I was born and raised in the United States Midwest, where Monday through Thursday attending school, completing chores, and terrorizing my older siblings was routine but Friday nights rooting for my high school football team was mandatory. In Oklahoma, particularly in the northeast corner dubbed ‘The Bible Belt’, I was raised with behavioral standards that piggy backed off of the Southern Baptist beliefs as well as normative beliefs of the day. Since people are different with different cultures, communities, and systems of beliefs (). Even attending college out of state in Kentucky the beliefs and behaviors were similar and did not challenge my core ethics. However, when I moved to Los Angeles, CA in 2008 my beliefs and my core code of conduct were challenged on a daily basis and strengthened them.
Core Ethical Framework
Typically when discussing ethics the usual list appears: honesty, integrity, reliability, loyalty, respect, responsibility, fairness, and citizenship. These …show more content…
are important. For myself the list is shorter but entails all the traits.
Loyalty.
In my family and community protecting their interest and needs was essential to maintaining personal and professional relationships. Developing a friendship required more the geographical nearness or shared interest (e.g. sports, entertainment, religion, politics, etc.) enough those components are significant to learning more about a person and having something to talk about. Disagreements or agreements, a person must know what their potential friend values. For example, two people can have differing opinions on every subject, but if they believe that loyalty is the key to a relationship then all these non-denominators are not a factor. They will develop a shared interest (e.g. safety, health, well being, occupation, etc.). However, two people who agree on every subject, but one believes loyalty is key and the other things it is when it is necessary, then relationship will remain in the acquaintance stage rather than developing into
friendship.
In addition to a personal relationship, business relationships require loyalty. I was raised to not affiliate with an organization or company nor support a group if I did not want to protect or promote their interest. Hence my interest with the Millennial generation, who demonstrate the need to connect with company’s who possess a mission that is responsible for improving the community rather than just being profit driven, but will terminate their association if their performance is not adequately evaluated on a regular basis. Even if someone needs temporary employment I believe seeking establishments that are a source of pride; a placement a person would promote. If someone were interviewing for a position as a leader I would first want to assess their loyalty.
Fairness. I have more than one community. I am female. I am African-American. I am an American. I am a Catholic. I am an educator. There are just a few things that describe me and the communities I belong to and the history these communities vary, intertwine and disconnect. Growing up a Midwestern black girl I have experienced unfairness throughout my life being apart of these communities. Being open and unbiased when gathering information in order to make a decision is a vital component to being a fair person (). Personal or professional, being able to set aside preconceptions or prejudices allows for effective communication, active listening, and set a course to problem solving.
Reliability. Aside from loyalty and fairness I was brought up to follow through on all my commitments. Using good judgment and time management I commit to projects, events, tasks, and other activities I know I can follow through and complete. In a work situation, if I am asked to complete a task that I feel I cannot complete I would communicate my intention to follow through and request assistance or other accommodations. A person who follows through and communicates any reason they may not and request assistance demonstrates reliability. A person cannot maintain personal relationships or business relationships/associations if they cannot fulfill their obligations.
All of the other traits of ethical code of conduct are significant and practiced. Loyalty, fairness, and reliability are the three most important codes. Living in southern California the culture is one about enjoying the weather, the people, the food, the beach, and the life, which is great. However, the code of conduct of being reliable and loyal are not consistently taught or practiced, which empowered me to continue to practice and model the behavior for personal associations and professional ones.
Six Major Values
Gordon Allport’s six major value types are: theoretical, economic, aesthetic, social, political, and religious. These traits are a blend of humanistic and personality approach to human behavior. Allport summarized that individuals identify themselves to make sense of their existence.
Theoretical. A person who uses theoretical values is concerned with truth or uncovering the truth. They search for fundamental differences and similarities using a cognitive mainframe and objectivity. For example, the topic of beauty is subjective and a theoretical person would not consider researching such a topic.
Economic. A person with an economic based value system focuses on what is useful. Economic type person is practical and interested in making money. This person places value on world production of goods, marketing, consumer goods and its consumption, and accumulating tangible wealth. This person resembles the stereotype of an American businessperson ().
Aesthetic. An aesthetic person has an emphasis on creating harmony (). This person perceives life as a procession of events. Each event is an individual impression that is appreciated. The aesthetic person likes symmetry and achieves this through experiences in artistic ways.
Social. A social type of person has a love of people. Social people are kind, sympathetic, unselfish, and prize other people. Social type people find theoretical, economic, and aesthetic people as cold and inhuman (). Allport said in the purest form the social person is selfless and mirrors some of the religious value type.
Political. A political individual’s interest is power. It is one of their dominant features. It does not necessarily mean a person who wants to enter into politics as a public servant. This person likes having power and that can be achieved in positions of leadership particular in a competitive realm. It is believed that power is a universal motive amongst human beings. The political person is someone who values personal power, influence and acknowledgement.
Religious. Religious individuals want to understand and experience the world as a unit (). This individual seeks to experience the highest experience in creation. It can be through affirmation and active participation or via transcendental mystical practice by uniting themselves with a higher reality by withdrawing from life. No matter the particular type of expression, the religious individual is seeking unity ().
After reviewing the six value types the aesthetic trait best describes my core ethical code of conduct. From being raised in the country to living in one of the biggest and most expensive cities in the country I do cherish every moment or event. I prefer symmetry and I believe life is filled with moments.
Adaptive Capacity
Examining Allport’s six major value types I took note of which traits I have most and which ones I do not. My core code of ethics encompasses loyalty, fairness, and reliability, which fall closer towards the aesthetic trait. Noticeably political is my least compatible trait mainly because I comfortable being lead. Even though I have held leadership positions and with success I enjoy being a part of a team with each person having a responsibility with a leader. I am currently in a leadership position and treat each subordinate like a colleague rather than a subordinate. I know what it feels like to experience the abuse of power and how I felt towards that person. I am rule-governed, but if someone else is not I do not want to force them to conform. In the professional realm if they do not comply with rules and regulations and policy someone else is responsible of delivering the corrective response.
In order to exceed my employment standards I need to expand my role as a leaders and establish myself as an authority with my staff. I have excellent rapport with my staff and have had no insubordinate behavior. I contribute that to modeling professionalism, loyalty, reliability and fairness, which allows employees to trust my direction without challenging my style of leadership. When considering adaptive capacity, the ability to respond to variability and change, I would need to view power as a positive mechanism. I could accept my positions of power and model the appropriate usage of it.