make excuses or give a reason? I’m always intrigued by the wording and maybe the difference between these two words.
If people make excuses, does it mean that that they “knew” what was right or wrong in what they did, but they chose differently based on what? I believe that they rationalized “exceptions” to the right and wrong understanding to justify what was done and in some way try to avoid consequences by trying to get other to believe in their exceptions as a valid excuse.
If people give a “reason” for what was done, the reason tends to be subjective, personalized, at times isolated and probably with the intent to try to avoid consequences. A reason is an intellectual explanation for one’s choice.
An excuse is more emotion based, i.e. greed, lust, envy, revenge, etc. and then after the act is committed, find a “logical” explanation for why it was done?
The real issue here is which one of these two actually “works “in someone not having to pay the consequences or settling for consequences that are much less severe to avoid a more costly consequence?
Which of these two words do you hear most, i.e. excuses or reasons? How do you handle these situations?
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!
