It has been said that perceptions determine attitudes and attitudes determine behavior. Assuming this is true, then if I perceive that you are unethical, you are!
Perceptions are neither right nor wrong they just are, and yet they have a profound impact on our buying habits, personal/professional relationships, etc. For example, if you walk into a store and there’s merchandise on the floor and the place is dirty, might you take your business someplace else? Of course, you might. Or if you don’t like your doctor’s bedside manner, you look for another one and it goes on and on and on. All perceptions!
In business today, you can’t even give the perception that you not ethical, fair, honest, etc. Why? because peoples’ perceptions are their truth. It may not be THE truth, but it’s their truth and is their basis for their attitudes and behavior, rightly or wrongly.
Think about this. What’s your best advertising, word of mouth, right? Now what’s your worst advertising, word of mouth right? So how are you dealing with your customers’ perceptions of you and your business?
Therefore what is really possible with perceptions of ethics in business? The goal is to decrease the odds of any negative perceptions from occurring by: consistent, ongoing training; reinforcement of what’s acceptable and what is not, what is negotiable and what is not, and of course, do the right thing, at the right time for the right reason!
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!
