New Mexico Ethics Online, January/February 2009
Volume 2, Issue 1
Message from the Executive Director
Dear members and friends of the Alliance,
It’s 2009! New year, new aspirations and with the economy in turmoil, new monumental challenges await organizations and communities throughout the state.
NOW, more than ever, is the time to invest in ethics!
You should know that misconduct rises as much as 11% when financial and economic turmoil rocks your organization.* Employees, supervisors and managers all feel pressure to meet goals – and even cut corners. It happens. You’ve read the headlines over the last few weeks and months and you have seen the evidence.
Research shows that an effective ethics program - together with steps to create an ethical culture – cut ethics risk. To change the economic reality, we need to restore and bolster public confidence in the fairness and integrity of our markets, our businesses and our governments.
What should you do to cut your risk?
You can start by raising the awareness of ethics and the potential for increased misconduct in your organization. Bring attention to ethics now to avoid the temptation to cut corners in the future. Start by reading and sharing this issue of New Mexico Ethics Online with others.
Most of us have good intentions. That is evident when you read the New Year aspirations of the many individuals we talked with for the “Get to Know” interview. Or should I say, interviews. New Mexicans, from all walks of life, shared their personal and principle-based “ethical” resolutions for the New Year. Their answers are reflective and inspiring!
In this issue, our feature article is entitled, “Drive on Principles.” It looks at the limitations of rules in promoting ethical behavior and the benefits of actively promoting and incorporating principles in your organization. We give you some practical advice on ways to make principles drive your organization.
If you would like to learn more about the role principles play in ethical organizations, look to our Resource Corner for a synopsis of Steven Covey’s book, Principle-Centered Leadership. It’s an oldie, but a goodie and it’s available for checkout in the Ethics Alliance Library.
We, at the New Mexico Ethics Alliance, send you best wishes for an ethical and therefore prosperous New Year.
- Jill VonOsten, Executive Director
* Ethics Resource Study, 2008. www.ethics.org
Get To Know…
…interviews with New Mexicans
This issue’s interview is a bit different. Instead of our usual single interview subject, this month we took to the streets to ask individuals of all ages and backgrounds about their New Year’s Resolutions. We were interested in a resolution with a twist – an ethical resolution, if you will. Though not your typical resolutions of personal health and fitness, they do require the same type of focus, dedication and committment in order to achieve success. New Mexico Ethics Online asked eveyone the same two questions;
- “In the context of New Year’s Resolutions, what would be your personal ethical resolution for the New Year?”
After answering the question, we showed the interviewee a list of Some Universal Ethical Principles from our website, and ask them to:
- “identify the principle you feel most represents your ethical resolution.”
Read their answers, but as you do, ask yourself: “What is my personal ethical resolution for the New Year and what is the ethical principle that inspires it?” If you understand and believe in the principle behind the aspiration - this might just be one News Year's Resolution that you can really keep!
“I’d like to be as fair as possible as a teacher.
I would identify this goal with the ethical principle: Pursuit of Excellence.”
- Al Nosedal, Teacher Assistant & UNM Ph.D Candidate, Statistics
“I want to be more efficient with my time at work.
I would match this resolution with the ethical principle: Fidelity.”
- Marcos Anaya, Budget Analyst - US Forest Service
“Along with the new year, comes my final semester in college and time before moving out-of-state for work. For this reality, I will contribute a substantial amount of time and effort to the communities that I have been lucky enough to live in for the past three years. I also plan on being the best friend, brother, uncle, and son that I can be.
 Fidelity: Being faithful and loyal to the people in my life is something that I take seriously and look forward to fulfilling even more;
Caring for Others: It’s a tough world out there and being there for someone is something that can mean the world to someone; whether it be helping out at a homeless shelter or going the extra mile with something you didn’t need to;
Respect for Others: A world without respect isn’t a world I’d like to live in.”
- Michael Curry, UNM Student
“I want to be to true to myself no matter what, in every aspect of my life.
Honesty: I need to be honest with myself when it comes to my life, and
Pursuit of Excellence: I have to perform every task in my life to the best of my ability and not let my insecurities get in my way.”
- Rhonda Van Buskirk, Graphic Designer
“It would probably be educational time for my son…I’d like to set time aside and teach him Navajo at home. That will coincide with instilling him with his culture.
Honesty: You have to be honest about who you are and where you’re from, and
Caring for Others: because I’m caring for and teaching my son.”
- Merlin Yazzie, UNM Student
“To strive to tell the transparent truth!
I would identify this resolution with Accountability – speaking the transparent truth for me is being accountable because it means saying what I mean and meaning what I say.”
- Amber Harris, Agency Contact Person, MetLife
In Perspective
Drive on Principles
“Follow the rules!” A lesson taught in childhood and one intended to guide us to do the right thing, not to mention help us get along with others at home, school, and at work. So, if everyone at work just followed the rules, would we really have ethical workplaces?
No doubt, rules are important. They provide clarity, they give us direction and they establish a base requirement for how we should behave. Without rules, there could be mayhem. But when it comes to encouraging ethical behavior, rules can be limited.
For one, if you tried to create a rule for every possible form of misconduct, it’s possible you would end up with a code of conduct as onerous as the tax code and with more pages than all of the books in the Library of Congress. Rules can not cover it all. In describing the letter of the law, rules can sometimes lack the spirit behind the law’s creation.
Secondly, rules are black and white. With rules, you’re either completely wrong or absolutely right. But what happens when you must decide between two seemingly right choices? Or what if the issue falls in a gray area – where there is no clear wrong or right? In work cultures that firmly stress “following the rules” over other decision making strategies, employees can be at a loss when faced with dilemmas that fall in this gray area.
Finally, rules involve authority, hierarchy, rigidity and absolutes. Because they tend to be top down, rules run the risk of reinforcing a power structure that relies upon a “might makes right” mentality. This can be dangerous, especially when it turns out that those in power are not so ethical themselves. Rules exist outside the person to whom they are applied and inherently imply punishment when they are violated. That works great when the rule is a fair and just one. Not so great, when the rule itself is flawed and must be challenged to be set right.
Lawrence Kohlberg, a renowned psychologist and researcher of moral education and development, said that moral reasoning (the basis for ethical behavior) can be grouped into three levels: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional:
a. a pre-conventional thinker would follow the rules to avoid punishment or because they see it would be in their own best interest; while,
b. a conventional thinker would reason that rules are important in making society work and therefore find it their duty to follow them, and
c. a post-conventional thinker uses universal ethical principles – such as honesty, fairness, trust, accountability and mutual respect as a basis for their moral reasoning. Post-conventional thinkers find rules to be valid as long as they are grounded in justice and that a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey laws they find unjust. This level of reasoning takes a committed effort. One acts because it is right, and not just because it is instrumental, expected, legal, or previously agreed upon.
Imagine what it would look like if your organization was driven by ethical principles. Rather than be fearful, absolute and automatic in their responses, employees would engage in careful thought and inquiry when facing dilemmas. These principles would be reflected in the actions of organizational leaders and employees at all levels. People on the inside and outside of the organization would understand the motivations of the decision-makers because they would be based on universally understood principles.
But how does an organization become driven by principles?
To begin with, your organization must create a shared value system that is based on universal principles. In his book Principle-Centered Leadership, Steven Covey listed some questions that organizations should ask themselves in determining their value system:
- What do we value? What principles make our organization work? In order for the value system to be successful, the strategy and style of principles need to flow with, not against, the core values of your organization.
- The values of your organization need to be defined. Asking questions such as: “What is our definition of honesty?” and “How will honesty be portrayed in our organization?” will help clarify the meaning behind your values and the behaviors you all hope to see exhibited.
All internal stakeholders need to be included in this exercise. Once they are defined and agreed upon, these values need to be reinforced. A values exercise is not something you do once, rather, it is meant to be acted upon again and again. Covey says that if "organizations do not have a core value system based on ethical principles, they are building their system on a foundation of sand." They might have valuable things around, but none of that matters if they are going against the flow of their values.
Taking the lead in determining the values of your organization is a big step in the right direction. However, figuring out the values and acting on them is still not enough. What is vital is that leaders must take the lead in principle-based decision making. Followers always look first to the leader, so leaders need to set good examples. How can leaders set a good example?
- Be open and transparent.
- Be accountable for their actions.
- Be sincere in their efforts to live according to the organization’s values.
These characteristics are important for leaders of every organization to follow, but for an organization to be driven by ethical principles, it must go deeper than the top dog. They must be shared by all in the organization. And in this way, we are all leaders.
To drill even deeper, principles must penetrate the entire organizational system. Do so by incorporating principles in your organization’s vision, mission, and code of conduct; by screening new hires to determine if they agree and ascribe to your organization’s ethical principles; and by heightening awareness and training of all employees to be assured that everyone understands and shares the meaning of the principles.
These are just some of the practices that help principles have influence at every level of your organization. And if you want to see an ethical workplace in the future, do not forget to recognize and reward those employees and co-workers who act on the principles.
Creating a principle-centered organization is not easy. It is not clear cut, black and white or absolute. It requires leadership, agreement, commitment, cooperation, accountability and community to make it work. However, the result is a workplace that pursues excellence, that strives for the spirit behind the rules, and that embraces an ongoing journey to think and act on a higher level.
Resource Corner
Principle-Centered Leadership
By: Steven R. Covey
Publisher: New York: Summit Books
ISBN: 0671749102
Synopsis From: BooksInPrint.com™ Professional
Ineffective people try to manage their time around priorities, says Steven R. Covey, whereas effective people lead their lives and manage their relationships according to principles - natural laws and governing values that are universally valid. Leadership is the ability to apply these principles to problems, resulting in quality, productivity, profitability and win-win relationships.
In this guidebook to personal fulfillment and professional success through “principle-centered leadership,” the author of the best-selling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People invites readers to center their lives and leadership around timeless principles. He shows how no person or organization can be content to stay where they are - how the goals of excellence and total quality express an innate human need for progress in personal, interpersonal, and organizational life.
Words of Wisdom
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
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