By Tom Davidson
“Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to management and politics to mere technique.” – James MacGregor Burns
As an everyday leader, you make hundreds of decisions a week, big and small. Know it or not, your actions and interactions are being guided by a code of conduct, your organization’s, your culture’s and your own.
What’s the code of your ethics? Here are some options:
From the Code of the West:
From the Boy Scout Oath and Law:
From the Ten Rules of Proper Mafioso Etiquette:
From the Four-Way Test of Rotary International:
While the missions of these organizations clearly vary widely, one thing absolutely have in common is the need for commonly understood ground rules that codify the acceptable and unacceptable behaviors of these groups.
If not, then its time you find out what they are, particularly your own. To do that, ask yourself these questions in this order:
As a leader, you have to know your own code, or the currents of others will sweep you along in their wake. Your fate will be in the hands of others, and your lack of rudder will be apparent to potential followers.