Today’s guest post is from Anthony Smith-Meyer, Editor-in-Chief, Business Compliance.
Yesterday I was discussing motivation with my undergraduate class students. When you stop to consider this subject, you realise how essential a topic it is. Without motivation, there is no action. Everything we do has a basic, motivational driver behind it; something that disturbs the status quo and inspires a response to seek to satisfy a need, a desire, or calm a fear. In much the same way, ethical choice only happens when there is a disruption to the balance of values that determine our moral consciousness, introducing an anguish, anxiety, disdain or disgust over a personal choice or an observed situation/behaviour.
Ethics only exists when there is a clash of values requiring a rebalancing of choice between what is, or was considered, right or wrong.
In our Journal of Business Compliance, we seek to find the magic formula of good governance, compliance and ethical behaviour; we try to bring these topics alive for our readers in such a way that it might actually influence their future actions through increased knowledge, greater awareness of the consequences of their actions or the provision of inspiring ideas to start tackling our everyday challenges.
In our recent issue of the Journal (issue 05/2015) we introduced a new column: The dilemma. It has two purposes. One is to engender reflection on the nature of real life, front-line pressures facing our staff. We inform, train and otherwise communicate our expectations with regard to performance and behaviour to our employees, but to what extent do leaders and managers actually concern themselves with the choices we force our people to make? When an employee faces a dilemma, how it is dealt with is a measuring rod as to the level of openness, trust and clarity of purpose that exists within an organisation – does anyone believe these are not crucial to long-term success of any firm?
We try to take real life experiences, this first one actually one of my own, and we have asked Richard Bistrong, an anti-corruption consultant who speaks from personal experience and the tragedy that follows making wrong choices, and Dr Fiona Beddoes-Jones, a Chartered Psychologist specialised in business, authentic leadership and executive behaviour to comment on the situation described. Together we try to shine the light of experience on the choices facing the front line, and the interpretation that organisational leaders should attribute to the resolution of The Dilemma, and we hope an inspiration for increased consciousness of the implications of goals set, and expectations signalled in the pursuit of our everyday objectives.
To receive a free copy of “The Dilemma: The Boss, the Hostess and the Invoice” please link here.