Ethical Leadership

This week we have been learning about ethical leadership. This is one of those concepts that I never would have thought of if I hadn't taken this class, but now that it has been brought to my attention I realize that it is a big deal. I think, at least leadership wise, the main thing that makes a person ethical is their motivation. A great, ethical leader's motivation will be to help people and the WANT to do the right thing. A leader can still do the right thing but can do it for the wrong reason. If your motivation is to always do the right thing, though, you consequently will also be trying to do the most ethical thing.

I think that it is really difficult to define what exactly is and isn't ethical. For every person the definition of ethical changes and it also changes depending on the situation. In many cases you only have a split second to make a decision and you don't have the chance to even figure out what decision is more ethical. For an individual what makes them ethical is a little different that what it is for a leader. Although motivation is important, for the individual it is their personal values and if they follow them that make them ethical. It is these values too that in those split second decisions will help you to make ethical decisions, especially if you know before hand what your values are. So, I now want to present what I guess you would call my personal ethical code based on my values.

1. I value family above everything else. So, I will make decision that will bring me closer to my family. Also, I will strive to always put my family first.
2. I also think that trust is important. I can not expect others to trust me if I do not act trustworthy. I will choose now to not break promises and not break people's trust. I will always be honest so that people learn they can trust me.
3. My third value is happiness. This means to me and to others. When making a decision I will try to make the one that makes the most people happy. I will also always remember do unto others as you would have done unto you, and remember that other's happiness is just as important as my own.
4. I will never make a decision that compromises my spirituality. This one has no if ands or buts. It is absolute, because spirituality is eternal and not worth compromising it for any earthly decision.
5. It is important to have stability in ones life, especially once you have a family. I will make decisions that let me lead a stable life and I will make decisions so that they will not compromise anyone else's stability. If faced with a decision that could potentially ruin someone else's stability, I will try to find another option.
6. Humanity is something I have always been big on. We have to remember that every single person around us is also a human and deserves to be treated as so. I think that this in general means that I will not make any decisions to purposefully harm someone.
7. Endurance is also important. You have to make decisions that will help you to endure to the end. So, I will always strive to endure and to help others endure.
8. Finally, I value respect. I don't think that you can get anywhere in life if you do not respect others and gain the respect of other. Respect is what allows us to act humanely towards each other and find a common ground. I will always respect others in my decision making and respect others decisions.