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Working with Ethical Gray Areas

Written by: Tim Schneider

Article Overview: The bottom line in leadership is that ethics cannot be codified or dictated. Ethical behavior is dependent upon the judgment and decision making by the leader. The best leaders are consistent and deliberate in their decisions when ethical gray is present. They communicate the decision, and more importantly, the reasons for their decision. They often collaborate the decision, not to cover their rear ends, but to seek wise counsel and tap into the judgment of others.

Working with Ethical Gray Areas

One of the most challenging areas that emerging leaders have to get their hands around is dealing with shades of gray related to ethics and ethical behaviors.

As a line level team member, questions of ethics become very black and white. Cut and dried. It is either right or wrong, usually based on a published code of behavior or conduct that includes great detail about what is acceptable and what is not. Unfortunately, when people ascend into leadership positions, the clarity of right and wrong is often blurred and shaded with areas awaiting decision and judgment.

First, one must recognize the difference between personal morality and ethical behavior. Morality is an internally derived code of behavior and values that are most often developed in earlier life. By contrast, ethics are usually externally driven through laws, regulations or defined practices and experience plays a great role in defining ethics. This is an important contrast because many leadership dilemmas occur when morality overrides ethical values.

A simple example of this is the office romance between married co-workers. This situation occurs because personal morality overrides the company policy or ethical statement against such behavior. Another, more complex example happens when a person has a moral belief against a particular life style choice and then violates ethical practices by openly discriminating against this job candidate.

Secondly, it is important to remember that no code of conduct or code of ethics will ever cover every situation ever encountered by a leader. There is no substitute for good judgment and no substitute for good decision making practices. Many of the ethical lapses that made headlines in recent years are more attributable to bad decision making than to a lack of ethical standards.

The bottom line in leadership is that ethics cannot be codified or dictated. Ethical behavior is dependent upon the judgment and decision making by the leader. The best leaders are consistent and deliberate in their decisions when ethical gray is present. They communicate the decision, and more importantly, the reasons for their decision. They often collaborate the decision, not to cover their rear ends, but to seek wise counsel and tap into the judgment of others.

Assume for a moment that you lead a group of sales professionals that is currently underperforming. The headquarters has told you that two of your people, the newest two, will be laid off in the next thirty days and not to say anything until that time. Through your relationship building with your team, you know that one of the layoff candidates is about to remodel her home and install a pool.

Corporate said don’t tell. This team member is about to encumber a fifteen year mortgage for remodeling that she cannot afford if unemployed. She could lose her home. She is the mother of two young children. If the bigwigs at corporate headquarters discover that you told someone, you could be fired. Obviously, the right and correct course of action is to not tell her. Or is it?

The best two guides for ethical gray area include using the sleep test. After the decision, are you, the leader, able to sleep well or are you tossing and turning, constantly replaying the decision or the consequences of the decision. This internal guide is a powerful tool that can guide a leader through most gray areas.

The other baseline for gray area decisions is the recognition of our final roll call. Regardless of your particular belief system, most people believe that we all face a final roll call or a final judgment. It is at that moment of time you may have to explain your actions or inactions. If you cease to exist tomorrow, are you comfortable to explain your actions in this final accounting.

Scholars and leaders from a variety of disciplines have worked for years in sophisticated scientific studies to try to narrow ethical gray areas and provide decision point guidance. Despite this effort, ethical gray areas still needs leaders with exceptional judgment and decision making skills.

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Article Tags: bad decision, co workers, code of behavior, code of conduct, code of ethics, emerging leaders, ethical lapses, ethical practices, ethical statement, job candidate, judgment, leadership positions, life style, member questions, moral belief, office romance, personal morality, shades, style choice, team member



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