“Are you an ethical person?” Regardless of your answer, a follow-up probe might be: “How do you know?” Your personal values reflect your beliefs, what you care about. These values, if they really matter to you, are activated by and through your everyday decisions. How do you ensure that your values, those that reflect your best ethical self, are actually demonstrated in the choices you make on a daily basis? Sometimes what we say we value does not match our actual behavior. Being ethical requires the ability to discern and navigate competing values, continually striving to attain both personal and organizational goals with moral strength. This necessitates the development of skills that support personal governance and your moral competency. To be ethical, building moral strength needs to become a focus of your daily life, which calls for making a deliberate effort to apply the values you say you hold. In reading this book you will see how awareness of your thoughts and emotions—along with specific moral competencies—can influence your desire to do the right thing and bolster your ability to exercise moral strength at work. Drawing insight from the latest research in management, business ethics, organizational behavior, and psychology, each chapter is intended to help adult learners examine, leverage, and continue to develop their best ethical selves in organizational life.
