Are you tired of feeling powerless when faced with ethical dilemmas in your organisation, be it work or school? Do you long to speak up and take action but fear the consequences of going against the norm? Mary C. Gentile’s book, “Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right,” offers a progressive approach to tackling these challenges. With the seven pillars of action as your guide, you can learn to align your actions with your values and become a powerful force for positive change. Don’t let fear hold you back any longer – it’s time to give voice to your values and transform your workplace for the better.
- Distinguish among ethics, morals, and values: Understanding the distinctions between ethics, morals, and values is crucial. Ethics refers to the principles that govern the conduct of individuals and organisations. At the same time, morals are personal beliefs about what is right or wrong. Values, on the other hand, are the core principles that guide our behaviour and decision-making. Let’s look at some examples to help differentiate between ethics, morals, and values:
- Ethics: Imagine you work in a company that manufactures food products. Your company has a policy of checking all products for quality before they are shipped to customers. As an employee, it is your ethical responsibility to follow this policy to ensure that safe and healthy products reach the customers.
- Morals: Let’s say you are a vegetarian because you believe that killing animals for food is morally wrong. This belief is a personal moral judgment that you have made based on your values and principles.
- Values: Say you are a student who might have values such as academic excellence, social justice, or community service that guide their behaviour and decision-making. For example, a student who values academic excellence might work hard to get good grades. In contrast, a student who values social justice might participate in a school club that advocates for equality and fairness.
- Use “enablers” to support value-based actions: Leveraging support from friends, colleagues, or mentors can provide the encouragement and reinforcement needed to uphold one’s values in challenging situations. These enablers can offer guidance, perspective, and moral support when navigating ethical dilemmas.
- Approach values-based dilemmas calmly: Viewing ethical challenges as a normal part of business helps individuals approach them with composure and clarity. By recognising these dilemmas as opportunities to uphold one’s values, individuals can navigate them more effectively and make moral decisions.
- Align with your organisation’s purpose by clarifying your purpose: To act in alignment with your organisation’s mission and values, it is essential to have a clear understanding of your purpose and values. By aligning personal values with those of the organisation, individuals can contribute meaningfully to the overarching goals and objectives.
- Know your style, strengths, limits, and preferences to prepare to speak up on values issues: Self-awareness is key to effectively addressing values-based issues. Understanding your communication style, strengths, limitations, and preferences enables you to articulate your values confidently and constructively. This self-awareness serves as a foundation for advocating for what you believe in.
- Prepare a script to articulate your values effectively: Crafting a script allows individuals to articulate their thoughts clearly and assertively when addressing values-related concerns. By preparing in advance, individuals can ensure that their message is conveyed authentically and persuasively.
- Deal with people’s rationalisations: Anticipating and addressing justifications or explanations from others is essential when advocating for values-driven actions. By recognising common justifications for unethical behaviour and preparing responses, individuals can effectively challenge these rationalisations and uphold their values with conviction.
Giving voice to your values is important because it can help you in making decisions that are consistent with your principles and beliefs. It can also help you build trust and credibility with your colleagues, supervisors, and clients at work and with educators, classmates, and friends at school. Moreover, it can help you create a positive organisational environment that is based on respect, integrity, and ethical values.
In our everyday work life, we often face challenges that test our respect, integrity and ethical values. Mary C. Gentile’s seven pillars of Giving Voice to Values provide us with a practical framework to navigate such situations and speak up on values issues confidently. Let’s explore some of the challenges you may encounter in your work or school environment:
- At work, for example, suppose you notice a colleague stealing office supplies and feel uncomfortable with it. In that case, you can use the pillar of “reasoning and rationalising” to understand why this behaviour is unethical and how it can harm the organisation’s reputation. Then, you can use the pillar of “action and implementation” to speak up and report the behaviour to the relevant authority. By doing so, you are leading by example and inspiring others to do the same, creating a workplace that is true to its core values.
- Let’s say you are given a project deadline that is unrealistic and would require you to work long hours and sacrifice your time. You can use the pillar of “clarifying and articulating values” to understand why this deadline is not aligned with the organisation’s values of work-life balance and employee well-being. Then, you can use the pillar of “action and implementation” to approach your supervisor and explain your concerns, proposing a more reasonable deadline that aligns with the organisation’s values. By doing so, you are leading by example and inspiring others to stand up for their values, creating a workplace that prioritises employee well-being and work-life balance.
- At school, say you witness a group of students bullying another student. You can use the pillar of “clarifying and articulating values” to understand why bullying is not aligned with the school’s values of respect and kindness. Then, you can use the pillar of “action and implementation” to speak up and report the behaviour to a teacher or school counsellor. By doing so, you are leading by example and inspiring others to stand up for their values and prioritise a safe and inclusive school environment, creating a school that is true to its core values.
- Say you witness a classmate cheating on a test. You can use the pillar of “reasoning and rationalising” to understand why cheating is unethical and how it can harm the integrity of the academic institution. Then, you can use the pillar of “action and implementation” to speak up and report the behaviour to the teacher or school administration. By doing so, you are leading by example and inspiring others to prioritise integrity and honesty in their academic pursuits, creating a school environment that is true to its core values.
In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing organisational environments, maintaining a culture of integrity and ethical leadership is more important than ever. Mary C. Gentile’s strategies and seven pillars of Giving Voice to Values provide a comprehensive framework for individuals to navigate ethical challenges and speak up on values issues with confidence and clarity. By adopting these pillars, individuals can lead by example and inspire others to do the same, creating organisations and a life that is not only successful but also true to its core values. So, let’s commit to these pillars, and together, we can build a brighter future for ourselves and our organisations. A compelling read!