The course titled, Leadership Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility was extremely educational and eye opening. The class learned about the foundations of ethics and how to steer away from unethical and unrepeatable morals. According to Webster dictionary, ethics is defined as “as rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad” (Ethic, n.d.). I learned that people tend to make unethical decisions when faced with extreme pressure, fatigue, health issues and lack of knowledge (Ballam, 2014). Ethics is about the standards of right and wrong, in terms of rights, obligations, and benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues and also cannot be deviated from (Andre & Velasquez, n.d.). Additionally, i was able to conclude that ethics can be taught; however, it’s up to the person whether to follow what’s right or what’s wrong. Ethics is extremely important part of society, and it provide a framework in which people can follow; like abiding the law. Not falling for a slippery slope was one of my takeaways from the course. Being humble and not letting your position influence your decision making in a negative way is good character trait of a leader. LaFollette (2007) reminded us that ethics is not always so clearly black and white to each individual. The fact is that morals will varies with each individual. Each person is guided by different values, religious belief, and culture. Additionally, as our abilities and knowledge grow, it alters how we see moral obligations (LaFollette,2007).
Reflecting back from the course, i have three lessons that i can highlight. First, ethics is about doing the right things even when no one is looking. So many times leaders make unethical decisions based on lack of knowledge and ability. It was great to see my classmates perspectives on how to avoid such behaviors. They provided diverse and refreshing point of view and interpretation on the topic. Second, i liked the discussion of the The Golden Rule, which is to treat others as you would have them treat you. According to Guseinov (2014) the golden rule offers the subjunctive mood to allow an individual to express his/her attitude toward the moral quality of the conduct of others. This is not a moral or ethical value, but a guidance and way to live up to your morals.Lastly, the discussion on world hunger was eye opening. World hunger has effected many people around the world. It is estimated that Hunger and malnutrition kill more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined (11 Facts About Hunger in the US, n.d.).
Overall, i greatly benefit from this class. The discussions, blogs and general assignments were related to my current position. I was able to grow in my ethical and moral decision making. The values a learned of ethics, morals and fairness are going to help me improve in the leader that i need to be. I would highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to critically enhance their ethical and moral values.
Abdusalam A. Guseinov (2014) The Golden Rule of Morality, Russian Social Science Review, 55:6, 84-100the
Andre, C., & Velasquez, M. (n.d.). What is Ethics? Retrieved March 22, 2016, from https://legacy.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v1n1/whatis.html
Ballam, D. (2014). Ethical People Prone to Unethical Behavior When Fatigued - Converus EyeDetect. Retrieved May 22, 2016, from http://converus.com/ethical-people-prone-unethical-behavior/
Ethic. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethic
LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Pub.
11 Facts About Hunger in the US. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2016, from https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-hunger-us
No comments:
Post a Comment