There was a recent article in the NY Times of this same topic and I have to wholeheartedly disagree with the author of the article. I’ve been in a number of situations (please see previous BLOG’s) where I’ve actually had firsthand experience with being asked to do things unethical (‘I wish I didn’t have to ask you to do this’, my former ‘boss’ stated to me)…and he got away with it….at least until the IRS and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania became involved…so, I recommend that you all read the NY Times article with the same title written by Daniel Victor of July 6, 2017. He, obviously, has never been in the situation of actually observing someone behave unethically or have someone ask one to do something unethical….however, he does try to give good advice.
Ethics and morals…I seem to feel that the average person ‘justifies’ their behavior based on what they perceive ethics and morals to be…Did the person that lied on the application for a RFP behave unethically? Of course they did…Did the person that used trust fund taxes to go swim in the Caribbean Ocean while insuring that anytime anyone that was left in the office be required to obtain ‘permission’ when buying a ream of paper for the copy machine behave unethically? Of course, they did…Did the person that ranted and raved about how ‘he wanted things to go his way’ in the halls of the office building owned by the NFP behave unethically? Did the person that pushed a co-worker down cement steps in front of the building owned by the NFP behave unethically, immoral and criminal? Of course, they did…Did the person that ‘permitted’ an employee/contract worker to be on health insurance since they were not being paid ‘overtime’ for the work performed over 40 hours in a week behave unethically, illegally and immorally? Of course, they did? Did the ‘BOSS’ who sat on a witness stand in a court room and ‘lie’ about the behavior of a former employee behave immorally, unethically, criminally? Of course, they did….Did the business owner/Boss who made her ‘husband’ terminate a long term employee due to her ‘headaches’ behave immorally and unethically? You bet your bottom, they did…Did the employer who accused a former of employee of ‘theft’ when the only thing the former employee did was go to work for a competitor, behave unethically? Yes, they did….However, I’ve learned that in today’s culture, ‘ethics’ is in the eye of the beholder….
I could go on but my point is that those incidents notated above occurred in real life and the individuals notated must truly believe that their behavior was ethical and moral and even legal…because the system allowed them to believe it….
I recently ended a consulting assignment with another entity that was an amazing contrast in realities….great employees overall but some of the poorest management that I’ve encountered in my many years of dealing with poor management….When I was first contacted by a representative of the entity and after listening to the issues and problems that this entity faced, I informed the representative that #1, I did not want a full time position and that #2, I normally find that the upper management of a company is the reason that there are so many problems. I was informed by the representative (one of the owners) that he could live with that fact….yes, sure he could. When all was said and done, no he couldn’t live with the fact that nearly 95% of all the issues facing this entity were caused by the problems and idiosyncrasies of upper management and the ongoing feud that takes place daily among the owners….it confirmed to me that each individual ‘creates’ their own set of ‘ethics’ and, in many situations, if the outcome is to their ‘liking’, the behavior is accepted and justified.
The problem with my latest client was not that they ‘blamed’ or ‘accused’ individuals of criminal acts as other business owners were fond of doing but that they ‘blamed’ the overall demographics of their workplace for the problems instead of identifying the issues at hand….fortunately, there was enough corporate support at this client’s to shore up my observations, even though I don’t know if anything will really change unless or until the upper management finds a way to make peace amongst themselves…
I recently read somewhere that society has gotten to a point where everyone feels that they have a ‘right’ but no one wants the ‘responsibility’….I’m hoping that this is a ‘phase’ that is occurring in the world and not something that will be ongoing…
We could go on ad infinitum regarding the state of our country’s leadership as of this point in time….Donald Trump and his ethics/morals….or, as some of us believe, lack thereof. No matter what can be said about his behavior toward women and humankind in general, he is very much a family man. He loves his children and his grandchildren as much as anyone does…and that is a beginning. I’ve been frustrated with a President’s or Administration’s politics in the past but I was never ‘embarrassed’ of anyone’s behavior. I truly believe that Donald Trump feels that he can get away with ‘anything’ and he will still maintain his ‘base’.
So, who determines whether something is ethical or moral? Does one say, well she did that so I can do this? I grew up with the adage that two (2) wrongs don’t make a right and I think that many people have grown up with that also but when the situation envelopes ‘us’, we tend to make excuses for our behavior and convince ourselves that what we are doing is the ‘right’ thing…
Ethics and morals…I seem to feel that the average person ‘justifies’ their behavior based on what they perceive ethics and morals to be…Did the person that lied on the application for a RFP behave unethically? Of course they did…Did the person that used trust fund taxes to go swim in the Caribbean Ocean while insuring that anytime anyone that was left in the office be required to obtain ‘permission’ when buying a ream of paper for the copy machine behave unethically? Of course, they did…Did the person that ranted and raved about how ‘he wanted things to go his way’ in the halls of the office building owned by the NFP behave unethically? Did the person that pushed a co-worker down cement steps in front of the building owned by the NFP behave unethically, immoral and criminal? Of course, they did…Did the person that ‘permitted’ an employee/contract worker to be on health insurance since they were not being paid ‘overtime’ for the work performed over 40 hours in a week behave unethically, illegally and immorally? Of course, they did? Did the ‘BOSS’ who sat on a witness stand in a court room and ‘lie’ about the behavior of a former employee behave immorally, unethically, criminally? Of course, they did….Did the business owner/Boss who made her ‘husband’ terminate a long term employee due to her ‘headaches’ behave immorally and unethically? You bet your bottom, they did…Did the employer who accused a former of employee of ‘theft’ when the only thing the former employee did was go to work for a competitor, behave unethically? Yes, they did….However, I’ve learned that in today’s culture, ‘ethics’ is in the eye of the beholder….
I could go on but my point is that those incidents notated above occurred in real life and the individuals notated must truly believe that their behavior was ethical and moral and even legal…because the system allowed them to believe it….
I recently ended a consulting assignment with another entity that was an amazing contrast in realities….great employees overall but some of the poorest management that I’ve encountered in my many years of dealing with poor management….When I was first contacted by a representative of the entity and after listening to the issues and problems that this entity faced, I informed the representative that #1, I did not want a full time position and that #2, I normally find that the upper management of a company is the reason that there are so many problems. I was informed by the representative (one of the owners) that he could live with that fact….yes, sure he could. When all was said and done, no he couldn’t live with the fact that nearly 95% of all the issues facing this entity were caused by the problems and idiosyncrasies of upper management and the ongoing feud that takes place daily among the owners….it confirmed to me that each individual ‘creates’ their own set of ‘ethics’ and, in many situations, if the outcome is to their ‘liking’, the behavior is accepted and justified.
The problem with my latest client was not that they ‘blamed’ or ‘accused’ individuals of criminal acts as other business owners were fond of doing but that they ‘blamed’ the overall demographics of their workplace for the problems instead of identifying the issues at hand….fortunately, there was enough corporate support at this client’s to shore up my observations, even though I don’t know if anything will really change unless or until the upper management finds a way to make peace amongst themselves…
I recently read somewhere that society has gotten to a point where everyone feels that they have a ‘right’ but no one wants the ‘responsibility’….I’m hoping that this is a ‘phase’ that is occurring in the world and not something that will be ongoing…
We could go on ad infinitum regarding the state of our country’s leadership as of this point in time….Donald Trump and his ethics/morals….or, as some of us believe, lack thereof. No matter what can be said about his behavior toward women and humankind in general, he is very much a family man. He loves his children and his grandchildren as much as anyone does…and that is a beginning. I’ve been frustrated with a President’s or Administration’s politics in the past but I was never ‘embarrassed’ of anyone’s behavior. I truly believe that Donald Trump feels that he can get away with ‘anything’ and he will still maintain his ‘base’.
So, who determines whether something is ethical or moral? Does one say, well she did that so I can do this? I grew up with the adage that two (2) wrongs don’t make a right and I think that many people have grown up with that also but when the situation envelopes ‘us’, we tend to make excuses for our behavior and convince ourselves that what we are doing is the ‘right’ thing…
Why do we do this? I should write, Why do some of us do this? I don’t…any longer…at least I think I don’t but I may be as wrong as the next person…I’m a ‘socialist’ at heart….I have always tried to help those that are less fortunate than I….there were times in my life that I was in an extremely good financial situation….there have been times in my life where I’ve been in a worse financial situation than 98% of the remainder of the population…but, I think that situation was based on my continually doing for others less fortunate than I….I am one of those ‘crazy’ individuals that will leave a job due to principal and suffer the consequences later….not a good move to make but I’ve made it….far more than I care to admit on paper but it is my life… and I would do it again as I continue to do it….
When I see business owners and upper management doing for themselves before doing for others, I cringe…because, when someone is asking a subordinate (whether a manager or a business owner) to do something unethical, it means that what they are asking the subordinate to do is benefiting the requester…it isn’t benefiting the organization in the long run…it never does when someone intrudes with their own brand of ethics…
I believe that the only way to insure that we are all behaving ethically and morally is to follow the golden rule…Do Unto Others as you would have them DO Unto You….I know that sounds a little ‘trite’ but it is true…even though I’m sure that those I’ve encountered in the past with ethics comparable to the Unibomber’s feel that they are more entitled to what they receive than what they are giving to others…
Nothing will change without persistence…I’ve realized that…the only thing I can do is live my life the way I believe I should live it and continue to be vocal about those whom I believe are unethical and immoral in the work place…now, outside the work place is an entire other ‘ball game’ and I can’t even imagine what ethicists are inclined to do on a regular basis…I feel that I’ve been wronged in a few instances but I know that I am more moral than those notated in this BLOG…I’ve also learned that nothing in life is straight forward….everything has various levels of complexity and the individual that my life about an employee in court may have a plethora of reasons to do so….it may not be right but to them it may be all encompassing….
If you feel compelled to want to address the ethics and moral issues facing you or your employees in the work force, please feel free to contact Rosanne Bennett at info@scbhrserv.com or at 484-947-7063. With all of my former flaws and scars, I will do my best to direct you and your workers to a more ethical way of conducting your business….for the betterment of your organization, your employees and society in general.
When I see business owners and upper management doing for themselves before doing for others, I cringe…because, when someone is asking a subordinate (whether a manager or a business owner) to do something unethical, it means that what they are asking the subordinate to do is benefiting the requester…it isn’t benefiting the organization in the long run…it never does when someone intrudes with their own brand of ethics…
I believe that the only way to insure that we are all behaving ethically and morally is to follow the golden rule…Do Unto Others as you would have them DO Unto You….I know that sounds a little ‘trite’ but it is true…even though I’m sure that those I’ve encountered in the past with ethics comparable to the Unibomber’s feel that they are more entitled to what they receive than what they are giving to others…
Nothing will change without persistence…I’ve realized that…the only thing I can do is live my life the way I believe I should live it and continue to be vocal about those whom I believe are unethical and immoral in the work place…now, outside the work place is an entire other ‘ball game’ and I can’t even imagine what ethicists are inclined to do on a regular basis…I feel that I’ve been wronged in a few instances but I know that I am more moral than those notated in this BLOG…I’ve also learned that nothing in life is straight forward….everything has various levels of complexity and the individual that my life about an employee in court may have a plethora of reasons to do so….it may not be right but to them it may be all encompassing….
If you feel compelled to want to address the ethics and moral issues facing you or your employees in the work force, please feel free to contact Rosanne Bennett at info@scbhrserv.com or at 484-947-7063. With all of my former flaws and scars, I will do my best to direct you and your workers to a more ethical way of conducting your business….for the betterment of your organization, your employees and society in general.
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