This is what Socrates is purported to have said. True? Let’s look at this statement a little closer. Can education make people moral, of course it can, but the question is how?
I remember as a teacher being taught that “true education only happens when learning links up to people’s experience.” When this happens, people learn! When it doesn’t happen, people forget it.
Maybe we need to take a good hard look at how we “teach” ethics and ethically thinking.
Is your approach to teaching morals based on actual case studies, examples, application techniques, sound ethical theory? Isn’t this how every great teacher in history taught, i.e. by stories, their morals, applications, cause and effect? It certainly was Socrates.
Maybe people are having a tough time with their ethics training precisely because it is not relevant in their experience. Leaders have it within their power to change this, but will take work, like it took your best teacher to prepare his/her lesson plan for your class to make the subject relevant in the their experience. Time must be spent in study, preparation and techniques to make ethics and morals relevant to those you lead.
Bland training is dead! Training that doesn’t engage, challenge, or is relevant is dead!
Can education make people moral? You tell me.
fbucaro
Like you, business ethics and ethical leadership expert, Frank Bucaro has seen the challenges and problems of corporate leadership, particularly over the past few years in regards to poor decision-making, SEC violations, and record breaking financial settlements in a number of different industries.
With over two decades of executive training, speaking, writing and with real life experiences, his view and approach to ethics in the workplace is uniquely different. He emphasizes that ethics is a moment-to-moment choice and has little to do with position, titles, personalities or education. Ethics is everybody’s responsibility from the top down.
His goal is to help organizations to:
a. Strengthen their ethics training initiatives in order to significantly decrease the odds of an ethical/compliance violation.
b. Energize, train and motivate employees to understand the value of consistent “high road” behavior as a business advantage.
c. Support individuals and thereby the organization by contributing to its success by quality, ongoing values based leadership development.
Frank is known for his very practical, slightly irreverent, yet somewhat humorous approach to ethics and leadership development. His conversational style and real life stories connect with his audience in a personal, intense and practical level.
Companies such as Bayer Healthcare, BP, ReMax International, EnMax Energy, Danone, etc. have partnered with Frank when they want to proactively stress the message, tools, insights and practical applications that good ethics IS good for business!
