When I speak of ethics, I’m speaking of a right or wrong above the normal moral and legal definitions. Though ethical includes moral and legal the same as unethical includes immoral and illegal, it’s really a fine tuning of behavior that sees a right or wrong action even if it may be moral and legal. For instance, the company policy and governmental law may allow you to accept gifts from vendors under a certain dollar amount, is it ethical in all situations? As a leader, we need to maintain a conduct that is above reproach because our integrity is at stake.
I don’t cater to the notion that we should worry about how our actions are viewed by others. People tend to apply their own motives to the actions taken by others which can create a misperception of the truth. If we are doing what is legally, morally, and ethically appropriate, we satisfy our own integrity. Others may try to use perception against us but that will happen regardless of our attempts to the contrary. Learn right from wrong, practice what is right, and let the chips fall where they may. You have bigger fish to fry than the pettiness of others toward you.
To help refine the distinction I’m making between legal, moral, and ethical behavior, I want to use a simple domestic example. You and your buddy are throwing the football around in the house and it hits a lamp. The lamp crashes to the floor and shatters. When your wife asked who broke the lamp you say “I didn’t touch it.” Breaking the lamp wasn’t illegal, you didn’t lie (technically) which means it wasn’t immoral so...are you acting ethically?
All too often we are told to do things that can appear to cross an ethical line. My rule is to do as I’m told (as long as it's in writing) unless I’m absolutely sure it’s unethical. My feeling is the boss should be respecting ethical boundaries and if it’s not a clear cut violation and he’s willing to document the order, then I won’t quibble. I try not to be a virtue warrior holding the world to my standards but I also won’t allow someone to use me to violate known and accepted standards.
Is it really an ethical issue?
Something that violates my sensibilities, but may not entirely be an ethical issue, is the mandating of personal expenses. I call them unfunded mandates. I have established it as an ethical issue in my personal book of rules. Let me explain. Specialty clothing, tools, supplies, travel, etc. that are required for the performance of your job, should be paid for or provided by the employer. The law doesn’t allow me to work without pay and it does so for a reason, to prevent exploitation. Ethically, I can’t allow my people to work off-the-clock even if they volunteer to do so. Why should other expenditures be any different?
If I’m your employer or boss and you need a screwdriver to do your job, I need to furnish it. If you rather have a screw gun, that’s your personal taste and not my responsibility. I know business travel is covered by companies but how do you handle small errands. Again, a system should be in place to ensure this somewhat minor expense is covered. Let me take an example that comes from my short stay as Chief of Tactical Weather Operations. My team needed multi-tools, the kind you strap to your belt. When I arrived at the unit they were purchasing them on their own because the powers that be wouldn’t buy them. To me, that was unacceptable, bordering on ridiculous, and I corrected the situation. They received basic standard issue multi-tools, if they wanted fancier ones, they were free to buy them.
I think of it this way-- the company is making money, directly or indirectly, from the work I perform. The compensation I receive for that work shouldn’t need to be reinvested in the company by me in order to do my job. To me, that’s unethical.
Gifts
One typically small ethical issue that arrives from time to time is that of gifts and/or favors. Except for those given to me by my employer, I tend to say thanks but no thanks when offered a gift or personal favor on the business side of my life. However, it can be a nice perk for your subordinates. You should take the necessary steps to ensure they know the company policy as well as the IRS code. You may even want to hold a brief meeting and let a HR representative cover the topic.
There is one particular episode sticks in my mind. We were having a new gym floor installed at the high school where I worked. It was tongue in groove maple flooring. While doing a job site walk-through with the owner of the company installing the floor, I remarked how beautiful the maple was. To emphasize my point I said it was something I would love to have in my kitchen. I honestly didn’t realize what I may have implied until I heard him say, “how much do you need?” Two thoughts ran through my head. First, he was either offering to sell me some or give me some. Second, how do I back out of this without sounding like I’m accusing him of unethical conduct? To avoid this potentially sticky situation, I replied, quite honestly I might add, that I wasn’t in a position to lay a new floor in my kitchen but if I did it would be maple...crisis averted. I was also very careful about what I said after that.
Is laziness ethical behavior?
Since we’re talking about setting an example in the context of ethics, what about the work ethic? Might as well speak to it here and now. Laziness is one of my biggest pet peeves and the boss who sets a bad work ethic example shouldn’t draw a paycheck. In fact, I would go as far to say the boss should be the hardest worker. The boss doesn’t compete for the title of hardest worker, he merely sets the standard of what hard work is all about.
My definition of work ethic includes more than just putting in long hours or shouldering a large quantity of responsibility. To me it’s the whole spectrum of work; physical and mental, as well as organization and planning. Remember too, no task is beneath you when you understand how truly honorable work is. Cashing and spending your paycheck without having put in your best effort, on the other hand, is dishonorable (or unethical if you're using my book of rules).
I not talking about running full tilt all day, every day. That will just burn you out. I’m talking about fully applying yourself to work while at work. The pace you set must be manageable but it requires you to be engaged at all times. Physically performing tasks is just part of it. Concentration is another important component. The higher up the foodchain you move, the more directions you’ll be pulled. Being able to think through issues, plan the next several steps, and still give your full attention to the task at hand is work, hard work. Establishing systems to keep you on track despite being pulled in many different directions allows you to maintain the appropriate level of concentration without losing track.
Strong work ethic never makes an issue about what sort of job you’re given. You’re allowed to desire the more exciting jobs but cranking out the task you’ve been handed is paramount. The picky, crybabies that clamor for one job or another because they consider them easy or glamorous were never good leaders when promoted. Attack even the boring tasks and crank them out. The boring tasks can give your brain the necessary time to work through other issues without losing any productivity. Remember, you need to do your fair share of all the work, not just your favorite.
"Work" as a team
When you have an “example setting” work ethic it shows up in your team play. You understand how the entire unit is responsible for their production and you fill in as needed. If you’re in a support role for your team you think a step ahead for what’s needed. Example, you’re helping a carpenter build a picket fence. As the carpenter is lining up the picket, you fetch the hammer and nails. As he’s nailing the picket to the fence you’re already fetching the next picket. In other words, you don’t wait to be told the next task, you anticipate and do. If you’re in the other role, say you’re the carpenter, you provide good clear guidance or instruction. You let your helper know what’s coming and what needs to be done next. Always thinking, concentrating, and working to achieve the necessary result. That’s how work gets done with your work ethics intact.
One of the traits of people I’ve known with strong work ethics is their acceptance of ideas to improve the work. If an idea was brought up to improve the workflow they would be all over it. Brainstorming ideas to make it get done quicker or better seemed to be constantly on their minds. Collaborating becomes a way of life and let’s you set an example of cooperation I also noticed the excessive amount of time and effort the lazy ones would spend to make tasks “easier” or to avoid them all together. Another group that never did well when promoted to a leadership position.
You can normally get an ethics briefing from HR or at least standard literature on the subject. It provides you with the company's ethics policy which you need to know backward and forward. I wanted to emphasize the example setting aspect in this post. When you’re working on keeping your integrity intact, understanding how ethical behavior can affect it is crucial. Keeping your nose clean comes in pretty handing when you have to mete out discipline as well. You don’t want to be a hypocrite.
Don’t set an example of someone who plays fast and loose with the rules because...you don’t want your subordinates playing fast and loose with yours.
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