[nfbmi-talk] 5 P's of Ethics

Sun Mar 10 18:00:01 UTC 2013

Hello,

When we point a finger at another, we have 4 pointing at ourselves, so goes
the saying from elementary school.  I ran across the following essay this
morning and thought it goes well with our conversation about the roots of
Federationism.

A few years ago, I had the priviledge of having a deep conversation about
ethics within the Federation with Dr. Maurer.  This conversation had to do
with treasury issues, a prime topic for ethical discussions.  Dr. Maurer
told me some stories about how and why we protect our integrity as an
organization, especially in the area of finances.  After all is said and
done, all we have is our reputation.  Without that we can accomplish little.
Dr. Maurer and our National Board dedicate a lot of our organizational time
and energy to keeping us at a high ethical standard.

As an advocacy organization, part of our mission is to hold others to some
kind of ethical standard.  Here is a short essay about 5 ethical points
which we could consider for ourselves and if we work hard to live up to them
we can then expect others to do the same.

Got Ethics? The Five P's of Ethical Power

Posted on

March 3, 2013

by

Randy Conley

Got Ethics

There is but one place where people without any problems reside-the
cemetery. The

only people without problems are dead, otherwise, for people like me and
you.we've

got problems! The question is, do we have ethics? Do we have the moral
principles

or values in place to guide our decisions when faced with ethical dilemmas
or difficult

situations?

One of my favorite books is

The Power of Ethical Management

, written by Ken Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale. In their book,
Blanchard and

Peale discuss the five principles of ethical decision-making which they call
the

"Five P's of Ethical Power." I find myself returning to these principles
time and

again when faced with challenging decisions. Hopefully they can be as
helpful to

you as they have been for me.

Purpose-Your purpose is the road youchoose

to travel, the meaning and direction of your life. It's the driving force of
why

you do what you do. For some it may be rooted in their spiritual faith.
Others may

find their purpose is something they feel

called

to do, such as serving those in need, raising responsible children, or
leaving the

world a better place than they found it. Aligning the activities of your
life according

to your purpose gives you a clear sense of direction, so when you're faced
with challenging

circumstances or difficult decisions, you're able to filter those occasions
through

the lens of your purpose and make choices that keep you on track.

Pride-

Unlike false pride, which stems from a distorted sense of self-importance
that causes

people to believe and act like they are better than others, a healthy sense
of pride

springs from a positive self-image and confidence in one's abilities. A
proper sense

of pride mixed with a good dose of humility is the balance you're seeking.
Being

driven by false pride causes you to seek the approval and acceptance of
others which

can overly influence you to take the easy way out when faced with a tough
situation.

Patience-

Patience is in short supply in our culture. We live in a hyper-connected,
instantaneous

world where virtually anything we want is just a click away. Blanchard and
Peale

describe patience as having a faith and belief that things will work out
well, as

long as we stick to our values and principles. Giving in to instant
gratification

is one of the biggest temptations we face and it causes us to make decisions
that

aren't in alignment with our purpose and values. Enduring the struggles and
challenges

life throws our way helps develop the strength of our character. Much like
prematurely

opening a caterpillar cocoon leads to a weakened and under-developed
butterfly, choosing

the path of expediency leaves us with an under-developed character and
weakens our

ethical power.

Persistence-

This component of ethical power is about staying the course, staying true to
your

purpose and values. Persistence is about commitment, not interest. When you
have

interest in something you do it when it's convenient. When you're committed,
you

do it no matter what! One of my favorite "Yoda-isms" from the Star Wars
movies is

"Do or do not. There is no try."

When it comes to making ethical decisions, there is never a right time to do
the

wrong thing. Persistence keeps us on the straight and narrow path.

Perspective-

All the other elements of ethical power emanate from the core of
perspective. Perspective

is about having the big picture view of situations and understanding what's
truly

important. Too often we make snap decisions in the heat of the moment and
neglect

to step back and examine the situation from a bigger perspective.
Maintaining the

proper perspective is also about paying attention to our inner-self and not
just

our task-oriented outer-self. Taking the time to enter each day with prayer,
meditation,

exercise, or solitude helps foster self-reflection which is needed to help
us maintain

the right perspective about life.

Many people believe there is a huge gray area between right and wrong and
they use

that as rationale to operate by situational ethics. What's right in this
situation

may be wrong in the next. I don't agree. I believe in most cases we can
distinguish

between right and wrong if we take the time to examine the situation and
rely upon

our ethical power.

So I ask you: Got ethics?

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