Sometimes in our personal and professional worlds… the time and place to address a sometimes ignored… sometimes avoided critical topic just seems to appropriately “show-up”. Well given my public and private business dealings and my career-long mission to help people, selecting this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message: Business Ethics…What’s YOUR Responsibility just seems righteous.

In his book “Second To None-The Productive Power of Putting People First”, Charles Garfield explains well the concept of ethics.

“Ethics-a company’s moral code-is one of those “soft” concepts that are generally relegated to Corporate Affairs of the company legal department.  More often than not, it is viewed as peripheral to the company, as an issue that will be dealt with only when a flagrant abuse of ethics arises (or, sadly, often only when such an abuse becomes public knowledge).  But ethics, far from being peripheral to the company, is its very foundation.  Ethics is the set of written and unwritten moral principles which a company operates at a core level.  A company’s ethics determines how it treats employees, customers, and suppliers; how it develops products and processes; and how it participates in the larger community. More generally, “ethical behavior” means doing what is right, what brings the greatest benefit or the least harm to all of those involved.”

So now think, as a company… organization… community and professional… does ethics rise up as a regular priority and concern?  Or is it non-existent and even discouraged?

I believe daily example-setting is the principle means of committing to the importance of ethical practices and policies in your areas of influence.  If you wait for it to be discussed… trained on… or highlighted in this month’s agency newsletter… stop waiting and think about what YOU can do!  Think about your personal/company values… what do you stand for… what is your organizational character… what everyone you are connected to believes in and ultimately what makes your business/agency successful.

It is important to realize that all of us face and make ethical choices everyday.  Ignoring or minimalizing the impact of ethical behavior/operation… kind of says to those who are friends, co-workers or business partners… that if it’s not affecting me then it’s OK?

We are at a moment in time that Business Ethics…What’s YOUR Responsibility… is a question we all need to answer.