Keeping it Simple (KISBYTO): Doing the right thing

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

National Ethics Awareness Month - 2013

By Terry Orr

What does ethics mean to you?

For me, it has nearly always been doing the right thing. Like most of us we do our best - but sometimes we miss the mark. While researching this topic, looking for a different perspective and perhaps finding better insight and understanding of ethics.

Santa Clara University, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (see link below) article - “What is Ethics?” open my eyes and broaden my personal understanding. The following excerpt provides a summary of this article.

Ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons.
Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. So it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded. Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based.

The other topic to broaden our understanding is the different types of Ethics, such as:

Bioethics;
Business;
Government;
Internet;
Environmental;
Global;
Immigration;
Legal;
Media;
Religious;
Technology; and
Others.

What are your thoughts on Ethics?

References and Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics (interesting discussion Descriptive ethics)

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html

http://www.ethics.org

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Getting Actively Involved in National Mentoring Month – and Beyond

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By Terry Orr

I grew up where mentoring and helping others was a daily occurrence throughout my naval and consultant careers. It is the right thing to do! It is helping others to help themselves and others. Paying it forward!

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There are many organizations, companies, communities and individuals actively participating and making a difference each and every hour of the day.

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“…the gap between the number of mentors and the number of young people who need a mentor continues to grow. Today, 15 million young people need a caring adult mentor in their lives.” (National Mentoring Month 2013 Press Release)

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After reviewing several sites in research for this article, I believe these ten tips are sound and solid best practices, in any environment.

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Top 10 tips to help you be the best mentor (from Management Mentors):

1. Listen more often than you speak.

2. Approach challenges with a positive attitude when strategizing with your mentee in finding solutions.

3. Be consistent in terms of having contact with your mentoree

4. Tell the truth. Having an honest exchange about an issue will help build trust in the relationship.

5. Be objective as much as possible. Your mentoree's perspective in only one viewpoint; so present other views when possible.

6. Affirm your mentoree when they accomplish something or arrive at a new perspective.

7. Ask permission when needing to share feedback that may be difficult for the mentoree to hear. This is a gentle way of preparing the mentoree. If the mentoree opts not to have you share the feedback that is their choice.

8. Engage the whole person. It's not just about how a mentoree thinks, but also how they feel.

9. Let them grow and let them go. Be ready to let the person move away from you when the time comes. It's a sign of independence as a result of the work you've done with them.

10. Enjoy the relationship and you will gain as much as you give.