Ethics

What are ethics? I ask my students a question; “If you are driving down a remote country road at 2 am and come to a four way stop sign, what do you do? Do you stop or do you keep on going? That is a good way to determine your ethics. How you act when no one is looking determines your ethics. These are the same rules or guidelines that direct your actions in business as well. How do you treat your customers, employees, vendors and creditors? I had a conversation with an employee once about them eating while on the clock. The first part of the conversation was did they pay for what they were eating? The next question was who gave them the permission to eat while still on the clock? They were shocked when I pointed out the fact that eating without paying for the food was stealing from the company. I also pointed out that eating while on the clock was stealing also from the company. There were policies in place covering both of these circumstances but the employee had not read their employee handbook. I am amazed how our society has changed the personal responsibility of the individual. I had a boss who explained to me once that as a manager I could not allow anything to have the appearance of impropriety. He explained to me that as a leader all eyes were on me and at all times someone was watching. This is a concept that I point out to my students. It is a whole lot easier to enforce the rules if you are following them yourself. Leaders have to set themselves to higher standards because they are on stage all the time. That translates to you working the hours you are supposed to; you don’t take or use company property that you are entrusted with.  You the leader need to be above reproach if you want to be effective as a leader. Let this be you mantra: “Do as I do”