The Principle Disciplines of Ethics

Written by Judy W Bell on June 3, 2010. Posted in Ethics

Here are some notes and thoughts I want to share with you from a presentation I attended. Speaker: Dr. Rushworth Kidder, President and Founder, Institute for Global Ethics, New York, NY (international author and speaker) Author of Moral Courage and How Good people Make Tough Choices Dr. Kidder’s institute teaches 3 principle disciplines: 1. There are core-shared values There are 5 core values that top the list for people and companies across the world:

Truth matters (the words used sometimes are integrity and ethics)
Responsibility/Accountability
Respect
Fairness
Compassion

The next 5 values listed vary among cultures, industries, and countries. 2. Where do Ethics come from?

When someone departs from the values
When two core values conflict with each other

3. Moral courage is the catalyst to ethics There are 4 broad categories of Ethics:

Justice versus Mercy
Truth-telling versus Loyalty
Individual versus Community
Needs of the Short-term versus Needs of the Long-term

Legal minimums and compliance are only fine if you have no bigger dreams and visions for your company. The outstanding company goes beyond the law. Excerpts from notes taken by Judy during Dr. Kidder’s speech, August 2008