Practical Advice for Managers: Multiple Ethical Selves

So what should managers do? First, it’s important to evaluate the organizational environment. As a lower- or middle-level manager, you can do little to influence that environment. If senior executives are creating a cutthroat, Darwinian culture where only bottom-line results count, it’s probably time to look elsewhere for a job. It is then up to you to contribute to the larger organizational culture by creating a work environment that supports ethical conduct and integrity for the people you manage. Integrity is defined as ‘‘that quality or state of being complete, whole, or undivided.’’ Individuals of strong character and high integrity are thought to be consistent and ethical across contexts. So the ultimate goal is to bring these multiple ethical selves together—to support

the idea that an individual can be consistent—and make the individual as ethical at the office as he or she is at home. Managers should pursue that goal with the practical understanding that many people find it quite possible to divide themselves into multiple ethical selves and to behave differently in different life contexts.

Begin by analyzing yourself. Is your office self consistent with your personal ethical self? If not, what will be required to bring the two together? Again, you’re an important role model for your subordinates. If you’re clearly a ‘‘whole’’ person of integrity, they’re more likely to aspire to ‘‘wholeness’’ themselves.

Next, think about those who report to you. Make no assumptions about ethics at work based on a person’s background, religious affiliation, family life, or good deeds in the community. Instead, find out what norms and expectations guide their work selves, and make sure that these influences support ethical behavior. You can learn a great deal simply by keeping your eyes and ears wide open. Of course, the best way to find out how your people think about these issues is to ask them, either in person or in survey form. You may be surprised what they’ll tell you. And you’re sending an important symbolic message about what concerns you just by asking. Do employees feel, as many surveys have suggested, that they must compromise their personal ethics to get ahead in your organization? If so, what do they think can be done about it?

Find out what influences their thoughts and behavior in ethical dilemma situations. Find out what inhibits them from being the best they can be, from doing the right thing. You can base your questions on real or hypothetical situations. Most supervisors have never bothered to ask such questions. Is it any wonder then that most subordinates end up believing that their managers don’t really care about ethics? Once you’ve had this type of discussion, it’s essential for you to follow up in ways that support ethical conduct. A number of practical ideas for how to do that follow.