“Education can make people moral.”

So said Socrates and still there is much debate about this. As an educator/speaker/ trainer, I believe that this is true, IF…………

The premise of the education is based on the belief that learning links up to people’s experience and is objectively, substantially and reflectively presented and experienced. Only then can any “education” work or take hold.

The operative word here is “can”. Yes, education can, but so much depends on the “teacher” in taking the knowledge, which is the “stuff” and making it relatable in the hearer’s experience, which makes it wisdom. Wisdom only happens eyeball to eyeball! You can’t get wisdom from a book or the internet. That is only knowledge, and knowledge is the only starting point; wisdom needs to be the end result.

Think about this. Did you have many more “good “teachers or mediocre or “bad” teachers in your academic experience? I would bet, good teachers were far and few between and the vast minority for most of us. What made good teachers good? They, not only were well educated in their subjects,they made the subjects come alive, made the subjects relatable even in the midst of classroom rules: i.e. discipline was tough but fair, treated everyone fairly, had a sense of humor, was” there for you,” and was motivated by the belief that teaching the person, was more important than finishing the book, etc.

How is your ethics training initiative providing the environment, the” right” teacher” and a well educated, informed, thought-provoking, empowering, student focused approach?

If this is not an ongoing process by “teachers” that are specifically trained and educated in ethics, values, morals and virtue, then it is not being taught and/or experienced well and then education can’t make people moral.

There are those who are experts in law and compliance who do compliance training and rightly so. But compliance training can’t by itself make people moral or compliant. Who are your experts, educated and trained in ethics, values and virtues that are doing your ethics training. If you want people to be moral, how are you training them to be so?

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!