Why your Organization may need an Ethics Consultant.
Joan Eisenstodt, in her 1/14/1024 article titled: It’s legal, you’re honest, but are you ethical?, asks two questions to start the thinking and conversation on ethics.
1. What does it mean to you to be ethical?
There can be “pat” answers, i.e. The Golden rule, Treat people fairly, Be open, etc
2. What guides you ethically?
There can be “pat” answers here as well, i.e. Intent, My upbringing, perception, etc.
For three years I was on the ethics committee of a national association and one year as its Chair. We dealt with with issues like; People claimed, in their P.R. that they had degrees when in reality, they hadn’t earned them; unethical business practices of members, making false claims or at least questionable, unverifiable evidence of their claims, and on and on.
I personally, knew a number of them and was deeply disappointed when they were reported for unethical behavior to be investigated. I’m sure they believe in the Golden Rule, how they were raised, treat all fairly, etc., and for the most part , I believed this to be true about them. When the accusations proved to be true and the ethics committee had to mete out severe consequences that did damage to their reputations and their careers, I asked myself, Why? They didn’t need to do unethical actions for their careers. What happen to the Golden Rule, their upbringing, etc why didn’t those beliefs have a role to play in their decision making?
So now, what does it mean to be ethical? What really guides you ethically?
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