ethics

Fraudulent House Flippers Finding, Forgetting and Hiding Flaws

2008-08-20T21:08:00.001-07:00

Many house flippers at the top of the market bought homes waving their right to inspections, some of these homes actually did have flaws, or real problems. Of course, if these house flippers were caught with these homes as the market fell many of them did whatever they could to hide the flaws that they later discovered. Hiding flaws or failing to disclose them to the buyers is fraud.

Sure they probably justify it to themselves, because they are either close to financial ruin themselves or because they feel it's not their fault that the house is flawed, the owners selling to them may not have disclosed it either, some may not have even realized. But that is no excuse and two rights do not make a wrong.

Not long ago, I was listening to a couple, that had still about 5-homes that they were unable to sell and get their money back out of them, homes they bought at the top of the market. Two of the homes had flaws, and they were discussing amongst themselves how to hide these flaws with built in furniture or putting in additions that would hide a cracked foundation. But anything they do is disreputable, dishonest and fraudulent.

Sometimes we need to look at both the cause and effect. When the housing bubble was in full-swing house flippers and their greed caused them to over invest and after doing so, their greed is causing some of them to cheat and be less than ethical. Thus, no one should be too surprised on this issue, but buyer beware!

Ethical Theories in Practice - Do Self Interest and Good Ethics Conflict?

2008-08-20T21:07:00.002-07:00

Egoists would view our actions in any situation as being solely based on our own self interests. If exhibiting good ethics were the means to that end, then they are supported and encouraged. Egoists do not allow for motivations other than the self promotion of the individual or organization.

In the corporate world the general belief seems to be that the interests of the corporation take precedence over the application of ethical standards. Some believe that ethics are hostile to corporate self interests and those organizations that follow courses of action based on their own self interests will treat ethics as optional: Following those ethics that will benefit the organization the most, disregarding those that will not further their interests. There is even a commonly stated belief that business leaders encourage their subordinates to do "whatever it takes" regardless of ethical considerations.

Utilitarian theorists believe that our actions should be based on the minimization of harm and maximization. This would imply that we should only promote our self interest if the net effect of our actions will do more good than harm. If the ultimate goal is to provide the most benefit to the individual or organization, and following a standard of good ethical conduct will accomplish that goal, then that is the course of action that should be taken. If on the other hand the situation called for setting aside conducts of good ethics then that would be the choice to make.

Kantian theorists would argue that respect for the individual is of the highest priority and that any conduct should be in a manner that will maintain the dignity and respect that all individuals deserve. This would seem to preclude the area of self interest and turn our attention outwards, to those around us.

Many believe though, that it is still possible to have self interest in a given situation, if their actions follow in accordance with accepted ethical standards and allow those around them to freely make the choices they are presented with.

Overall it appears that the ethical theories as presented, both support, and refute, the principle that "self interest and good ethics generally coincide". Support coincides with their stated theories: Egoist - if it serves the self interest of the individual/organization. Utilitarian - if it creates the most good and the least harm. Kantian - if the dignity and respect of the individual is maintained and/or the individual willfully accepts it. But, the theories are also refuted, in that they may be adapted, or, in many cases, ignored depending on the particular needs, wants, and situations that organizations face.

As opposed to following a strict set of guidelines that must be applied in all cases, it appears that conflict, and its resolution, will ultimately be determined by the goals and basis of philosophy of the organization, and applied on a case by case, situational, basis.

Sales Incentives Are Unethical

2008-08-20T21:07:00.001-07:00

Free trips to Cancun. Week-long company 'retreats' in Hawai'i. Company-sponsored conventions in Vegas that just happen to take place over a four-day weekend. We've all heard of business perks like these, and likely know the type that regularly attends such lavish functions. They're typically the ones who are getting the top sales numbers at their companies, who sold more of Product A during Quarter 3 than any one has ever sold, are consistently making their quotas....well you get the idea. They are the jerk salespeople who pride themselves on a record of 'earning' their way into these types of things.

Why is this wrong? Because salespeople shouldn't be convincing others to buy their products/services because they need one more sale to make it to Cabo San Lucas. Their sales technique and approach should be company-related, not incentive-based. What should be perceived about someone's morals when they are convincing a company to purchase their product(s) because they need just one more sale to get a trip or prize or cash bonus? In my mind, this type of person is being unethical. More importantly however, I question the morals of whomever has proposed such an outlandish rewards system.

How does it make sense to offer standard commission (or even none) for say 8 or 9 sales in a month, but the minute a salesperson hits 10...DING DING DING! DROP THE BALLOONS AND RING THE BELL! Just typing this makes me feel silly!

Of course it is silly. There is nothing magical X-number of sales and X-number of sales + 1. And yet this can be the difference between a salesperson going to Bermuda or going home to mope around the house wondering what they could have done to convince just one more potential client.

Craziness; that's what it is. If you believe in your company, you should not be putting your employees in a position where if they beg-borrow-and steal their way to a sale, they are heavily rewarded. Rewards should be reasonable, fractional and reflect a 'big picture' approach. Send someone on a great trip because of five years of good service, not five months. Don't tell them what they need to do to earn rewards, simply do the calculations behind their back and make all rewards, big or small, a pleasant surprise.

A lot can be said for a sale that was procured through hard, diligent work and truthful communication. Very little can be said for a client who was pushed into a commitment because the salesperson was reaching for an incentive.

The Role of Ethics in 21st Century Organizations

2008-08-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

In recent years a competitive global environment, the inability of some organizations to maintain a competitive advantage and other pressurizing factors have forced many organizations and their leaders to pursue unethical practices in a bid to remain successful. Can organizations survive within this very complex/competitive era without resorting to unethical practices, and how? This paper provides readers with an understanding of the necessity of the role of ethics in contemporary organizations. It addresses the importance of leadership in establishing and maintaining ethical principles in the organization and culminates with a set of recommendations to which leaders can ascribe in order to ensure that organizations remain ethical.

What is ethics?

Ethics is defined as the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and to act accordingly. According to Rand, a 20th century Russian/American novelist, it is a code of values which guide our choices and actions and determine the purpose and course of our lives." It revolves around others and hence...may be understood quite easily when analyzed from the perspective of Matthew 7:12 "do to others what you would have them do to you."

Old Problem, New People: Judas selling Jesus for 30 Pieces of Silver

In contemporary organizations we see many leaders and followers whose behaviors bear marked resemblance to that of Judas (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, John 13, 18, Acts 1:18). There are Organizations that are deliberately violating the ethical standards that are necessary for the successful functioning of any society. Hoyk and Hersey postulates that within one year Enron, Adelphia, Tyco International, as well as the conviction of the CEO of WorldCom by federal court represents only a small segment of organizations, and people implicated in unethical practices in organizations. An examination of the recent election in Zimbabwe highlights the height of unethical practices that exist even at the helm of organizations governing a country; which has led world government according to Lauren decrying it as an outright charade... The urge to succeed at any cost, greed, and selfishness are just a few of the causes of unethical practices; these practices condemn the poor to be even more impoverished, while the rich becomes better off. It should be noted that unethical practices undermine not only the trust of the stakeholders but also the general populace and create an unhealthy organization and a society that is not subject to rules and regulations; the end result anarchy and gargantuan proportions of mistrust in society, which ultimately will shorten the organization life span.

The Call to Act: Inspire to take action

The creation of an ethical organizational culture resides with leaders and followers; leadership by nature demands that leaders be the front runners in establishing an ethical organizational culture. We recognize the mammoth task leaders face in a fast paced society with rocket-like changes even as they fight to maintain a competitive advantage. However as the demise of many organizations becomes a reality due to unethical practices, the onus resides with contemporary leaders to create and sustain ethical organizational cultures even as they compete to survive, because it is the ethical/social stance to take. The issue of ethics is a solemn issue in leadership; its nonexistence can create a vacuum in the organization, fostering a climatic condition in which any action is acceptable. It is important for leaders to create an ethical environment, in doing this; decision making will rely on ethical standards which in the end gives ethical outcome. For such an environment to be created ethics has to be the foundation of the organization's vision, composition and mission. With such a proposition, leaders are forced to cosset themselves in a discourse of collective ethical codes. Such code enables the leaders to act with morals and to foster an organization that relish itself in the laws of right.

The role of an ethical leader is to foster an organization that enables all stakeholders to act responsibly, to be conscientious of their environment and those around them. Johnson postulates that, leaders have a duty to achieve ethical standard through the use of organizational aspirations that must be effective, efficient and excellent. Therefore, the burden is on leaders to captain the ship, take charge and be in charge. The premise is that ethical leadership and ethical principles begins at the top of the organization then spreads throughout. Leaders should not assume that employees intuitively know and will comply with ethical principles set out by the organization. It becomes the leader's responsibility to ensure that ethical practices are modeled as well as communicated orally...training employees on ethical issues should be mandatory. Leaders can foster an ethical environment by employing what I refer to as critical factors:

Critical Factor One: Vision

A clear and concise vision that incorporates ethical principle set the foundation for all stakeholders to realize exactly what the organization stands for...

Critical Factor Two: Open Communication

A channel of communication in which leaders and followers feel at ease in discussing or examining behaviors or issues that may "in question." This promotes trust and confidence in the organizational efforts.

Critical Factor Three: Ethical Team

Creating a team that looks out for unethical action: This team is responsible for identifying and addressing ethical problems confronting the organization. They craft an environment in which difficult ethical issues can be discussed and corrective measures put in place. This should allow stakeholders to have trust/confidence in promoting the organizational values.

Conclusion

In light of recent unearthing of unethical practices in many organizations, contemporary organizations are now faced with a serious problem. We are now faced with the challenge of how to combat the epidemic of unethical behavior in our organizations. The role of ethics in the 21st Century is integral in that, all organizations need a firm foundation to stand on, and a base that is rooted in an ethical framework, which when tested can survive. It becomes the responsibility of leadership to consider ethics as part of their organization dynamics. It is this move that will enable the organization to set itself apart from the predecessors that sunk through the times of unethical confronts. The price we pay for poor ethics has eroded the very fabric of our society as well as our organizational culture, producing mistrust and chaos. It becomes imperative that leaders promote an organizational culture that values/fosters ethics. Commitment to ethics is the definitive factor that will create a successful lasting organization.

Business Ethics Problems - A Part and Parcel of Business Organization

2008-08-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

One of the serious problems that businesses face these days is business ethics problems. When put simply, these problems are conflicts between the interest of a business and that of the employees/customer or the society in general.

No matter how hard the management of a business tries to set and maintain high standards of professional ethics, these conflicts do surface at some point of time or the other. One does not have to dig deep to find the reasons for these conflicts either, as they are inherent in the very nature of business.

Any person joining a job wishes to be paid as highly as possible. In contrast, cost minimization is always high on the priority list of the employer(s). An employee wishes to have the minimum work hours whereas the management is always striving to reach the peak of productivity.

When it comes to the customers, they want to have the best possible products on the least possible prices. At the same time, the manufacturer tries to produce an item at the lowest possible cost and put as high a price as possible.

The society expects the corporate world to bear their social responsibilities - being environment conscious, making investments in sports and education, maintaining clean surroundings, etc. For a business entity all these will mean additional expenditure.

The million dollar question, in the face of all these demands, is how do you overcome this situation, if at all these can be overcome?

The answer lies in 'balance'. No one can argue with the fact that businesses are established to maximize returns for its owner(s) and, in some cases, shareholders. Still, the business establishments can achieve this goal while behaving ethically - helping its employees, giving to the customers' products worth their money and serving the community in general.

By following ethical norms and investing in social sectors, the business will earn the respect and confidence of the customer. This way the business may not make fast bucks or what is termed 'go for kill' but the results will start to show with time. In long term, it will be a boon for the brand and will enable the business to get to high profitability rates.

Similarly, if a business takes care of its employees, it will have happier and more productive workers. This, in turn, will make very positive effect on the productivity of the company.

If a business takes care to reduce waste, encourage recycling and preserving energy, it will not only aid the environment but will also help itself. Using these means, a considerable amount can be saved which can then be put to better use.

There is no denying that even a responsible business outfit will face business ethics problems. However, they can be countered using business ethics acumen and insight.

The Relevance to Business of the "Right to Bear Arms"

2008-07-15T07:42:00.001-07:00

What an interesting situation. The Supreme Court validated our right to own guns. I'm not a gun owner, I don't believe in it. I love to shoot and I lean toward a non-violent approach to life. Disclosures over, I don't see how they could have come up with a different verdict. I do think the constitution gives us the right to bear arms. That said, what are the ethical implications and considerations that lie under this issue?

The essay by Donald M. Wolfe in Executive Integrity edited by Suresh Shrivasta, set my perspective on this a long time ago. He posits primary and secondary ethics. Primary ethics are the ethics of survival. This is the ethical stance that the NRA (National Rifle Association) and many pro-gun folks take. The ability to protect oneself is a primary right. We have even coded this into law assuring our ability to self-defend. What becomes unethical is the conscious fostering of fear (The Bush Administration's terrorism mantra) to stimulate and maintain that fear.

Secondary ethics moves away from the fixation on individual survival and moves into community and relationship. Secondary ethics deals with fear through strengthening relationships and community governance. Here the focus is on long-term solutions and sees the needs of the community as paramount. This is the reason for the tension around this ruling.

It is clear to most people that the rule of law comes under threat when we regress into fears about individual survival.In doing so we negate our faith in law, community, relationships and principled discussion and instead put our faith in force and might.

This is an underlying tension in many organizations as well. The more secretive and heavy handed the leadership, the more primary ethics holds sway. Authoritarian leadership styles give permission for "me first" behavior - often at the expense of the company. It opens up the company to ethical issues and violations. In fact the justification for much of the illegal and unethical behavior that companies confront is the "They deserved it" logic that stems from disgruntled employees who have felt they have been dealt with unfairly. Unfair treatment often results in feeling of powerlessness which activates fear and acts of vengeance.

Justice Anthony Scalia made it very clear that control and regulation of hand guns ownership is still possible. We as a people and as a Nation, need to decide if we will move toward a more civil Union or devolve into every person for him or her self. Freedom requires responsibility to ensure people understand and accept their individual responsibility they need: information to be freely and easily accessible; to be educated to be able to think critically and effectively; to be supported in their personal growth, development and understanding so they can manage their own emotions and personal hurt effectively; and to be nurtured and cared for a children so that normal growth and development IS a norm. This is a tall order, but isn't this one of underlying drivers of civilization? Isn't our striving as a species, to create an environment where we are free enough from fear that we can develop, explore and express our true capabilities? If we want to reach a place where the true potential of humanity is developed and expressed is a hand gun in every home the way to go?

This is the path that business is on as well. The volatility of the marketplace, the rapid advances of technology and the shrinking of the globe all call for new ways of working together. To address these issues and if business answers the call, then, as employees and leaders rise to the occasion, they will transform a fear-based environment into one of innovative collaboration - out of necessity.

This is my belief, hope and vision for business. I believe that the external pressures combined with the drive for success will create a crucible of transformation. At the heart of that transformation is a rock solid knowledge in the exquisite capacity of humans, the courage of an o9pen heart as we all come together, and the wisdom to use the collective intelligence of participation to create a world we WANT to live in.

It's Not Easy Being Green - Ethical Dilemmas

2008-07-15T07:41:00.003-07:00

Life if full of ethical dilemmas, and many of the decisions we make in life contradict themselves. I've realised as I've got older, not to be worried about these contradictions. It would be lovely to live a totally consistent life, but I've met very few people who manage to attain these dizzy heights.

One of the major ethical dilemmas I face is over how green I am. I try to be green. I believe it's important to be green. However, I have also realised a lot of the more environmentally friendly options are far more expensive, and I simply don't have much money. Obviously, there are things that don't cost money, and are things everyone should be doing - for example, recycling, turning off lights, not leaving electrical equipment on standby, and using the car minimally. Unfortunately, a lot of the other options are expensive.

Some of the greenest people I've met are people with money; people who can afford to build their own eco-homes, install solar paneling, and source their own water. These are also the people who can afford to shop locally at Farmers Markets, buy ecological products, and buy expensive recycled products. I buy such items when I have the money. However, the reality is by the end of the month, I don't have any option other than to buy value items from major supermarkets.

Necessity makes for one of life's biggest contradictions. It forces difficult decisions and moral uncertainty. Necessity also forces compromise and making the best out of the circumstances offered. I don't want to make a decision which harms the planet, but I also have to live my life.

Renewing my car insurance last week gave me exactly this dilemma. I spent many hours at the computer looking at different companies, trying to work out which was the cheapest and greenest. I knew I needed to pay by direct debit as I didn't have enough money in my account for the full lump sum, so this again, through necessity, narrowed down my options.

Finally, I opted for the package that was the greenest for what I could afford. From my research, I knew this wasn't the best environmentally friendly option, but it was better than some of the others. Compromise eventually gave me the best option.

I find the same is true with electricity suppliers. I was forced to swap from a company who solely ran green power because I couldn't afford the bills. Again, I compromised by using a green policy from one of the major suppliers. However, having said this, energy saving light bulbs have now decreased in cost enough to be affordable to all. Things are improving.

Green options are coming down in price, and this is fantastic. I'm luckier than most. I can just about afford the lower end of these services. However, until we get to the point where environmentally friendly products are the cheapest on offer, we will not be able to move to a greener society.

Why Businesses Fail

2008-07-15T07:41:00.001-07:00

There are many different reasons business fail and much of it is debatable but there are some common mistakes that are detrimental in business failure.

Some of the reason many business fail are due to the following reasons:

• Overexpansion.

Many companies over expand too soon. They look at the books and see 3 months of good sales and profit and think right let's get more staff. Then another 6 months down the line the profits have not followed suit which leaves you in a difficult situation. You need to stick with realistic goals and allow yourself to grow as needs dictate. And old saying 'don't not run before you can walk' is relevant. You need to look at the statistics and watch for trends. If sales and profits looks good now it's doesn't necessarily mean it will look good tomorrow.

• Overspending and lack of reserve funds.

Overspending can have detrimental affects. You should only spend on what is necessary. Be realistic, just because you have good cash flow at the minute doesn't mean you will have in the future. Ask yourself is purchasing this item really necessary, will it make a real difference or not. Look at all the costs of the business and if some are not necessary then drop them. Having money in the bank is important to carry you through market downtrends and seasonal slowness. You should always be prepared for fluctuations in business. You should always put money away in boom times to prepare for the slow times.

• Poor management

Poor management is one of the main reasons business fail. If you haven't got happy customers and happy stuff your business is almost curtain to fail. Poor customer service, poor accounting and overall employee incompetence can all combine to collapse a business. You need to ensure your employees realise the importance of good customer service. Establish protocols for how tasks should be accomplished and ensure they are carried out. Many companies these days have a relaxed attitude and don't place to much importance on carrying out basic good management practice. Having meetings regularly with all staff will help your business run smoothly. If no meetings take place then resentment can set in. Everyone needs to air their opinions and explain how their job could be done more efficiently.

• Poorly treated Staff

Labour is the biggest expense for most small business so it makes sense to ensure your company employs the right amount of people and treat them correctly. Companies that invest highly in their staff by offering training and advancement will find it easier to keep their staff. Ensure you pay your staff every month on time as not to do so would be breaching your contract with them. Invest in your staff; they are your biggest asset. If they feel they cannot advance in your business they will not stay long. Listening to your staff is important. If employees are leaving you need to be asking why. Treat your staff how you would expect to be treated and you will gain respect from them and get the best of out them.

• Poor or no business plan

Having a good business plan is your key to success. A well-thought-out business plan forces you to think about the future and the challenges you'll face. As long as your forecasts are realistic and you have done plenty of market research you should be ok. Ensure your plan has a budget and stick to it.

• Dishonesty and Greed

Being dishonest will catch up with you eventually. Remember your ethics, try to treat your customers and staff as you would be expected to be treated. Don't charge the earth for customers just because they look like they can afford it, this is exploitation and will come back and bite you on the bum. Greed is another aspect that kills businesses. You feel like you're on a roll and feel invincible so you over charge people and promise them the earth. When you can't deliver you will lose customers and eventually your reputation. Always be honest and ethical and you will reap the rewards.

There are other reasons business fail and I have only touched base on some. As long as you work hard, do plenty of research, treat staff and customers with respect, keep a tight control over your accounts and leave your ego at home you should be alright. Oh and most importantly use common sense. You would be surprised at how many business owners are egotistic, arrogant with no personnel skills and very little common sense, these business are bound to fail eventually.

What Do You Value Most?

2008-07-15T07:40:00.001-07:00

Abraham Mazlow defined self-actualization as, "a bringing together of what I do and what I really value."

If you want to create more value in the world and become more valuable in the marketplace, then you'll want to define, embody and live your core values.

No matter how old (or young) you are, you have values that are important to you. You may not be able to articulate what they are right now, but you have them nonetheless.

In fact, our lives are a result of the choices we've made or neglected to make around these values. Everything we do and everything we choose NOT to do is based-or at least should be based-upon our hierarchy of values.

The problem is, few of us have a good handle on what these values are. As a result, we may very well find ourselves with possessions, jobs and relationships that are unfulfilling and sometimes even painful.

I've spent most of the last 30 years studying, researching and experimenting with success strategies. I know many things that work and many that don't. I've been flying high, and I've also fallen out of the sky more than once.

What I've found is when we're clear on what we want, clear on our core values-on who we are and what we stand for-there's no stopping us.

The decisions we make become easier, our work becomes more interesting. We have more energy and it takes a lot more to discourage us. Our successes are sweeter and our defeats easier to bear. We arrive at our accomplishments with a clear conscience and with more pride and satisfaction.

By living our values, we experience fulfillment. We know we're in the process of achieving what's important to us, and we do it in a way that makes us feel good about ourselves. Our self-esteem goes up and our attitude improves with it. We are truly successful in every sense of the word.

When I work with individuals and organizations, I find the biggest problem or roadblock to success is their lack of clarity and focus. They're often busy doing the wrong things. They want me to help them climb a ladder that's often leaning against the wrong wall. What they really need is a clear sense of vision and a foundation of core values that can support that vision. The rest is pretty easy.

Unfortunately, I've yet to find a fun, easy or exciting way to sort through the many values one might hold near and dear and to find the five on which we want to build our life upon. It takes hard work. It takes thinking. It requires being open to our inner voice.

But the payoff is substantial. It may be the most important thing you ever do. It will dramatically and permanently impact the rest of your life. Big investment-big return. Small investment-small return.

Start by asking yourself a few questions. Do some journaling about what comes up. What are my most important values? Why are they important? What am I willing to fight for? What do I stand for?

People who have it together are people who are clear on their values-they know what they stand for. They're not perfect, but they are congruent. They know, and others know, what's important to them.

Are you willing to invest some time in your most important asset? Is your life worth your best effort? Do you want to be efficient and effective with your time? Do you want your family to experience the best of you? Do you want to live an exceptional life?

The Impetus For Change

2008-07-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

In today's society, mandatory high-stake testing, classroom overcrowding and teacher motivation are becoming exceptionally difficult to maintain. According to an article published by Griffin (2003), lack of effective teacher motivation is driving many teachers from the classroom to search for jobs in other fields; this invariably contributes to attrition in the educational system. This highlights only one of the daunting tasks facing today's leaders in the education sector. As the demands on administrators increase, they will need to find a style of leadership that can effectively deal with the many challenges with which they are faced. Blake and Mouton (1985), point out that leaders need to comprehend leadership styles and their impact in order to augment their ability to lead. Administrators must now grasp the initiative and develop their own style of leadership, by drawing on the merits of existing styles, if they are to create and lead successful organizations in our constantly changing society. To successfully develop this unique model, administrators must ask themselves, what drives me to lead, why do I desire to lead? The answers to these questions will determine the style/s of leadership they employ and its effectiveness.

Experts in the field of leadership such as, Fielder, Hersey-Blanchard, Winston, and others assume a number of factors as driving forces behind leadership, and while I consider some of these to be altruistic, a few may be deemed as purely selfish. I will discuss these motives as they are deemed to impact the process of leadership: values, love, power, as well as the organizational culture/vision, which influence leadership styles. Only when leaders are able to identify the drive behind their impetus to lead, will they be able to find a style of leadership that suits them so that they can effectively perform. Leaders are driven by powerful, compelling urges that we describe as motives. To be a valuable leader and to generate constructive permanent change will depend on the actual momentum behind your desire to lead. Some leaders are driven by the need to exert control and influence over people and their actions, which is power. According to Thomas (2003), some people who seek position of authority in organizations have a dominant desire for power. He further went on to recognize two types of power, personalized power orientation and socialized power orientation. The former is said to be used by leaders seeking to hype themselves and to satisfy their overpowering need for esteem and status from others. These leaders have a susceptibility to exhibit authority artlessly and possess little or no willpower. They thrive in dominating others, which will leave weak-will employees to depend on them to make decisions. They relish in their attainment of mortal possessions, which according to Winston Jesus condemns in the message that is reflected in 1 Timothy 6:10, which states that... These leaders use positive or negative extrinsic forms of motivation to manage or use others which makes them uncouth in their behavior towards employees. The converse is true of leaders with a socialized power orientation. These leaders are follower focused, or according to Sullivan (2007), they are servant leaders. They recognize their imperfections and limitations. These leaders treat others respectfully and are aware of the benefits of positive reinforcements in their organization. They maintain an open-door policy and accommodate advice/recommendations from their followers. The environment in this organization is conducive to organizational growth. Employees are empowered and are given the freedom to exercise their creativity and innovativeness.

Invariably schools will benefit more from an administrator who is predominantly socialized power oriented, as the physical, emotional as well as spiritual aspects of employees are catered to. Employees feel valued as people, and as such display commitment and loyalty to the mission and objectives of the organization and to its leader. Organizations powered by this type of leader will survive in the absence of the leader. According to Thomas, leaders are never predominantly socialized or personalized power oriented but exhibit traits from both types.

Organizations are inhabited by people who are strong adherents to various beliefs which according to the Webster's dictionary is defined as, any cognitive content that is held as true. These beliefs infiltrate the parameters of the mind and have enormous impact on the roles people play in society. Some leaders desire to lead, is fundamentally ingrained in their beliefs. Beliefs are humans' legacy from their family, friends, and society, as such may hold some element of truth or may be devoid of truthfulness. Some of these beliefs can be unethical and will influence a leaders' style of leadership according to Straker. These core beliefs motivate and consequently will guide/ influence decisions that leaders make are termed values. Straker mentions two types of values, instrumental and end of state which are usually manifested by leaders. Instrumental values are deemed as acceptable ways of behaving and have a direct relationship to morals and ethics. These values determine the path leaders take in achieving goals and include such traits as honesty, politeness, courage, punctuality to name a few. Then there are end-of state values, these are end products of instrumental values and includes happiness, prosperity et cetera. According to Winston, the beatitudes are a reflection of the values which should drive humans to lead.

Values play a significant role in the life of any style of leadership one chooses. Scholars such as Nanus believe charismatic leadership is built on the leader's ability to align the follower's vision to that of the organizations mission. According to Straker, this vision is ultimately shaped by the leader's values. He went on to posit that if well-intentioned, these leaders possess the propensity to motivate and transform employees. Conversely if their motive is selfish they can destroy an organization. They are self-absorbed and depend on their ability to allure; this may create intolerance for those wishing to challenge their position, and thus these leaders rarely accept contributions from employees. Inherent in all leadership styles are the values of the leader...

Scholars such as Winston believes love should be one of the motives behind a leader drive to lead. He defines this as 'Doing the right things at the right time for the right reason" (p5). This kind of love transcendence boundaries of every kind. Leaders motivated by this type of love recognize all aspects of the human psyche and make allowances for this. In his book, "Be a Leader for God's Sake" Winston makes reference to agapao love which he describes as "a moral kind of love, which is reflected in "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" These leaders lead with the intention of going the extra mile for employees. They use 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 to define their leadership "love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth..."

Leaders who are motivated by love creates an organizational climate wherein love abounds, this kind of atmosphere fosters excellent employees rapport. Employees under the mandate of leaders motivated by love are willing to contribute to the success of the organization. Employees feel love and have no fear of exploring their gifts for the betterment of the organization. Employees are motivated because they know that they are valued. This type of leadership is promoted by scholars such as Winton, and Sullivan, who believes that when employees know that leaders have their best interests at heart they will go above and beyond the call of duty to realize the organizations mission. These leaders infuse their organization with enthusiasm, energy, and an attitude of 'the sky is the limit.' Pielstick postulates a final motive behind leaders drive to lead. He believes that some leader's motive to lead is based on an evocative picture of a prospective potential of the organization, referred often to as vision. These leaders are usually by-products of the organization that they choose to lead.

These leaders recognize situations or dilemmas that demand attention and feel that they possess the ideas or theories that that organization may employ for it to be successful. These leaders catalyze change and present vivid goals for employees to pursue. Nanus states that these Visions are usually a reflection of the leaders' values which may be good or bad. Nanus further states Visions that are positive have certain dominant characteristics. These characteristics create standards that build an organization climate that maintains the integrity of the employees as well as strengthens and uplifts employees; they inspire enthusiasm, and encourage commitment. Positive visions motivate employees to align their energies in order to fulfill the goals of the organization. These motives are understood to be the main driving forces behind leadership. While it is imperative to know and understand style of leadership, greater importance lies in understanding the impact that these style have in an organization and the motive behind them.

The education system is plagued with many problems, one of which is the challenge administrator's face to motivate teachers. Administrators can only effectively motivate others when they are able to recognize the impetus behind their desire to lead. In other words only by discovering the real motive behind their desires to leader can leaders begin to recognize and be able to adapt their style to effect change. Motives such as love, power, values and vision are some of the most powerful drive behind leadership. These motives ultimately determine leadership styles. When leaders understand this, they can analyze the motive behind their desire to lead. The motive behind styles of leadership is reflected in and will impact the leaders' effectiveness. Knowing the impetus behind any one style can motivate leaders to change his/her style in order to be more effective.

Say Yes to the Right Customers

2008-07-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

You said "Yes" to the business idea.

Are you continuing to say "Yes" to the kind of business you want to be, and the kind of service you want to give?

Most importantly are your customers and the people you want to become customers the sort of people you want to be with?

The more you market your business to the right prospects, and hang out with the right customers, the more your business will be fulfilling. The more clearly you express what is important for you in your marketing, the more likely you are to get the right customers.

By getting clear on your values you will know:

* The kind of work that you enjoy and perform well
* The kind of customers you prefer
* How you like to treat your customers
* How you like to be treated
* The satisfaction of knowing the difference your business can make

Who is right for you

Business is never just about the money. There are far too many potential customers out there is the wide world. You can't work with them all. Better by far to have an excellent reputation with the right ones.

If your marketing clearly expresses what is important to you, and what the right customers can gain from working with you, you make it easier for them to find you. Expressing your values in the world, and making a difference one customer at a time makes it all more enjoyable and - best of all - gives you a competitive edge.

Who is wrong for you

Some of the people who want to work with you may simply be wrong for you. You could take their money but it may not feel right.

Next time you hear that small voice telling you that a customer is not right for you, stop and listen. After all, you probably know a lot of people in your field, and the customer who is wrong for you may be perfect for one of your competitors.

Don't leave yourself out of your business. Be yourself. No one else can do it, so make the most of it - it's what makes you special!

Ethics of Love - Miss.Tic

2008-06-27T07:43:00.001-07:00

ethics

2008-06-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

The Season of Smokescreens and Manipulation

2008-06-27T07:38:00.001-07:00

Here we come into the season of smokescreens and manipulation, otherwise known as the presidential election year. With each passing election, the question turns increasingly away from which candidate would make the best president and which policies would be best for the nation, and toward which campaign can do a better job manipulating public opinion in order to get their person elected. It's the season of guilt by innuendo or association, of character assassination, and of the absolute flouting of every principle of logic since Aristotle. Prepare to be snowed, buffaloed and bamboozled.

You're not a citizen, you're not even a voter, you're a demographic: a 'target audience' of a set of sophisticated mass-marketing techniques. They already know your 'buying habits' and they know what gets you fired up or turned off. They've been putting together their marketing campaign for years - long before they had a 'product' to offer you. They already know how n% of you are going to vote. They also know that they can increase their 'sales' by x% by using such-and-such a tactic. Isn't it nice to know that they can so accurately predict your behavior and, when they can't predict it, they can re-set your buying criteria at will by re-framing each question?

'Politics is a dirty business.' Why should it be that way? The answer, I think, was best formulated by Robert Moses, the designer of our contemporary urban setting (he had already conceived of the interstate highway system and showcased it in the transportation pavilion of the 1939 New York World's Fair), when he said, "If the end doesn't justify the means, then what does?" It probably never occurred to Mr. Moses that a good means doesn't needjustification.

Contrast, for the sake of argument, education with manipulation. Does an educated electorate need to be justified? Or, is its benefit evident in itself? Would you rather be given an accurate set of facts and have the opportunity to make your own informed judgment, or would you prefer to be kept in the dark and sold a bill of goods?

The unimaginable prevalence of conspiracy theories haunting us today - like the one that says that the issue of global warming is just an attempt by 'them' to subvert the American economy (for what possible reasons, I'll never guess) - provides ample proof that people have been so manipulated that they can no longer even recognize observable facts. Illogical emotionalism reigns supreme and, as the marketing experts are fond of teaching us, people are moved not by facts but by feelings.

What I'm talking about here doesn't only have to do with politicians and mass marketers. It applies just as much to you. Like it or not, we're all in the business of marketing. We have something valuable to offer others, and we have a right to expect to paid an honest price for the value of our product or service. Nobody will be able to take advantage of what we have to offer if they don't know about it. Marketing makes all the difference between an artisan and a business woman or man. With the obligation to market your products and services in order for others to gain the value you have to offer comes the responsibility to use the power of marketing ethically.

In business, as in politics, a good end (a valuable product or service) does not justify smokescreens and manipulation. There exists a fine line between persuasion and manipulation. That line is drawn between education and obfuscation. So long as you are promoting an educated consumer, you're on the ethical side; when you cross over into hiding, twisting, or misrepresenting the facts, you'll know that you're on the 'dark side'.

You can ask, "Is my potential consumer buying what I have to offer because they know all about my product or service, or because they don't know all the facts about it?" Or, "Are they buying it because they've made an honest comparison between what I have to offer and my competition, or between my product or service and the caricature that I've created of my competition?" As long as there has been human commerce, there have been unscrupulous marketers. Ask yourself now, "Are these the people I want to be in competition with?" The answer to all these questions will tell you a lot about your future prospects, a lot about your business and, ultimately, a lot about yourself.

The Importance of Ethical Marketing

2008-06-27T07:37:00.002-07:00

If you want to sell a product successfully you have to use powerful words to describe it and to convey each and every little benefit it has to offer your customer. As a result, it's not uncommon to see and hear words like "unbelievable" and "phenomenal" in advertising.

There are some marketers, however, who intentionally use hyped-up descriptions to sell their products. These marketers mislead customers into thinking that their products offer benefits that they really do not.

Beware of individuals or promotions that promise you "everything you have ever wanted" just by purchasing an e-book and executing whatever is inside. Anyone can stand in front of a Mercedez Benz, luxurious mansion or yacht and self-promote. It doesn't mean they own them.

The sad but very real fact is that there are many scam artists online, waiting to steal your hard-earned dollars. So beware. Use common sense. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

If you are thinking of making a purchase on the Internet, do a basic check-up on the merchant website FIRST. If you have even the slightest question about any of the features of the product mentioned, email the merchant, ask your questions, and observe the attitude with which he/she replies. The way a company handles Customer Support reveals a lot about the integrity of that business.

If you can't even find a support or contact email on the website, click the "Back" button and run away from the site at once!

Business Ethics - Making it Big the Right Way!

2008-06-27T07:37:00.001-07:00

Most businesses have a mission statement, centered round qualities and values they swear to uphold. How many manage to observe the protocol is questionable, however. Do business ethics matter? Is it sensible to hold on to values when you can have an upper hand in business by casually ignoring them? Contrary to popular assumptions about corporate setups, many businesses today are coming around to stressing on the importance of ethical practices at work. The reasons are obvious. Take for instance the rising charges of fraud against employees by employers. Management cannot expect employees to be champions of ethics but not practice them as a firm.

There is immense value in adhering to business ethics in every undertaking. Being true to the values you preach alone can leave a lasting impression on the minds of your customers.

Fulfilling your duties: Honor every commitment to the best of your abilities. At the same time, be upfront with your customers, if something is not going according to plan - not doing so will not only show you as being less competent, but worse, it will also give you an image of not being trustworthy. If you cannot meet the obligations for some reason, make the requisite amends. But as far as possible, make it your second nature to meet commitments on time.

Concealing information: It isn't uncommon to hear people say "read the fine print" especially when it comes to business dealings! Many a time brochures and catalogues, in an attempt to sell their products, land up misleading their customers. Remember, they are not likely to return, if faced with rude shocks like that!

Transparency: Financial discrepancies top the list of fraudulent cases in business. Maintain proper accounts and have a proper policy on the disclosure of financial statements.

Code of conduct: Make patience and dignity your key personality traits. Respecting everyone you deal with, including those you do not like too much, is reflective of the business ethics that your firm practices. Manage tricky situations with diplomacy.

Supporting a cause: Get involved with a social cause like a community project, or make contributions towards charity. Doing so will not only elevate the status of your business to that of a responsible and respected organization but also give you a greater sense of satisfaction.

Honesty: Adhering to the age old adage "honesty is the best policy" is sure to take you places. Do not evade taxes; and be fair in your dealings. While this has been reiterated time and again, many organizations still manage to be tripped up by dishonest actions.

Open mindedness: A broad minded approach towards growth oriented strategies, new ideas and continuous improvement is essential to the well being of any business environment. Take criticism in your stride without holding petty grudges, acknowledge hard work and have well defined policies for dealing with employees, vendors and customers.

Business ethics make up the moral foundation of your firm. Exercising high standards conveys a strong message about the quality of your firm and the people behind it.

Online Fraud a New Banking Virus?

2008-06-27T07:36:00.001-07:00

The advent of the internet has resulted in a whole new set of fraud related problems for the banking industry. In the past the issues resolved around, cash machines, credit cards and bounced cheques. The result, the cheque clearing process became longer. The new 2-4-6 cheque clearing rules reflect the fact that the problem with banking fraud has switched from cheques to online.

The banks in the UK have quietly passed an amendment to the online banking code that could result in less protection for their online customers. The subtle change is the incorporation of a new clause 12.13. This clause states that "Unless you have acted fraudulently or without reasonable care (for example, by not following the advice of 12.9), you will not be liable for losses caused by someone else which takes place through your online banking service.."

The escape clause for the bank is 12.9, the clause that states that you must "use up-to-date antivirus and spyware software and a personal firewall..". The issue revolves around what is up-to-date and even what is antivirus and spyware software.

If your antivirus software is not updated ever moment then it is by its nature not up-to-date. If you only turn your PC on once a week or so then in terms of anti-virus software it would be very out dated. If you don't own a PC but use one at work or in a cybercafé to carry out your online banking you have no control over the anti-virus software, would you still be liable for any losses from your account.

The clause is very ambiguous as the term antivirus and spyware software is very wide. It encompass a wide range of software from free downloads to the more expensive monthly subscription services. The reality is that most of this type of software struggles to keep up with the developments in online fraud. The fraudster's test their new virus and spying tools against current software to ensure that they can gain access to the data that they require to carry out the fraud.

Are the banks simply admitting defeat and shifting the burden from their own systems to that of the consumer? You can still get home insurance without security guards at your front door but it seems as if the banks don't want to play by the same rules. Surely it should be down to the bank to ensure that it has in place systems that maintain security. The advent of third party security keys has been an attempt to address this issue. The banking industry have managed to shift the emphasis for security onto the consumer and potential the losses as well.

The Good Assistant Knows - It's All About Business

2008-06-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

In utmost sincerity, it has nothing to do with how much you like (or dislike) your boss; how much money you get paid (or don't get paid); how much praise you receive (or don't receive).

The good assistant knows it's all about business. Whether you're the assistant to the neighborhood drycleaner, an intern at a media factory, or the executive assistant to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, the good assistance knows it's all about the business. Period.

In fact, the "job" isn't to appease the employer, rally behind the team or make sure there're donuts on Friday mornings. The "job" is always to consider, "Is it good for the company?"

If you ask yourself that question each time you hear idle gossip, each time your employer asks you for your honest opinion, or even if you're answering calls, you'll never go wrong by keeping that thought in the forefront of your mind.

The good assistant knows that the boss isn't necessarily the person who signs your paycheck, or the person whose name is on the door. Your boss-your real boss-is the corporation itself. As an assistant, you have a higher calling than many of those even in upper management. You are likely privy to more information than even department heads. You likely know that a new candidate will be hired, or that a long-term employee will be fired, long before the information's made public. You can never take your position for granted.

The good assistant knows there's a fine line between 'lunching' with her colleagues and 'hanging out' with the gang. While she appreciates sharing encouragement with other staff members over a meal, she recognizes that nighttime social events could cause confusion among those same peers, especially those who are not mature enough to respect her clearly defined position within the organization. "Letting her hair down," particularly among co-workers, could diminish respect for her in the eyes of others. To the good assistant, respect is key to her success, and she guards it carefully.

The good assistant knows when idle chit chat is fun and when it's disturbing. She's never in the company of others who are gossiping and tarnishing another's reputation, but she's good for a joke or two and even enjoys a harmless prank (that doesn't detract from getting the job done).

A good assistant knows when to keep silent. She knows it's not important for others to know what she knows, but it's equally important for her to know what others know...and what they think they know. Yet she's trustworthy to keep that info safe.

She understands that everyone has a bad day, and doesn't pre-judge simply because someone's made a thoughtless comment. And if she's the offender, she knows how important it is to apologize - and be sincere when she does.

The good assistant is tactful, never tacky...and always reveals truth as she knows it to be...even if that truth is painful to reveal, and even more painful to hear.

She's encouraging and helpful, and her compliments are seasoned with good taste and fine words...not simply sugar-coated to hide her true feelings. If she says it, she means it.

She has the admiration of others in the company since she's proven to be valuable in times of distress, a pleasant breeze after "it" has hit the fan, and strong shoulder to lean on in times of professional strife and personal duress.

Her humor is always tasteful. And her poise is matched by her consistent attire, always clean and classy. Her wardrobe is not gaudy or trashy. You won't get a glimpse of her underwear, and her cleavage is never revealed. To her, "Dress Down Day" doesn't mean flip flops and bare midriffs, but means attire that is more laid back than usual.

Her nails don't resemble eagle's claws, but is well manicured and tastefully designed.

The good assistant does whatever comes next. She isn't above emptying the trash, cleaning the kitchen or scrubbing the toilet when necessary.

She's the heart of the organization, the face known to the public, the confidante to the person in charge, and the defendant of all those in need of support.

And lastly, while the good assistant knows that she's a valuable asset to the company and that it simply can't thrive without her, she's gracious enough not to say it.

How Good is Your Word?

2008-06-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

Do you follow through with what you tell people you will do? When you say " I'll call you next week", do you? When you say "Let's get together soon", do you mean it or are you just saying it to be CORDIAL? In business, when you tell a salesperson "Let's do some business down the road", are you sincere. Perhaps is it an easy blow off to get the salesperson out of your hair? If you say "Let's go out Friday night", do you follow through or is it all fluff?

A few weeks back I had a discussion with a related cousin who I knew, but not overly well. The discussion was about if he wanted to go on a golf trip with the boys.

Now , I've run my share of golf trips over the years. How it usually goes is that everyone wants in the night of drinks and discussion. When it's time to put up the deposit money, most are nowhere to be found.

Why is this? Do people not want to say no? Is it the drinks talking? Do they just want to sound cool and say they will go? Do peoples word mean anything these days?

Well, this time , I figure I'll capitalize on my past experiences. At the first meeting my cousin states that he is 90% "in", as long as he doesn't have a prior work commitment. Fair enough. The next day, I call him to confirm the previous nights conversation, now that the beer cobwebs are all gone. He confirms that he is serious about going , assuming no work conflict( that was his chance to get out).

Three weeks go by. Time to get the hotel reservations and golf tee times. I call the cousin for a final confirmation. He advises he can t go...... he 's going to a baseball game that weekend. What?? Doesn't sound work related to me.

So my question is .. what exactly does 90% "in" mean? Where is people's word these days? Does it matter what they tell others? While others spend money, make plans and commitments, are they free to just change their mind, without even a care?

For my cousin, he may not think twice about it, For myself, I learned a wee bit more about his character. I also learned about his word...... and what is BEHIND IT.

My parents raised me so that if I said I was going to do something, I better darn well do it. Remember the days of business deals being done on a handshake. No contracts. Just two people giving each other their word of honor.

My word equals my character, my reputation. There is a famous quote that states that is takes years to build a good reputation, and a day to ruin it. When you think about it, your word is really all you have, so it should be used with caution, and taken very seriously.

If You End Up With Too Much Money in Your Pay Cheque Do You Know What Your Rights Are?

2008-06-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

Overpayments

In businesses operating computerised payroll systems, it is not unusual for an occasional error to arise resulting in a mistaken overpayment to an employee. This might take the form of an overpayment of basic rate pay or overtime pay or commission/bonus. The payslip is often fairly complex and employees sometimes fail to thoroughly check its contents. It can sometimes be a matter of weeks or even months before the employee or the business realise that an overpayment has taken place. In this situation, the legal question is whether the company are entitled to recover the overpayment and, if so, by what means.

In order to show that an overpayment is not recoverable, then the employee must demonstrate three things. Firstly, it must be shown that the overpayment was the fault of the company and not the employee. Secondly, it must have been reasonable for the employee not to know that they were being overpaid. Thirdly, the employee must have acted to their disadvantage or the assumption that the payment of salary was correct (for example by spending the money!). The most common difficulty for employees is the second condition since it is often obvious when an overpayment has occurred. It is not acceptable for an employee to assume that they have received a substantial increase in pay unless there is some reason to believe that this is the case.

The Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that it will not be an illegal deduction from wages to recover an overpayment from salary. This means that an employer is not prevented from deducting the overpayment from future wages or salary provided that this is done reasonably over a period of time and not done in such a way as to amount to a breach of trust and confidence in the employment relationship. The interesting point about the Employment Rights Act is that overpayments can be recovered from future wages whether or not the overpayment itself is recoverable from the employee on the basis of the three point test set out above.

The Season of Smokescreens and Manipulation

2008-06-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Ethical Marketing

2008-06-24T07:12:00.002-07:00

Business Ethics - Making it Big the Right Way!

2008-06-24T07:12:00.001-07:00

Online Fraud a New Banking Virus?

2008-06-24T07:11:00.002-07:00

We are all immigrants-2

2008-06-24T07:11:00.001-07:00

The Good Assistant Knows - It's All About Business

2008-06-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

How Good is Your Word?

2008-06-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

Increasing Ethical Integrity of Business Decisions - Upgrading Self-Awareness

2007-06-13T00:44:00.001-07:00

Decisions - especially ones made in rapidly changing, uncertain business environments - demand a balance of intuition and logic. Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink referred to it as thin slicing... the art and science of thinking without thinking.
In also demands a level of attunement and trust in your inner voice that calls for a pretty high level of self-awareness. Without that the signals come and go and you are left standing still.
Why bother? It is too easy for soft skills to be dismissed as too much woo-woo. Judgment of that nature indicates that the dots just are just not being connected.
In decision-making and in ethics, self-awareness is the foundation for seeing the context with the widest and clearest lens possible, the underlying forces impacting direction, the web of people who are affected, and the dynamic in its entirety. For someone with a high level of awareness, the map is before them at all times.
Areas of power and turf overlaps are clear and recognized along with what is driving the division. Reality has a sharper and clearer focus. The invisible forces that drive temptation no longer escape detection. You know when you are leading yourself into temptation and you know there are alternatives to choose from. You are not immune to making mistakes; you know why you made them. This is learning that can be applied and it is much less painful than repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
Ethical breaches demonstrated by Enron, WorldCom are bigger, more complex examples of the same kind of behaviour seen when CEO's or executives deceive boards on uncomfortable truths. In The Five Temptations of a CEO Patrick Lencioni named "the desire to protect the status of career, the desire to be popular, the need to achieve certainty - make correct decisions, the desire for harmony and the desire for invulnerability" as the pit traps for executive success. You will note that every single one of them is also a pit trap for ethical breaches.
Clearly there is more to resolving the situation than just becoming more aware. Systems, procedures and totally outmoded business models hold a part of the responsibility. Obviously these can not be addressed until they are seen, noticed and the connection to results has been made.
Personally and professionally, it starts with awareness. Awareness is the information-gathering stage, and it typically begins when you notice something is seriously wrong with the picture-either within you or in the environment. Once you notice, you simultaneously open a window to question and understand. Questions reveal understanding and understanding brings clarity. Clarity is looking through the window defogged by assumption, desire, or need.
In gray zones, the advantage of being aware is even more magnified. Shades of gray can often have ethical and moral implications that you really want to know about. Not knowing about them can put you in the headlines or in jail. Without awareness, without being able to see what put you close to the delicate line, you cannot see the line; much less know when you are standing on it.
So what gets in the way of this clear-seeing awareness? The following:
Ego: The need to feel separate from others. Your entire self-identity is based on who you are in relation to others.
Misuse of Power: The desire to use the power of your position to serve yourself.
Righteousness: The need to be right all the time; rigidity.
Judgment: Too much judgment makes learning a risk-taking venture, and vulnerability a personal-safety issue rather than a springboard for strength.
Unconsciousness: Walking around in a fog, being unaware of what is going on around you.
Closed-mindedness: Not being receptive to information that informs who you are in that moment-and not wanting to know. Dr. Charles Ehin in an article in Baseline named seven indicators signalling when an executive is out of touch. All of them source back to self-awareness. The indicators include being clear on the personal lenses and filters used to navigate life, reliance on tried and true principles that ignore the current reality, the degree to which you rely on doing what has worked before without noticing it is not anymore, and the inability to be aware of when change has happened. You can not change what you can not see.
Most of the indicators named, refer to the personal and professional need for validation from outside of themselves, rather than an intrinsic sense of security, identity and emotional self-knowledge.
Simple steps help shift self-awareness to higher levels. Asking yourself or noticing:
Where do I need to have control? Why?
What situations bring out an unexpected reaction from me? What is at the source of that reaction?
Did I say that out loud? Where did that come from? As you gain clarity, you will see when the cultural or social context is driving your personal integrity or whether you are holding the wheel.

E-Blood Money - The Sick Power of Get Rich Quick

2007-06-13T00:43:00.002-07:00

I almost felt guilty . . . Kind of like a recovering alcoholic going down the liquor isle to go smile at the selection of beers knowing he'll never buy one, but guilty just for looking.
There I was reading the information for one of those Internet get rich quick programs, thinking about different dubious ways I could make it work.
Of course, I didn't buy it, but the lure of fast cash and little work started appealing to me somewhere between the words "automated system" and "get paid daily" my eyes glazed over and a wicked smile crossed my lips. I actually started breaking down the numbers, that's how bad I got: "well if I can just put 15,000 people onto a landing page and they convert at half a percent for a 3,000 dollar product . . ."
I'd been on a content bender, and I needed to escape. I'd written and edited somewhere between 100,000 and a million words that week and I was looking to relax. Most of us who have been on the Internet for any length of time know that those programs, while not scams (semantically speaking), are simply money games designed to quickly help the newbie E-marketer part ways with their money in a desperate search for quick cash and the promise of a new life.
Most of us found Internet marketing the same way.
We get duped.
I did, maybe you did.
Some people are broken from the experience, others continue buying into every scheme and money game they can get their hands on, and others actually try to figure out how the Internet works. For me the epiphany came somewhere between Godin's Purple Cow and Levinson's Guerilla Marketing when I realized I was on a snipe hunt for the holy grail.
There's money to be made in the: "There is Money To Be Made Market."
But it isn't the kind of money I want.
That's e-blood money.
Imagine that . . .
When you finally figure it out-you don't want it anymore.
Strange the power of consciousness is, think you not? As Yoda would say.

Inspiration Ethics - The Value of Courage

2007-06-13T00:43:00.001-07:00

Courage -- Noun; conscious self-sacrifice in pursuit of something greater than one's own self-interest.
People are basically goal-oriented, seeking to satisfy wants and needs. But when pain or fear or any trigger of avoidance intrude, it is difficult to follow desire with action -- even if the goal is very important, the action critical and the rewards great. At these times, we need Courage. Courage is a learned thing, not borne into us but developed over time.
"Whether you be man or woman you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor." -- James Allen
We too often think of courage in modern life requiring unique heroism or call to duty on a grand scale, such as in situations of rescue and war. Of course, in war humans sometimes fight because they are embarrassed not to. For courage to be authentic, one must encounter fear and prove superior to the fear through right action.
Fear of what? Most directly, physical courage exists in the face of bodily harm or death. In other words, physical courage is demonstrated by acting regardless of fear for one's life or livelihood. We need a different kind of courage than physical courage on a daily basis. Leadership character requires moral courage: to become a better leader; to stand up for what is right when we stand alone; to do what is right despite disapproval or negative peer pressure; or to take risks in our quest to achieve what is important. These take Courage -- without it we go nowhere, accomplish little, lack meaning and regret much. Courage is the primer for any other virtue.
"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." -- C.S. Lewis
Courage to act in our own story
The opportunity to develop Courage occurs in the mundane story of our daily living where even tiny seeds of fear exist, where the danger is loss of integrity. In business and in our everyday life, Courage is rarely impulsive but results from self-conditioning -- a history of calculated bold moves based on firm convictions. The best leaders develop courage consciously, deliberately, over time, and it shows in their actions. A leader's story is a story of courage.
"People who become good leaders have a greater than average willingness to make bold moves, but they strengthen their chances of success -- and avoid career suicide -- through careful deliberation and preparation. Business courage is not so much a visionary leader's inborn characteristic as a skill acquired through decision-making processes that improve with practice." -- Kathleen K. Reardon, Courage as a Skill, Harvard Business Review, January 2007.
Virtue at a cost
Courage is not the only virtue. Courage begins things: it is a precursor for Faith, Love, Change, Persistence, Authenticity, Trust, Service and every other value. C. S. Lewis once said that the virtue of courage is a prerequisite for the practice of all other virtues. In other words, one is virtuous only when virtue has a cost, a price we are fearful to pay.
Without courage we do not get started on what is important; we do not take right action; we live in fear of the consequences of virtue. Every day we face decisions that begin, interrupt or sustain our courage-life pattern. Courage is your cupid's arrow for everything you really want to have, to do, to create, or to become, no matter how mundane or how wonderful the rewards.
Courage can only exist through virtuous action. Another kind of courage is shown in a bad cause because it does not intend a moral effect and demonstrates vice over virtue. [Think of the 9/11 hijackers or any act of terrorism] More than any other human trait, courage seems to be quite capable to serve wrongdoing.
U.S. Senator John McCain said that "without courage we are corruptible." Without courage we may be admirers but not champions of virtue and character. There are times when we recognize something needs to be done, and yet we know that if we step up to right action, we will pay a heavy personal price. Courage is the virtue that makes us willing to pay that price; cowardice makes us say, "The price is too high; I will not pay it. It is too hard. I will seek the easier, less costly choice."
Remorse makes a dreadful companion. Anyone can learn to live with pain. Anyone can learn to live with fear, embarrassment, ridicule and separation. We can learn from failure. Yet nothing will divert your gaze into a mirror more quickly than shame. Remorse for inaction and regret for wrong action is more difficult to overcome; the cure for both is Courage. Courage leads to right action. Right action requires courage. It takes courage to admit a mistake, still more to make amends. No matter what the consequence of noble Courage, it is never worse than the discovery that you are less than you pretend to be.
"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." -- Helen Keller
Reflections to inspire personal growth in Authenticity (with your learning partner)
How would your life be different if you had more courage? What can you do daily to increase your courage? What is your personal code of ethics; what must you change to demonstrate them more fully? Find an accountability partner or hire a coach to help to help you develop your courage and take these actions:
What are some examples of Courage that I could demonstrate in my daily life at home and at work?
Courage is the form of every other virtue at the testing point. Courage requires a test of conviction. How would my life be different if, beginning today, I took the test daily?
What does the phrase mean, "Without courage we are corruptible?"
Think of a specific issue you face or a goal you want to achieve. What would be your cause and cost? What are the real or perceived risks? What might be keeping you from taking action?
Can you think of a time when you risked your own self-interest for something greater? What was it? How did you feel then? How has it shaped you?
The next opportunity I have to risk self-interest for something greater, will I recognize it? Will I be ready? How I you know?
Who do I "pretend" to be? What specific right actions will put me on the narrow path of integrity?
Is my remorse for non-action greater than my fear of consequence for action?

Inspiration Ethics - The Value of Authenticity

2007-06-13T00:42:00.000-07:00

Authentic -- Noun; undisputed credibility; the quality or condition of being authentic, trustworthy, or genuine; worthy of trust, reliance or belief.
Ever heard these phrases? They all refer to authenticity.
Walk the talk.
Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
Be real.
Act on the courage of your convictions.
What is authenticity? When we think, say, feel and act in complete alignment. In other words, there is no difference between our beliefs and what we say. Our habits of thought match our habits of action. There is no difference between how we feel and what we do, between what we want and who we are. It means we're whole, undivided, complete.
"...the first step toward becoming authentic is to be courageous. If we don't have courage, we cannot be real. And being real, in turn, requires us to be brave enough to reveal, own, and often share our truth, our fears, our emotions, and our vulnerabilities. This is how we become authentic." (Lance Secretan, "One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership," 2006, p. 81)
We often use the word "integrity" to describe the result of authenticity. The most common meaning of integrity is "steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code." But integrity also means "the state of being unimpaired; soundness," and "the quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness". (The American Heritage Dictionary) Authenticity leads us to our own ethical code; authenticity leads to integrity.
When you judge an object to be authentic, you determine it to be exactly what it claims to be. The same is true for people. For example, everyone has a relative who is "a little eccentric" yet very lovable. How is that? Chances are that wacky relative is so genuine you cannot help but appreciate him or her. What you see is what you get, and you love what you get from them (even if it's a little weird!).
We need to be authentic because we love how authentic people touch our hearts and inspire us. "Authentic leaders have an air of transparency about them. And followers want conscious leaders who are clear about what they stand for, what their values are, and who live these values consistently. (Secretan, op. cit. p. 85)
Reflections to inspire personal growth in Authenticity (with your learning partner)
How would your life be different if you were more authentic? What can you do daily to increase your trustworthiness and integrity? What is your personal code of ethics; what must you change to demonstrate them more fully? Find an accountability partner or hire a coach to help to help you develop your authenticity and take these actions:
Describe one of the most Authentic moments in your life, when you were at your personal, authentic best.
Describe a current situation in your life that, in your heart, you could apply the same level of Courage and Authenticity as you did in your example above.
Make plans to touch base with your learning partner in the next month about how you each are growing in Authenticity. Hold each other to be accountable.

Not my Brother's Keeper? You Should Be!

2007-06-13T00:41:00.002-07:00

Well, we finally did it to ourselves. Our profession refused to police itself, much less exercise prudent lending practices; now the government (state and soon federal) will do it for us … plus …
FBI Suspicious Activities Reports have tripled in the last couple of years, from 10,000 to 35,000. That is an indication that fraud is blooming in the business. One statistic from the FBI is that 80% of all known fraud cases involve somebody internal in the industry. Frequently people see the other guy, cutting corners and the like, all in the name of commissions commissions commission! I don't think it's strictly "I want to maintain these good times for my own income." There is a little element of "I'm making the American dream come true for somebody. I've got this person who has a perfect house and if I can just inch their income up by just $10K …" These aren't industry experts, they're loan officers (industry entry-level personnel), so they don't necessarily understand that the raging good times always have resulted in a significant downturn, as the cycle swings in reverse for a similar length of time.
It's also a large problem from the origination base to when they go into loan pools and are bought and sold on Wall St. as bonds, these bonds are underperforming as well, it's becoming a major problem in the past couple months. These loan pools are getting downgraded every day. Usually this was due to prepayments ('churning' by originators also hurt a great deal here). Now you have to look into the escalating Early Payment Defaults (EPDs) as well, because it was normally factored in as a fixed, half-percent, but now we're seeing a lot of times it's rising into a whopping 6% and 7% factor! When these bonds are bought and sold to investors that try to sell them for fixed-income and aren't getting results, their reputations are getting hammered in a big way.
The reason it took several years to finally explode, is that underwriting used to be what we call the three C's: Character (credit history), Capacity, and Collateral - somehow credit and capacity fell by the wayside for the most part and everybody seemed to start focusing on the Collateral part. If a lender had a decent AVM along with the added plus of warp-speed appreciation of 15%-25% per market, you could not do a bad loan.
As rates have finally stopped falling like a stone, and property values nationally are sinking back onto a more realistic plateau (from values soaring up and up year after year), everybody needs to re-assess their new role as career industry professionals (those who don’t see this as a career or as professionals need to exit the industry immediately for everybody's good) since they are not a positive force for those of you who love the biz – and I know there are many of you out there that feel that same way as I still do.
I myself learned this ‘brother’s keeper’ lesson early in my career; it has done me well ever since I was a 'twenty-something' newbie. Everyone needs to look-out for the other guy. When you see things being done that are inappropriate, it is your duty as a good industry citizen to speak up and help all of us out. Lately you have all seen where when one sector is injured, it goes around full circle and bites YOU and me on the butt … every time … so I guess you could say in addition to being Ethical, you are protecting yourself by doing your best to influence others to stand up and do the right thing

The Value of Integrity

2007-06-13T00:41:00.001-07:00

Integrity can be defined in so many ways, but most of the time I use a question to determine if integrity is in someone's character or in the character of a business. That question is, "Do you do what's right even if no one is looking or even if you know you could get away with something?" If you can consistently answer yes to these questions, then you have integrity. Likewise, if a business can answer yes to these questions, it has integrity.
There are so many opportunities for individuals and businesses alike to be tested in the area of integrity. One of the ways for individuals to be tested is in the area of taxes. Sometimes paying taxes, reporting the proper amounts, and indicating when mistakes are made cause problems for people and eventually lead to even bigger problems. My philosophy is simple. In the bible, the scripture says it is better to be righteous with little than to be unrighteous with much (paraphrased). If you can't be trusted in the area of taxes, there will almost always be other areas that you will do wrong in. Whether it's keeping something that's not yours like a pen, a movie, or a dress, or failing to give the whole truth in a situation, many times these are indicators.
In recent years, we have seen so many CEOs and high-profile people sentenced to prison time due to a lack of integrity. In the end, it's never worth it to mislead or misinform people and it never makes sense to do what's wrong. Trust me, it's a great feeling to be able to sleep at night with a clear conscience.

The Mirror of Integrity - Can You See Where You Stand?

2007-06-13T00:40:00.000-07:00

Some men ask what's in it for me, but the man of integrity often does it for free.
His fellow man and his spirit makes him bold, he does it for love not for only for the gold.
"Because it is the right thing to do" is his decree, he may be a peasant, a saint or man with a degree.
What goes around comes around most believe, yet he never considers it once still he will not deceive.
Strength and honor is important you see, but truth and wisdom trump all for me.
Justify what you might, justify what you will, do what ever you do to get up that hill.
I wish you all and I wish you the best, in the end a man is either one with his words or he is not the best.
Rationalities are fine, not one to complain, but when you falter, don't look to me to blame.
Scoundrels in the midst and Machiavellians unite, I stand tall on my own, no need to fight.
Stealing is stealing no matter what it's called, if you take someone else's toupee you are still bald.
Men make choices and you are free to choose, just do not act stupid when it comes crashing down and you lose.
There is a right way and a wrong way to do most anything, are you ready for judgment when the bell shall ring.
Rhetoric aside and Hypocrites unite, in the end the one with his integrity is right.

5 Reasons to Always Tell The Truth In Your Business

2007-05-29T05:21:00.003-07:00

1. As my mom would always say, "Telling one lie just leads to another and another and another."
Why waste time in an endless loop of lies? I've seen this many times as an employee and as an employer. When a person tells a lie or a partial truth (same thing), it usually leads to more of the same. After a while, they can't even remember what lies they told.
2. All it takes is one lie to lose a client's trust
Good clients are hard to find sometimes. Lying is one of the surest ways to lose them. I've gained most of my clients because someone else wasn't honest in their dealings and couldn't be trusted.
3. You can sleep peacefully at night
It's so refreshing to know that you haven't lead anyone astray (including the IRS), and there is no one coming after you because of something you mislead them on. Even if you have consequences or losses due to telling the truth, peace of mind far outweighs any of that.
4. If you lie in business, you'll probably lie in other areas
Once you make something a habit or an acceptable practice, it inevitably spills over into other areas of your life. When you lie about completing work for clients, you probably have no problem telling your spouse that you took care of something that you didn't. Or, if you withhold taxes in your business, you'll probably do the same in your personal income taxes.
5. It's a commandment
This is, by far, the most important reason for me. Even if I was able to get away with telling an untruth without anyone finding out, I know that God is watching me and what He says about the situation is much more important than the opinions of man.

Values in Globalization - Nu Leadership Series

2007-05-29T05:21:00.001-07:00

“ Every failure is a blessing in disguise, providing it teaches some needed lesson one could not have learned without it. Most so-called Failures are only temporary defeats.”
Napoleon Hill
With fierce global competition, organizations need to change. Global values (GV) may be the key term for the millennium. Building on similar values will be crucial for multi-national organizations. Let’s explore this thought closer. Twenty-first century organizations can no longer create values independent of others without any market input. Why should today’s leaders be concerned with organizational values? Conflicts in values between leaders and followers can have a dramatic impact on the bottom-line of an organization. Hamel, author of ,i>Leading the Revolution, maintains that these turbulent times are forcing organizations to adapt.
Creating shared valued with the customer is a remarkable concept in today’s competitive climate. Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004) argue that an individual-centered co-creation of value between the customer and company is being generated. Clearly, a check and balance system is needed because powerful people don’t always do what is right. Thieme explains, “The future is a social construction of reality.…Those possibilities will be defined by our horizons and our horizons are in turn defined by the breadth of our understanding of complex societal changes.” While fewer organizations are embracing co-creation of values in hypercompetitive environments, can any organization afford to be left behind?

Importance of Employee Privacy

2007-05-29T05:20:00.001-07:00

The major reason of employee privacy becoming a divisive question in Human Resource Management in digital era of the 21st century is largely because of simplicity and convenience of various monitoring methods tracking email, telephone, voice mail communication of employees. Presently there are more than 25 million of employees that are being monitored at work and accomplishments of 10 million of workers are evaluated not in favor of the data collected. As computer software systems and electronic monitoring become more accessible, the last number is predicted to multiply.
There are numerous methods of watching in place. Software programs and computer monitoring are used to make sure that employee performs accurately. Another method used by employers is a video surveillance. At the same time as some cameras are placed visibly, others might be settled secretly. Employers hire groups of investigators who pretend to be employee’s friends. A special personnel that have information about employee private lives can as well be hired to trace their work performance. Phone tapping and eavesdropping are the two most used methods of monitoring. In this case, destination, the number, and regularity of phone calls is noted. Since email is improved with such alternative as “Receipt Request” and “Priority Category”, it makes it easier for an employer to follow rate and time when a particular answer was sent in addition to read the message itself. Lastly, active badges are frequently used to monitor employee transfer in the building with his/her exceptional ID on the badge. Probably active badges can be called one of the most divisive monitoring systems, because they directly intrude in employee privacy.
Unquestionably, monitoring systems have reimbursement for both employers and employees, since employers receive a chance to trace performance and make timely remedial actions, while employees can have an objective evaluation of their performance. On the other hand, oftentimes the expenses significantly prevail over the benefits. Performance monitoring in the place of work disturbs rights for privacy of employee, because there is always a possible abuse, the principles of monitoring are repeatedly difficult to deal with, as importance is placed on quantitative performance measurements and speed, monitoring erodes the significance of employee dignity and directs to extra pressure and stress creating a aggressive working surrounding, which is not acceptable whichever ethically or legally.

The Legality of Monitoring Systems

2007-05-29T05:19:00.002-07:00

It is not possible to avoid collection of information which is not completely related to worker work performance and potentially can be abused, because monitoring systems were introduced. To be more definite, computer data banks, active badges, and telephone/video monitoring systems collect information related to employee’s safety clearance, computer application preferences, right and left handedness, and even informal behavior. It is not a secret that such information is collected but the way in which information is used remains a mystery. It is very complicated, if not impossible to check the ways in which confidential worker information is used.
To begin with, it can be resold to exterior organization. Profiles with private employee information have a specific value to companies focused in marketing investigations as well as companies that put up for sale their crop through direct marketing. Secondly, this information may be used to show prejudice against employees in the prospect within this company. Managers can simply identify workers who organize unions, whistleblowers, or other employee groups and discriminate either by way of benefits and payment or directly imposing pressure on workers and causing their retirement. There is a definite need to set up norms for collection, reporting, and evaluation of the information that is received from monitoring.
Monitoring systems and policies that are used by managers to watch the labor performance are amount instead of value based, which causes further stress on personnel and leads to incompetent evaluation of work performance which is lowering overall output. Stressful working conditions include lack of job involvement and individual control, fear of job loss, heavy work load and social isolation. As indicated by the analysis, comparing with staff that is not observed monitored workers ordinarily report intense work load and greater work displeasure.
It has to be further checked, whether the principles are reasonable. Many workers are checked in such a way, that just the rate of their performance is traced, which is a sign of poor symbol of real employee’s capability. While this approach can be successful for work that does not deal with extensive superiority guidelines, the situation is diverse for work that is excellence oriented. Since payment and employee profits are determined founded on the information received in the examination, measurement of overall employee effort can simply be erroneous, when they are based only on quantity. This difficulty is especially appropriate for service industry.

Violation of Employee Privacy

2007-05-29T05:19:00.001-07:00

In spite of the fact that workers monitoring systems do not directly contravene the law, they add to creating a unreceptive work environment, that is offensive both from ethical and legal standpoints. There is Privacy Act that includes primary law related to members of staff privacy rights. This law forbids third parties to receive disclosing or accessing information personal exchange of ideas, to any outer parties without previous consent from the recipient or author. The two major exceptions to the law are that employer has the privilege to monitor workers’ conversation under the circumstances if they take place during the everyday business hours and adding the indirect permission on the side of employees. By themselves, issues do arise in situations when a worker has not been informed beforehand about possible footage.
This law gives virtually unrestricted rights to employers; though, with the increasing number of legal events against employers’ disobedience of employee privacy rights, the necessity for a change has been approved. To be more exact, legislation proposes to limit employers in electronic monitoring staff and applies to analysis, reporting, storage and collection of information connected with employees either partially or as whole by wire, radio, photo-optical, photo-electronic, or electromagnetic system. Under this statement, employers have to use notification techniques to inform their employees about the forthcoming monitoring, detail which private data would be collected and in which way it will be used. Employer also don’t a right to monitor rest room, dressing room, and locker room facilities. Employers would be charged for each abuse for $10.000 as a minimum.
Even though the Act about privacy has not been accepted yet, the requirement for legal adjustments that protect workers’ privacy privileges has been acknowledged. Going even further, the growing number of officially permitted actions initiated by staff seeking defense from state judges also proves that there is a noticeable need to keep a tight rein on employer monitoring.

Way to Avoid Problems of Employee Monitoring

2007-05-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact, that employee monitoring is far and wide practiced nowadays, the matter raises moral dilemmas. Employee monitoring interrupts basic confidentiality rights at the same time as proponents disagree that employee monitoring is an complete violation of privacy rights. There is always an opportunity of mistreatment including work discernment and possibility of selling to interested third parties individual profiles with members of staff monitoring systems in position. Employee monitoring reports are quantitative footed, which means the fact that they are not being unprejudiced when it comes to effort performance assessment.
Even supposing that opponents disagree that companies can be held in officially legally responsible way if their workers create circumstances for hostile work settings by using telecommunication systems for own need, the question can be determined simply by introducing independent personal usage guiding principles. That’s why it is highly important for both employers and employees to know, understand and use in proper ways their rights and also remember about their responsibilities. It is the only way the optimal settings for work can be created in any company.
Employee monitoring wears down the significance of employee self-respect leading to supplementary pressure and stress and creating an unwelcoming working environment, that is unacceptable both ethically and legally. The tendency is also encouraged by the ongoing officially authorized acts, as new laws that limit supervising options for a manager are introduced. Employee privacy privileges are desecrated; unless remedial legal measures are taken which limit relevance of monitoring structures by employers, given fast rate of technological modernization, the cost in the closest future can be dramatic.