Ethical Self Reflection Essay

Abstraction

In many instances. a individual must take between two or more “rights” that may or may non aline with both one’s lesson and ethical criterions. The care-based. rule-based. ends-based thought to get at a determination instead than apologizing after the fact are necessary for analysing ethical quandary ( Hughes. Ginnett. & A ; Curphy. 2012. pp. 164-165 ) . The self-reflection needed to place one’s cardinal nature. and to understand the ethical motives. moralss and values one uses to do determinations are critical to going an reliable leader who is a moral director that serves the people that follow him or her ( Hughes.

et. Al. pp. 152-153 ) .

Ethical Self Reflection

What is right? Ethical motives define personal character related to the thoughts of both right and incorrect. Ethical motives. while inherently linked to ethical motives and one’s moral duties. is a set of moral rules used in a societal system in which those ethical motives are applied. In other words. moralss point to criterions or codifications of behaviour expected by the group to which the person belongs.

These criterions could be national moralss. societal moralss. company moralss. professional moralss. or even household moralss. So while a person’s moral codification is normally unchanging. the moralss he or she patterns can be dependent on exogenic factors non controlled by the person or the group to which the person belongs. Care-based thought describes what is normally referred to as the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you want others to make to you” . of behavior and is most closely aligned with Aristotle’s Hagiographas refering felicity.

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Aristotle writes in Nichomachean Ethics that. “If felicity is activity in conformity with virtuousness. it is sensible that it should be in conformity with the highest virtuousness ; and this will be that of the best thing in us” ( Aristotle. 1992. p. 7 ) .

Therefore the thought of moralss does non get down with the ethical motives of either right or incorrect. but starts with the premiss that we all desire what is good or what seems so to us ( Brennan. 1992. p. 64 ) . Happiness. so. is to populate in an objectively good manner harmonizing to several virtuousnesss that conform to the best and most complete facets of human activity including wisdom. cognition. bravery. self-denial. munificence. and honest aspiration ( Brennan. pp. 65-67 ) . These virtuousnesss describe the character of a good individual whose Acts of the Apostless are ethically free. non compelled ; voluntary and non forced. Unlike Aristotle’s character based moralss. Immanuel Kant proposes a rule-based thought that actions of true moral worth are done when a individual does the right thing because it is right and non for what benefit the individual can acquire out of the act ( Hughes. et. Al. p. 165 ) .

This type of believing mostly negates the external factors that may act upon a person’s disposition to wiegh the determination to move based on the greatest hapiness provided to thegreatest figure of people. When one takes the consequences or effects of an act into consideration moreso than the act’s rightness or inappropriateness. so the act can be said to be based on ends-based thought ( Hughes. et. Al. p. 165 ) . This thought is mostly based on Utilitariansim proposed by JohnStuart Mill in 1863 who defines it as: The credo which accepts as the foundation of ethical motives. Utility. or the Greatest Happiness Principle. holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to advance felicity. incorrect as they tend to bring forth the felicity. By felicity is intended supplication sure. and the absence of hurting ; by sadness. hurting. and the want of pleasance ( Mill. 1863. pp. 9-10 ) .

Mill. nevertheless. did non suggest that the terminals of an action justified the agencies. for justness. to Mills. is paramount to the creative activity of good organisations and societies ( Mill. pp. 42-43 ) . The rule of ends-based thought or utilitarianism requires that each individual count for every bit much as the following. and that no individual adult male or adult female should be made to endure unfairness in order to increase the felicity of all the remainder ( Brennan. p. 98 ) . Determining why we say what we are traveling to state ; why we do what we are traveling to make ; and why we feel what we feel in an ethical quandary presupposes that moral pick is rational. However. “man is non a rational animate being ; he is a apologizing animal… [ and ] one of the hardest things to believe is the abysmal deepness of human stupidity” ( Heinlein. 1953. p. 18 ) . This Sartrean trade name of existential philosophy is based on the thought that we act first. and so look around for ground afterward ( Brennan. p. 122 ) .

This rationalizing does non run at the degree of our ain behaviour entirely. We. as societal animate beings. are prone to accommodate to the world as others find it. We tend to conform. even if. when rationally examined. the world of the group does non do sense. “To thine ain ego be true. and it must follow. as the dark the twenty-four hours. thou canst non so be false to any man” ( Shakespeare. Hamlet. Act I scene 3. 78-82 ) . Shakespeare provides Polonius a voice that resonates clearly in present contexts the importance of being true with one’s ethical motives and virtuousnesss. True. non in the Elizabethan sense of doing certain you had your place and fundss in order to let you to break aid others. but true in a sense of Plato’s axiom “Know Thyself” . Jean-Jacques Rousseau. whose name is strongly associated with the Enlightenment motion. believed that the cognition of oneself is the beginning of wisdom ( Brennan. J. . p. 75 ) . Deriving this cognition requires self-reflection. Reflection links changed consciousness with changed action. Contemplation is a valuable portion of any worthwhile attempt.

When one takes the clip to thoughtfully reflect about an experience. one is given the chance to larn from it. to bask success. understand failures. and to derive penetrations that will be helpful to you in future activities The cognition of ego is indispensable to enable leaders and followings who aspire to take to clear up their ain values as they model the manner for others to follow ( Barry P. . Kouzes J. . 2012 ) . However. raising the cloud of the false personal perceptual experiences we all build from the forepart of our observation lenses is no easy undertaking. Our inexplicit biass. in-group favouritism. claims of imagined recognition and misjudged struggles of involvement are the fuel to the clouds that provide us an over-inflated sense of ego ( Hughes R. L. . et Al. . 2012. pp. 161-163 ) Simple self-reflection or self-contemplation is utile when we are seeking to make up one’s mind to do for dinner. During the 2012 Human Capital Institute ( HCI ) Learning and Leader Development Conference. BG ( Ret ) Thomas Kolditz said that. “You can’t become in 30 seconds what you haven’t been in 30 years” ( Fakalata. 2012 ) .

Whether a leader is in a corporate council chamber. watching the company’s monetary value point per portion autumn so low that you need a particular ticket into the New York Stock Exchange’s stinking underbelly to see how far it truly drop. or whether a leader is watching his ladder and hose crews conflict an industrial chemical fire near a suburban Alabama community. the state of affairss that test leading are besides the events that produce competent and selfless leaders driven by moral duty and societal scruples ( Kolditz. 2007 ) . Likewise. these same state of affairss produce the corporate and local authorities scoundrels that are ridiculed for their selfishness. incompetency. heedlessness and greed. Motive provides one the ground for making something and may be considered the “why” that inspires the “what” needs to be done ( Covey. 2006. p. 78 ) . Valuess are concepts stand foring generalised behaviours or provinces of personal businesss that are considered by the person to be of import ( Hughes. Ginnett. & A ; Curphy. 2012. p. 152 ) .

With these definitions in head. one may surmise that values – what is of import to us – steer us to follow motivations that become seeable to others through our behaviour towards and with others to finish the “what” needs to be done. Loyalty to a leader is engendered when followings can put their full trust in leaders who are perceived as individuals with high moral unity ( Wakin. 1976. p. 587 ) . The moral duties one has influences the values that drive us toward a certain set of motivations that cause us to take action under changing fortunes. Leaderships who are consistent with their behaviours with regard to their sensed moral duties are viewed as holding high moral unity and worthy of trust. The ability of a individual to take a group is frequently dependent on the civilization and the group’s beliefs in right and incorrect – the ethical clime ( Hughes. Ginnett. & A ; Curphy. p. 155 ) . For illustration. a individual who values money. cut downing disbursals. recognizing net incomes. and maximising concern chances is motivated by finance or fiscal wealth.

This individual. taking a group that values devotedness to responsibility. difficult work. and regard for authorization. may see trouble because the values are non shared and will seldom align to the tradition that motivates the group being led. The fiscal leader in a group of diehards may be viewed negatively because the obtaining fiscal success is considered the incorrect “why” to make work that requires – from the groups perspective – responsibility. trueness. difficult work and regard. In any context where leading is a critical constituent to success. moral absolutists whose values reflect rigorous attachment to a defined rule-based thought procedure may be viewed as sturdy and hide-bound. Likewise. a pragmatist or a individual that uses end-based thought to warrant actions may be viewed as one who uses any method to inadvisably accomplish the organisations ends and aims. In either instance. the denomination of absolutist or pragmatist may be viewed as a dyslogistic depending on what values are shared by the followings and the organisation.

However. neither moral archetype account is sufficient when covering with human actions and the values that drive the motivations behind these actions. Truth-telling. promise-keeping. saving of life. regard for belongings may non be absolute moral duties. but they are non comparative either. Rather. as Hughes describes. the state of affairs significantly influences both the precedence of moral duties and the leading interaction between the leader and followings in a peculiar state of affairs ( Hughes. Ginnett. & A ; Curphy. p. 26 ) . In footings possibly more easy understood. moral duties like promise-keeping may be at odds. depending on the state of affairs. with an equal cosmopolitan duty like continuing life. Neither duty is absolute and neither is comparative. nevertheless fortunes may originate when 1 must prioritise the duty that shapes what one values and provides the motivation to take action. Leadership is about acquiring consequences in a manner that inspires trust ( Covey. 2006. p. 40 ) .

Trust of oneself. trust in the relationships we have with our components and the organisation of which we are portion. The means to carry through a undertaking and acquire the expected consequences are merely every bit of import as the terminals. Leaderships possessing a set of ethical motives consistent with the moralss of a given society ( organisation ) are better able to acquire consequences in a manner that maintains or increases trust. The non-conformists and the dissenters who openly oppose dominant societal attitudes and political orientations are non needfully more right or more rational. But we might take their unfavorable judgment as an chance for honorable self-reflection and scrutiny of even our most in a heartfelt way held positions of ourselves and our society. Congruity with ethical motives. values. motivations and behavior consequences in what we might name unity. There are no spreads between what the individual believes and how they act. and therefore we can swear that actions are done in conformity with who the person truly is.

Mentions
Aristotle. ( 1992. January 3 ) . Nichomachean Ethics. The Internet Classics Archive. Ten. ( D. C. Stevenson. Ed. . & A ; W. D. Ross. Trans. ) Cambridge. MA. United States. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //classics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. edu//Aristotle/nicomachaen. hypertext markup language Brennan. J. G. ( 1992 ) . Foundations of Moral Obligation ; The Stockdale Course. Newport. Rhode island: Naval War College Press. Covey. S. ( 2006 ) . The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That
Changes Everything. New York. New york: Free Press. Heinlein. R. A. ( 1953 ) . Assignment in Eternity. NY. New York: Baen Publishing Enterprises. Hughes. R. L. . Ginnett. R. C. . & A ; Curphy. G. J. ( 2012 ) . Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. New York. New york: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Mill. J. S. ( 1863 ) . Utilitarianism. London. England: Parker. Son and Bourne. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //play. Google. com/store/books/details? id=lyUCAAAAQAAJ & A ; rdid=book-lyUCAAAAQAAJ & A ; rdot=1 Wakin. M. M. ( 1976 ) . The Ethics of Leadership. American Behavioral Scientist ( Pre-1986 ) . 19 ( 5 ) . 567-588. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //search. proquest. com/docview/194626859? accountid=12871