“The Power of Leadership”

As the economy continues to tighten up, some may be struggling with the ethical boundaries of doing business? Maybe if I just cut back a bit on this ingredient or raise the price of this service and not tell my customers I could make a few dollars more. Maybe if I just ignore the rules, just this one time, I would not have to pay that fee.

Don’t forget that if times are tough financially for your business, so must the same be true for most of your customers. The economy will get better and when it does, how will your customers look at you then?

I received the following from The American College Center For Ethics In Financial Services. I thought it worth sharing with our readers:

Five Ethical Questions To Live by

1) Is what I am doing fair? … Am I treating things in like ways or am I discriminating in favor of my own self-interest? Am I treating people how I would like to be treated, or am I using people to get what I want?

2) Am I acting with integrity? Am I being honest? … To act with integrity is to represent the same “face” to each of the people you deal with. Are you consistent in your actions and behaviors, or do you treat people differently when it is in your best interest to do so? Are you being honest? This means more than simply “telling the truth” or “not lying”. Are you misleading people with your words or actions (or simply by not saying anything at all), to get them to act in ways they would not if they knew the whole story?

3) What promises or commitments have I made? … Are you as good as your word? We are bound, other things being equal, to keep our promises and commitments to others. Do you make promises unwisely?

4) Is my action beneficial or harmful, and to whom? … Ethics concerns the well-being of other people who are affected by our actions. It is often difficult to know every person or group of people who are affected by our actions, but it is important to think hard about this question. We also need to think about the long and short-term consequences of our actions for not only ourselves, our clients, and our organization, but also regarding the industry in general.

5) Are my actions legal or in conformity with the rules? … While there is the very rare situation in which we may be required to violate the legal and regulatory rules in order to act ethically, it is almost never permissible to place yourself outside the bounds of the law and act as judge and jury in your own case. This is what you do when you decide to violate the law and regulatory guidelines. We never want to be in a situation where we need to challenge the justness of a law and suffer the legal and regulatory consequences. As frustrating as legal and regulatory requirements can be, they are designed to protect each of the participants in the market. Deliberately undermining the rules for your own purposes frustrates the system that is designed to protect us all. Therefore, when your actions are not in conformity with the rules, you can be nearly certain you are acting unethically as well.

“Decisions are made in a moment, but growth comes from daily discipline” … John C. Maxwell.

Have A Good Day!

Russ

Performance Institute – A Global Leader in Human Capital Development

Russ M. Miller, LLIF, Chairman & CEO
Sunny Hong Zhang, Managing Partner – China
Shawn M. Miller, Managing Partner – USA