What can Rotarians do to improve ethics where they work?
TH: The easiest way is to align the workplace with the organization’s stated identity, or its mission statement. What does it believe in? When you can have consistency with how an organization behaves and how it aligns itself, then you’re probably going to have an ethical organization. Of course, that is going to depend on whether the identity is ethical to begin with. For instance, an organization that deals in child slave labor is inherently unethical. Its actions are consistent with its mission, but at the core it’s rotten. It’s that old adage of walking the talk. Think about it in metaphor: When a car is out of alignment, it just shakes, and you can see and feel that the car is out of alignment. And that can happen with an organization. HWB: Act ethically. Let subordinates know that you expect ethical behavior from them. Take opportunities to promote a formal system for promoting ethics and policing ethical lapses. And it wouldn’t hurt to display The Four-Way Test in your office.
