EIGHT ELEMENTS
OF AN ETHICAL
ORGANIZATIONAL
Respect:
→ As an entrepreneur building a business, you need to respect
yourself and surround yourself with people you can respect.
Remember, strong respect doesn’t mean you can fly on auto-
pilot. While you can assume your people will do their job as well
as they can, they do need coaching, training and direction, but
respect and trust make it easier for you to avoid micro-managing
them.
Honor:
→Good people are a fundamental part of good ethics. They are
also great ambassadors for doing things right. Give special
attention to strong performers and people who exemplify the
spirit of your organization. Most companies recognize top
achievers and producers. Go beyond quotas and sales figures.
Point out, and show your gratitude to the people who exhibit
exemplary behavior, and who have made sacrifices on our
behalf. These are people who have helped you be successful,
and you need to acknowledge and honor their contributions
publicly, as well as privately.
Integrity:
→When it comes to integrity, it is impossible to avoid
sounding preachy or parental. Do not lie, steal, or cheat.
Make your word your bond and always stand by your
word. When you are wrong, own up to it and make good
on the deal. Treat others as you’d want to be treated. Do
not hire or retain people who do not have integrity. Other
employees, customers and vendors will not trust them.
Customer focus:
→A company is nothing if it does not have customers. More to the
point, if a company does not produce what people want and will
pay for, there is no point to that company. A focus on your
customers reinforces the responsibility you have to the market.
Your decisions affect your people, your investors, your partners
and ultimately, your customers. Serving all of these people is part
of your ethical responsibility. Selling your customers short not
only risks compromising your ethics, it also risks the long-term
health of your company.
Results-oriented:
→You wouldn’t be an entrepreneur if you weren’t focused on
results already, but ethics factor into results too. Don’t aim for
results at any cost. Work on achieving your results within your
company values. Results should be attained in the context of
developing something that customers want, and producing and
delivering it at a price that is fair to all the parties involved.
Good managers clearly identify the results they expect, then
support their employees and help them achieve those results.
Risk-taking:
→ So far, you might be feeling that ethical companies are timid and
mousy, scared of doing the wrong thing. That is simply not true.
Organizations that thrive, prosper and grow do so by taking risks.
The do not stick to the safe path. Great companies innovate, they
think “out of the box”, and they try new things. They re-invent
themselves and the reward the risk-takers. As long as you stick to
your philosophical guns, risk-taking poses no threat to your ethics.
Great companies attract employees who are willing to take risks,
and they encourage, support and reward them for taking calculated
risks.
Passion:
→Great organizations are comprised of people who have a
passion for what they are doing. These are people who are
working for you for the thrill and challenge, not merely
putting in time to collect a pay-check. They are excited,
driven, and believe that their work and efforts can make a
difference. Without the passion burning within them,
people put in a minimal effort, getting paid and going
home.
Persistence:
→People in awesome organizations have the will to persist. They
will keep working even when results are not what they hoped, or
when customers refuse to buy. Their persistence is tied to their
passion for what they are doing and a belief that this group of
people, this company, has the best chance of “making it” of any
company they could join. And so, they work harder, they continue
to take risks. They behave with honor and integrity. They keep
their focus on the customer’s needs and wants.