In his latest blog post, Josephson asks whether it is really true that ethics are good business.Interestingly, he comes to the conclusion, "Sometimes they are and sometimes they're not. " Sometimes people with bad ethics go bankrupt, but sometimes people with good ethics do, too. Josephson said although it is no guarantee of success, we should do the right thing just because it is the right thing, not because it is in our self-interest.
I quote Michael Josephson often simply because he is one of the few people willing to openly discuss ethics. In the Introduction to Ethics on Indian Reservations course, Dr. Erich Longie asks "Are ethics a taboo subject on Indian reservations?"
To answer his question, I think it is not just reservations. People don't discuss ethics often anywhere in American society. Like religion, it tends to make people uncomfortable. Some people feel challenged, defensive, threatened.
Generosity is an ethical value that is really off-limits in a business setting. Oh sure, it's okay to brag about contributions you gave in a press release that gives you lots of good publicity. However, generosity with employees that is not just cowardice in disguise is rare everywhere, and, like Josephson said, it is not always good business, sad to say.
Two examples:
Sam is a manager whose generosity is really cowardice in disguise. Joe has worked for the tribe for 12 years, several years longer than Sam. He misses work at least once a week with excuses like, "I overstrained my wrist writing email to my family. Need to stay home and rest." or "I need to work at home because my cat is sick."
Sam knows damn well that Joe's wrist is fine and he doesn't even own a cat! Besides, who can't work because they have a sore wrist? However, Sam doesn't say anything because he knows that Joe will yell at him, complain to tribal personnel that his boss does not allow him to take sick leave and just generally cause him problems.
Susie, who works for Sam also, never takes sick leave unless she is sick, who asks to work at home one day a week just because she would rather work from home than drive through the snow every day, and Sam makes sure she has all of the paperwork filled out to approve this arrangement, reminds her if she forgets to record sick leave on her time card.
From Sam's point of view, he is a generous person, he never gives his employees a hard time about sick leave or other work arrangements. For some reason, though, Susie quits, Joe stays and his department is doing very, very poorly.
I've worked for Erich Longie for nearly 20 years. One reason that I continue to do so is not his brilliance and charm (no matter what he might tell other people!) but because he is very generous. I don't just mean in a financial sense. I do get paid well, but I could get paid as much or more somewhere else. He is generous in his treatment. If I say, "I need to take two weeks off," I don't have to go into a long explanation of that I am going to Palm Springs, my daughter's wedding or into surgery. He is generous with his respect. He treats me like I am an ethical professional adult and if I say I need two weeks off then that must be the case.
Sometimes, I have been working on solving a problem or analyzing data. For example, right now I am working on finding the best means to add an RSS feed to our home page (that's okay, you don't have to pretend you are interested). I may work 10 or 20 hours on a project and have nothing to show for it right away. Of course, in the end, there is a result. Erich is one of the few people I have worked for he does not demand to know what I was doing during that time. (Incidentally, all of the people like that, I have worked for a long time.)
When I call him to discuss an idea, he always listens. He has never once dismissed anything out of hand with, "No, I am the boss."
Incidentally, this is something I have noticed FAR more often on the reservations. When I first started working in North Dakota, it drove me up a wall. Couldn't we just vote and move on, for heaven's sake?
Years ago, I remember Gaylene Belgarde, Director of Special Education at the Turtle Mountain Tribe, at the time, explaining to me, in a soft, pollite voice,
"We listen to everyone because everyone is a member of the tribe."
All of this is good for me and encourages me to work with people. Is it good business? In my case, yes, I think. However, there are others who will take advantage of that same situation. They will be the Joes who call in when their non-existent cat is sick. If you don't have courage to stand up to Joe, generosity can actually be a bad thing for your business.
In the short-term, treating those people with generosity will be bad business for anyone, no matter who you are. You give them the benefit of the doubt, and then they take advantage of you. However, in the long-run, your generosity MAY result in you keeping more good people. So, what do you do?
I think Josephson had the answer. You treat everyone with generosity because it is the right thing to do.
I quote Michael Josephson often simply because he is one of the few people willing to openly discuss ethics. In the Introduction to Ethics on Indian Reservations course, Dr. Erich Longie asks "Are ethics a taboo subject on Indian reservations?"
To answer his question, I think it is not just reservations. People don't discuss ethics often anywhere in American society. Like religion, it tends to make people uncomfortable. Some people feel challenged, defensive, threatened.
Generosity is an ethical value that is really off-limits in a business setting. Oh sure, it's okay to brag about contributions you gave in a press release that gives you lots of good publicity. However, generosity with employees that is not just cowardice in disguise is rare everywhere, and, like Josephson said, it is not always good business, sad to say.
Two examples:
Sam is a manager whose generosity is really cowardice in disguise. Joe has worked for the tribe for 12 years, several years longer than Sam. He misses work at least once a week with excuses like, "I overstrained my wrist writing email to my family. Need to stay home and rest." or "I need to work at home because my cat is sick."
Sam knows damn well that Joe's wrist is fine and he doesn't even own a cat! Besides, who can't work because they have a sore wrist? However, Sam doesn't say anything because he knows that Joe will yell at him, complain to tribal personnel that his boss does not allow him to take sick leave and just generally cause him problems.
Susie, who works for Sam also, never takes sick leave unless she is sick, who asks to work at home one day a week just because she would rather work from home than drive through the snow every day, and Sam makes sure she has all of the paperwork filled out to approve this arrangement, reminds her if she forgets to record sick leave on her time card.
From Sam's point of view, he is a generous person, he never gives his employees a hard time about sick leave or other work arrangements. For some reason, though, Susie quits, Joe stays and his department is doing very, very poorly.
I've worked for Erich Longie for nearly 20 years. One reason that I continue to do so is not his brilliance and charm (no matter what he might tell other people!) but because he is very generous. I don't just mean in a financial sense. I do get paid well, but I could get paid as much or more somewhere else. He is generous in his treatment. If I say, "I need to take two weeks off," I don't have to go into a long explanation of that I am going to Palm Springs, my daughter's wedding or into surgery. He is generous with his respect. He treats me like I am an ethical professional adult and if I say I need two weeks off then that must be the case.
Sometimes, I have been working on solving a problem or analyzing data. For example, right now I am working on finding the best means to add an RSS feed to our home page (that's okay, you don't have to pretend you are interested). I may work 10 or 20 hours on a project and have nothing to show for it right away. Of course, in the end, there is a result. Erich is one of the few people I have worked for he does not demand to know what I was doing during that time. (Incidentally, all of the people like that, I have worked for a long time.)
When I call him to discuss an idea, he always listens. He has never once dismissed anything out of hand with, "No, I am the boss."
Incidentally, this is something I have noticed FAR more often on the reservations. When I first started working in North Dakota, it drove me up a wall. Couldn't we just vote and move on, for heaven's sake?
Years ago, I remember Gaylene Belgarde, Director of Special Education at the Turtle Mountain Tribe, at the time, explaining to me, in a soft, pollite voice,
"We listen to everyone because everyone is a member of the tribe."
All of this is good for me and encourages me to work with people. Is it good business? In my case, yes, I think. However, there are others who will take advantage of that same situation. They will be the Joes who call in when their non-existent cat is sick. If you don't have courage to stand up to Joe, generosity can actually be a bad thing for your business.
In the short-term, treating those people with generosity will be bad business for anyone, no matter who you are. You give them the benefit of the doubt, and then they take advantage of you. However, in the long-run, your generosity MAY result in you keeping more good people. So, what do you do?
I think Josephson had the answer. You treat everyone with generosity because it is the right thing to do.
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