Some time ago, I was talking with a very experienced senior leader about ethical dilemmas and his experience with them over his 30+ years in military, government, and corporate life. He shared that early in his career, a boss he greatly admired passed on three rules that became a reliable formula for testing whether a decision or action might have some ethical implications to it. These three rules were also a trusted test for integrity and honesty.
The three rules that are central to this leader’s approach to work are:
- Is it legal?
- Is it ethical?
- Am I willing to be held accountable?
If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” DO NOT PROCEED!
This leader told me that many times, when he followed these rules, it saved him from a disastrous turn in his illustrious career. Consequently, he has taught these rules to his team members and colleagues to help them in tight situations.
The key to applying these rules is to follow the “pause principle.” When confronted with an ethical dilemma—or even a challenging situation with difficult choices—simply stop, take a deep breath, and ask these three questions before acting.
There is no shortage of stories about leaders who make the wrong choices when confronted with legal, ethical, or accountability dilemmas. When leaders don’t follow these three rules, it’s often not just leaders who pay a price—it can also be employees, customers, and even the public at large.
In a time when the public’s confidence in institutions keeps falling, people need leadership with integrity and high ethical standards. Here are three examples of choices leaders have made when confronted with ethical dilemmas.
1. Is it legal?
There is a reason this question comes first: it’s usually the clearest one to answer. And when the answer isn’t crystal clear, it should be a fairly simple case for leaders to ask questions about the law before embarking on a path that could have severe consequences.
The Theranos scandal is a reasonably clear case of illegal and unethical behavior compounded by a lack of accountability by leaders and covered by a complete lack of transparency. Interestingly, the company’s downfall was initiated, in part, by a whistleblower named Erika Cheung, a former lab assistant who had noted a variety of false lab results and improper lab behavior. In 2015, Cheung contacted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to report the regulatory violations. The government agency then conducted its own inspections and cited the company, eventually ordering it to shut down its lab.
As a general rule, leaders have an obligation to obey relevant law and regulations or hire an expert to ensure they are in compliance. Illegal behavior by a company or even a single leader can have disastrous consequences for an organization.
Is it ethical?
Sometimes, something is legal but unethical. A leader with integrity will refuse to participate in unethical behavior even if it is technically legal.
Binta Niambi Brown, CEO and co-founder of Fermata Entertainment, Ltd., was working on a $3 billion asset acquisition when she received details that could have ruined the deal. She had to decide whether to tell her client and risk the deal or keep the information quiet. She told her client.
Fortunately for Brown, both sides agreed on a solution to the problem, and the deal went through. Brown suggests that when these kinds of ethical dilemmas arise, the temptation to take the easy route is often rooted in fear. “It’s the moment where we start giving in to our fears; that’s when people start making really bad decisions that can be very hurtful and harmful to others. People are afraid their piece of the pie will be cut up and given to someone else, and so that motivates some of what you see in the business context,” she says.
Ethical leadership starts with a decision to operate with integrity and honesty in all circumstances from the very first day of one’s career. By drawing the line at high ethical standards from the very beginning, it becomes much easier to make the right decisions when difficult choices come along.
Am I willing to be held accountable?
There are times when decisions are legal and ethical, but prove to be honest mistakes, bad calls, or simple failures due to circumstances outside of leadership’s control. Such circumstances can result in leadership finding a scapegoat for bad decisions or making excuses for bad results. However, smart, honest, and capable leaders will take responsibility.
In 2007, JetBlue Airlines sent nine planes onto the runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport during a snowstorm. The airline made the decision hoping the weather would improve, but instead, the planes remained on the ground for more than five hours. The mistake resulted in employee overtime, lack of flight time for crews, and eventually, the cancellation of more than one thousand flights over five days.
JetBlue leadership could have blamed the entire debacle on bad weather reports or decisions at the ground level. However, CEO David Neeleman took full responsibility, publicly apologizing and writing a “customer bill of rights” that the airline still uses.
President Harry S. Truman had a desk sign in his White House office that said, “The buck stops here.” In his farewell address in January 1953, Truman said, “The President–whoever he is–has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.”
Leaders with integrity take responsibility for mistakes, bad judgment, and even the weather, because they understand that the proverbial buck stops at the top.
In the quest for career growth and promotions, it might be tempting to ignore laws, cut ethical corners, or throw colleagues or team members under the bus to preserve a position. But such leaders are like hollow trees—their beautiful exteriors can only hide the internal decay for so long before the tree must be cut down.
Integrity may not be the shortcut, but it’s always the right path. These three rules will help you stay on that path toward a long and rewarding career.
SELF-CHECK:
- What is one ethical dilemma I’ve faced in my career? Did I make the right decision? What would have been a better decision?
- Have I ever avoided responsibility to protect my position? What if I had made a different choice?
- What is one decision I can make today to help me operate with a higher degree of integrity in the future?
