Values and Ethics

There is a big correlation with professional values and ethics in regards to career success. Values can be defined as those beliefs that are imperative to your lifestyle. They are the conditions, which we use to determine what is morally correct. They provide the foundation for our behavior. Ethics are the results and reactions to our value system. Values determine what is right or wrong while ethics is the actions of doing what u believe is right or wrong. Values provide direction on your actions personally and professionally. Typical values are honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, etc. They can be derived from your religious background, childhood or life’s lessons most people get their values from a higher power or a religious source. For example, Christians get their value system from the Bible and the Ten Commandments. They believe to treat everyone like you would want to be treated. You’re your brother as God and Jesus would love you. This cannot always be a positive thing. In a certain Muslim culture, they believe in dying for Allah, which is their higher power. Therefore, they may believe it is ethically correct to strap a bomb and kill several people. Ethics are based on your decisions, thoughts and actions. They act out your value system. Ethics is concerned with how a moral person should behave instead of to what is corrective. You may develop your ethics from a life experience. If you have been cheated on, or lied to you have experience phenomenal amount of pain. Therefore, honesty may be more important to you than other people. You may not want people to experience the pain that you have.

Your parents or whoever raises you have a significant reflection on your values and ethics. Growing up your are forced to believe what they believe in. If your family preached about compassion for others and integrity, that is what you will practice. Most people who don’t have a strong family foundation are forced to raise themselves.