The definition of ethics per Merriam Webster Dictionary’s website is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethic
1. HONESTY. What is honesty? James E. Faust states that honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living and, truth loving.” Do you lead an honest life? Do you speak honest truths? Do you love honestly? These are questions that you would think merit a simple remark of yes. But the truth is much more complex than that. The truth is that honesty is complicated. Honesty sometimes is weighted by factors involved. Black and white merge with gray more in current history then ever before. Society tells us now that we need to be in the gray 24/7 in all our actions. That a wrong can be equally approached with a wrong if its to make it right? But is that ethical?
2. INTEGRITY. One of my favorite inspirational speakers to listen to is Charles Stanley. It never fails when Im going through a rough time in my life or need clarity his speeches always resonate with me. He states this about integrity, “The time you spend alone with God will transform your character and increase your devotion. Then your integrity and godly behavior in an unbelieving world will make others long to know the Lord.” Your integrity is having high moral principles. Value in what’s right. So what is right? Well for me being a Christian I place all my values based on God’s teachings. You do to others as God would do unto you. Sometimes that is obviously a lot more difficult than that.
3. PROMISE-KEEPING & TRUSTWORTHINESS. Have you ever let go of a secret? I would like to say I have never not given away a secret but Im not perfect & I have. So there are variations to this for me. Was it a small secret or one that could make or break a relationship. For those I keep to myself. No one wants to be friends with that person that was sworn to secrecy & they blew it.
4. LOYALTY. Loyalty in a friend, colleague or family member is difficult to find. Now and days with so much SoCals media & attention to one’s self it is hard foremothers to put themselves behind another. Loyalty in my own words is the inability to be selfish despite a circumstance that might better yourself or a cause you support.
5. FAIRNESS. Lets go down to good ole little league baseball. Now my son plays baseball & he is 7. So you can imagine the parental figures and just how competitive it gets at this level especially in Texas. We love our baseball down here in the South! So lets talk fair at this intense level. For example this past week we played against a team that was stacking the line-up. Lets remember these are 7 year olds. I keep the books as I used to play softball for years & I kept noticing only half the kids were actually hitting. I told my Husband later on that I noticed a pattern. He said that the Coach for the team was not being “fair” to the other kids by not allowing them to grown & continue to practice despite their level of competitiveness. Thats just one example. Fairness comes in a variety of examples & we deal with it daily. My kids are constantly fighting and yelling at each other, “Thats not fair!” Fairness is being unbiased & impartial. Are you a fair person?
6. CONCERN FOR OTHERS. Caring for others to me is the ability to be empathetic. To place yourself in the other persons shoes & truly feel as if they feel. If you can gain this perspective you can truly show concern for another individual. I try to dumb this down for my two children because often times at this level they can not seem to think about anyone other than themselves. So I try to give as many examples for them as I possibly can to get their minds to expand past their own selfish instincts. Do you show concern for others? Are you an empathetic person? The neighbor who drives home & quickly closes their garage door behind them, do you judge them or do you go down a rabbit hole thinking of scenarios as to what exactly they may be going through? How about the person at the corner of the highway junction asking for money? Do you place yourself in their shoes? Can you feel what they feel? The humiliation & anxiety that radiates within them as they stand their tired, lonely & afraid?
7. RESPECT FOR OTHERS. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, hello Aretha! No one sings it better. To be respectful these days now this topic is just as much for adults as it would be for children. Now and days with the pandemic, colored lives matter & the presidential race there are so many avenues that allow people to treat others with no respect. Respect means allowing others to have their opinion with-out demeaning them or making them others feel as if their opinion is not valid or worth anything. Do you respect others opinions about the presidential race? When someone states they are a Trump supporter to you immediately have a derogatory comment or do you allow them to have that opinion? During Covid-19 are you being respectful of others & their space? Or during the controversial cases involving George Floyd & others are you dismissing other people’s statements & getting in fueled up arguments over it? Maybe we should stop & listen out of respect for our counterparts.
8. LAW ABIDING. There are so many various laws & regulations set in place to keep us safe in our great country of America. Sometimes there are individuals that decide to break the law. Being ethical means upholding the laws of the lands. Do you drink & drive? Do you ignore any laws in place that are present in your area?
9. COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE. Excellence is the quality of being outstanding. Are you outstanding in one aspect of life or multiple? Do you strive to do your best 110% of the time? I know at times this can be difficult when we are pulled in many directions. Just like I tell my children, just do your best & if you fail keep on trying to get better. There is always someone that is better than us in this great world of ours. All we can do is try to excel to the best of our God-given ability.
10. LEADERSHIP. Are you a natural born leader? Or are you a follower? I love this quote by President Ronald Reagan, “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Leadership is also the ability to show others that they are capable of greatness & assisting them with that. Managers are in a role of leadership. In your place of employment do you have a great Manager or the opposite? To me a great leader is not one that is aggressive & domineering. A great leader is a manager that communicates well but also listens in great detail to those underneath their direction. A few traits of leadership can also be: empowering, mental intelligence, diplomacy, perspective, motivation & humility to name a few.
11. REPUTATION AND MORALE. Reputation is the opinion or belief held about someone. Reputation is one of those things that your parents worry about greatly when you are a young adult & one that you as a person don’t seem to place emphasis on until you enter the workplace or are beginning to date to marry. Reputation is having a good moral background. Are you an honest person? Do you work hard & do good deeds? The Bible touches home on this & every other aspect of “ethics’. We are taught as Christians to aim to be like Jesus. To talk, walk, think & feel as he would in situations. I am good because I have an end goal to gain entrance into heaven. If you do not have a faith in a spiritual higher being what maintains your ethics? How do you know good versus evil? Whats the ground for that belief then? I often wonder this.
12. ACCOUNTABILITY. Are you accountable for your actions? When you say or do something unto someone else & you upset them do you go back? If you hurt someone or break something do you say you are sorry? If you fail on a major project do you take responsibility for the act of failure? Other then verbalizing your regrets do you take it one step further & try to reprimand the situation?
I wanted to cover ethics because now and days it seems like a value that is getting away from us. I try to tell my children that you have to always be condescent of others & how they feel in order to be a good person. Its never an easy feat & I struggle just as any one but we always have to try.
Warren Buffet once was quoted in saying, “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” How very true is that. Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. A.K.A being an ethical person.
