The issue of being ethical
The issue of being ethical is one of the most controversial ones. Despite the numerous definitions and classifications of moral behaviors, the understanding of what is right or wrong still varies among different individuals. There is a multitude of facts that influence one’s perception of ethics; upbringing is one of the most important. In my opinion, it is almost impossible for a person to, for example, read a book where it is said that lying is wrong and become honest though they had been successfully lying during all their conscious lives. The personal understanding of what is ethical obviously derives from personal experiences. However, every individual can and should try to estimate a unique value system and support it with their own behaviors.
Personal value system
While talking about my personal value system, I cannot avoid mentioning honesty, trust, respect, and empathy. These are the central values that I will never neglect; they all are equally significant for me, and I believe that they form something that is called my dignity. I think that these four values can be a sufficient basis for becoming a more ethical individual. For instance, the behaviors derived from the mentioned values will be indisputably ethical.
Indeed, honesty is one of the critical features of an ethical individual. First of all, it is essential, to be honest with oneself. This will allow evaluating the surrounding world and personal feelings objectively. In addition, it is necessary, to be honest with other people. A real person is free, as freedom lies not in saying whatever you want but in telling the truth. While we often lie to cover our own mistakes, it is worth trying to live in a way that suggests being proud of our own deeds.
The next behavior, the trustful one, is also critical. From my point of view, a person is trustworthy only if they are innocent. In other words, it is vital to develop an ability to trust, as this leads people to a new level of relationships. If a person is open to other people, they will accept others and support them. That is why I think that trust is key to a healthy perception of relationships.
Another behavior that can help to become a more ethical individual suggests being respectful towards other people. We all consider ourselves to be compliant enough; however, everyone, with no exception, has some prejudices. Respect means accepting all the people and tolerating their rights. If you have some prejudices towards some social groups or individuals, it can be very challenging to show respect to them. That proves one’s more than being an ethical personality demands a lot of work and effort.
The last behavior, which is based on showing empathy, is probably the hardest to follow. Mainly its challenge lies in the fact that it can be tough to understand another person and share their feelings because of a number of factors. Even if people are eager to show empathy, they often lack knowledge about each others’ feelings. As a famous Latin proverb says, “Homo homini lupus est,” which means “a man to a man is a wolf”; modern society seems to be best proving this idea. That is why I think that empathy is a quality that can make people be more ethical.
Different ethical codes
All the named behaviors can help an individual to become more ethical and live harmonically in society. However, they are not universal: different purposes or spheres of life may need other moral codes. For instance, many of us have at least once in our lives faced a situation when they have to organize the work of a group of people; but only some of us managed to become successful leaders. Therefore, it is essential to define which ethical principles which will help to achieve maximal effectiveness in leading different organizations. In my opinion, the four primary ethical behaviors which need to be engaged in such a purpose are impartiality, strictness, responsibility, and determination.
The most important behavior is undoubtedly being impartial. For a successful leader, it is unacceptable to have favorites or prejudiced attitudes towards someone. The workers of the organization should be in similar conditions. They have to feel that what they do is just as important as what their partners do; in this case, they will feel equal responsibility. A clerk should treat the process of sorting out the papers as seriously as the head of the office treats essential conferences. Such an attitude to the job can be developed only by an ultimately impartial leader of an organization.
The second feature which I find essential for leadership ethics is strictness. Nowadays there is a popular idea that the relationships between the chief and the workers should be friendly. However, I don’t think that such a principle can help the company to achieve the best results. In my opinion, a real leader should be strict to some extinct. Firstly, this quality will make them authority for the workers, as a strict person is always respected. Secondly, a stern boss is the best stimuli for the workers to perform their best. However, being strict does not mean neglecting human rights; an authoritarian leader should help the workers to behave according to the given limitations.
The next ethical behavior is based on a feeling of responsibility. Interestingly, this feature is usually demanded from workers, but in fact, it is even more critical to have a responsible organizer of the company. Realizing how many people are dependent on you is a quality that stimulates the leader to organize the work of the company properly. Furthermore, a responsible chief is hard-working and devoted to his job; thus, he encourages his workers to be the same, which increases their operating efficiency. That is why I have chosen responsibility as one of the four critical ethical behaviors of a successful leader.
The last principle which should be followed by the leaders is determination. A company can be considered as a live organism with hundreds of organs. All of them should cooperate; moreover, this cooperation should be prolific. That is why there is always a need for a person who would manage to control all the parts of the organism and stimulate them to work together. Here is where determination should occur. A determined leader always has a target point and knows how to coordinate the company in order to reach it. If the team is determined, they will achieve success for sure. Thus, a determination is also essential for a successful leader.
Four ethical behaviors
Having described the four ethical behaviors for proper organization of the company, I faced a few issues. Namely, the organizational moral beliefs may not always coincide with the personal system of values of a particular individual. For instance, I feel that organizing some companies or groups of people demand a specific way of thinking and behaving. I can barely think of the leaders who achieved much being mild and extremely tolerant with their workers. That is why my vision of a successful leader implies a number of personal qualities that do not really coincide with my system of values. Therefore, the question occurs: is it possible to be a successful leader without changing personal values?
Naturally, a person who is responsible for leading some organization should be aware of what they are expected to do. It is of vital importance to develop the skills and features which can help to be a successful leader. However, if strictness is desirable ethical behavior for a leader, it does not necessarily mean that strictness belongs to the personal values of that person. While I have named trust as one of my fundamental personal matters, I still realize that in some situations, this quality is unnecessary. For instance, a real leader should be impartial, which does not mean sharing all the secrets with the whole team. Such conflict of behaviors occurs due to the fact that every sphere of human life demands specific codes. Understanding which qualities are desirable in one sphere and unnecessary in other can help to achieve much in all the sorts of relationships, including family, friends, or working.
In fact, in order to preserve both the personal values and different ethical behaviors, one has to try to find a balance between the mentioned codes. What I mean by that is that there should be no situation in which an ethical behavior excludes the humanistic principles. In my case, being even the most determined leader, I should not forget about respect towards other people. Of course, it is essential to have an aim and go strictly to it, but only in case it does not imply neglecting the other people’s rights. I believe that it is possible to combine the various ethical behaviors with the system of values; despite the controversial character of ethics itself, one just has to always judge the situation objectively.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that the different spheres of life may demand other ethical behaviors. In the field of organizational activity, these are impartiality, strictness, responsibility, and determination. These behaviors, however, should also be combined with personal values, such as honesty, tryst, respect, and empathy.