One of the more difficult situations in which to make an ethical decision is when more than one person is potentially impacted by your action and their expectations of how you should proceed are in conflict.
The last few weeks I have been focused on the difficult task of drafting and analyzing comments on the draft ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 standards. This has caused me to focus on the issue of making commitments.
In discussions of ethics, we often focus on rules. We analyze codes of ethics and we evaluate our legal obligations. Yet, ethical conduct incorporates three values that we intrinsically understand yet often have difficulty defining – trust, transparency and truthfulness.
Acting ethically requires constant vigilance. One slip-up can have serious, long-term consequences. A recent news report demonstrates the importance of a strong defense when it comes to acting ethically.
Since childhood, we have all been raised by the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Many would cite this ethical code as one of their aspirations by which to live, both personally and professionally.
Two weeks ago, I went to a presentation by Kelly McBride on the topic of ethics and the media. Kelly is the ethicist with the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg FL. She also contributes to an NPR broadcast.