak-and-dagger behavior, he decided to tell his boss about the consulting. As he related the developments, he assured his boss that the outside work did not interfere with his primary job. To Steven's surprise, his boss did not get angry. Instead, he showed appreciation for Steven's honesty and, surprisingly, delighted in the national attention Steven's consulting might bring to the company. Steven's transparency not only proved to be the right approach, it freed him from his anxiety and allowed him to relax and enjoy both of his jobs.
If you look through a clean window of a house on a bright, sunny day, you can see inside clearly. The objects you see through the window are lucid. No second-guessing about their identity is necessary. The blue couch you perceive really is a blue couch; the messy desk, a messy desk; and the grandfather clock, a grandfather clock. Are you transparent? Can people see the truth about you? Or do they have to second-guess?
If you could do anything humanly possible with the complete assurance that you would not be detected or held responsible, what would you do? Be honest. When this question was posed to university students and they were allowed to respond anonymously, the most common answer was not what you would expect. The majority of responses were antisocial—the respondents would violate the rights of others or societal laws. University students' responses were nearly identical to those of convicted felons. They indicated that they would steal money, spy, or engage in promiscuous or unlawful sexual acts, or in other activities that violate their own moral commitments.
When we believe that our personal behavior is shrouded and we are free to get by without detection, we run the risk of deindividuation (Zimbardo, 1969). Normally restrained and inhibited behavior is released in violation of ethical rules or laws. What underlies our personal psychology when we think others won't discover our actions? Feelings of anonymity, which are also reported by members of a mob, are at the root of deindividuation. These feelings numb our normal self-awareness, causing a temporary loss of personal identity and accountability. Losing touch with our sense of self, even for a moment, is dangerous business. The siren song of perceived anonymity has the power to make us behave without inhibition and forget about outside evaluation.
Integrity hinges on transparency—openness, frankness, and a willingness to shine the light of scrutiny on everything we do. Transparency requires unwavering honesty and full disclosure. Not surprisingly, most professional organizations now require their stakeholders to disclose the nature of their relationships when conducting research or making public statements. A physician must be transparent about a relationship with a pharmaceutical company when publishing research about the efficacy of medications. The public has a right to know about the relationship so that citizens can decide whether there is a conflict of interest and make an informed choice about their medical care. Transparency does not mean indiscriminate self-disclosure, saying everything you think or feel. After all, "discretion is the better part of valor." For instance, it is not discreet to reveal trade secrets to a competitor. Transparency does mean keeping your activities above board, honoring your commitments, and clarifying the nature of your relationships.
Transparency and guardedness are contradictory. Keep in mind that as you become clandestine or evasive, people become suspicious of you. Your credibility and the trust people have in you directly relate to your transparency. Transparent professionals engender confidence and reassurance among colleagues, clients, and customers. Opaque professionals, those who are secretive, engender mistrust and suspicion. Why cast doubt on your own integrity? If you are tempted to become a closed person, ask yourself some other important questions. What are you hiding? What is the motivation behind your secrecy? What do you fear? What do you stand to gain or lose by being closed? One day you may find yourself in a position similar to Steven's: contemplating whether to self-disclose about an important matter. Asking yourself these questions might help you see the importance of staying transparent.
Key Components
• Refuse to project an image that is intended to deceive others.
• Remember that anonymity raises the risk of unethical behavior.
• Fully disclose your relevant interests and relationships up front.
• Realize that "hidden" transgressions are usually revealed in time.
3
Make Yourself Accountable
Identified early in his teaching career as a "rising star," Miguel was flattered and encouraged when, at the ripe old age of only 29, he was appointed principal of a large inner-city middle school. During Miguel's first year on the job, parents and district administrators were delighted to see a rise in student academic performance and teacher morale. But that first spring Miguel was blindsided. A routine audit revealed that the school had failed to schedule legally mandated health inspections during each of the previous three years. This failure provoked an outcry in the community, and caustic reports of negligence circulated in the local media. Immediately, Miguel shifted into high gear. He reviewed the relevant guidelines and district policies. Then he met with the superintendent of schools, assumed responsibility for the oversight, and outlined a plan of action. He committed himself to correcting the problem and addressing public criticism. Next he met with representatives of the news media and parents, again assuming responsibility for the failure. Rather than blaming his predecessor, the district, or his vice principal (the person actually responsible for inspections), Miguel admitted that in his first year on the job, he'd been overwhelmed with the demands of turning the school around and simply had not attended to that part of the job. He insisted that the blame was his and promised to correct the oversight immediately. His actions quickly quieted criticisms.
President Harry Truman had it right. On the Oval Office desk at the White House sat a plaque with an amusing but inspiring inscription: The buck stops here. He took great pride in personally putting those words into practice. If we paraphrase Truman's declaration, we might say something like this: I am the one responsible for all my actions—the successes and the failures. I ultimately am accountable to myself.
Responsible professionals—the ones who offer a transparent accounting of their performance—silence their critics and give their supporters reason to take heart. Accountability, the opposite of excuse making or blaming, is the willingness to give a credible explanation for one's decisions, judgments, and actions. To be accountable is to accept without hesitation or evasion the consequences of our behavior, which includes the good, the bad, and the ugly.
In elegant written prose, human resources consultant Susan M. Heathfield (2008) gives a vivid explanation of accountability.
Excuses for failure, excuses about your choices in life, excuses about what you feel you have accomplished fuel dysfunctional thinking—and consequently, undesirable actions and behaviors. Making excuses instead of taking one hundred percent responsibility for your actions, your thoughts, and your goals is the hallmark of people who fail to succeed. Part of the power of taking responsibility for your actions is that you silence the negative, unhelpful voice in your head. When you spend your time thinking of success and goal accomplishment, instead of making excuses, you free up emotional space formerly inhabited by negativity.
How many politicians, corporate leaders, and professional athletes hold themselves to a high standard of personal accountability? Indeed, how many of them boldly welcome the opportunity to honestly disclose their actions and take appropriate blame for their bad decisions and mistakes? How many high-profile professionals accept that accountability means taking deserved credit and deserved blame?
In this era of status and fame seeking, professionals of all stripes seem to be schooled in the art of passing the buck, dancing around the truth, and answering for their actions only when they are backed into a corner. The discovery of recorded messages, revealing pictures, or written notes may be required for some to own up to their transgressions, and even then they may evade the truth until their attorney assures them there are no other good options. But here is the surprise: Being accountable, especially when accompanied by sound judgment and professional competence, is likely to win you more credibility than any other professional behavior. CEOs, supervisors, shareholders, colleagues, and clients are drawn to professionals who hold themselves accountable and admit their own mistakes.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Elements of Ethics by W. Brad Johnson, Charles R. Ridley. Copyright © 2008 W. Brad Johnson and Charles R. Ridley. Excerpted by permission of Palgrave Macmillan.
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Table of Contents
Features 75 concise chapters covering all aspects of business ethics.