Being Responsible

It is important for managers to develop their own ethical boundaries

Ethics is important for everyone in an organization, particularly as some unethical acts are also illegal. Many organizations want employees to behave ethically because such a reputation is good for business, which in turn can mean larger profits. However, acting ethically is especially crucial for managers. The decisions a manager makes set the standard for those they are managing and help create a tone for the organization. If employees believe all are held to high standards, they are likely to feel better about themselves, their colleagues, and their organization.

The behavior of managers is under more scrutiny than that of other members of staff, and misdeeds can become quickly and widely known, destroying the reputation of the organization. It is important for managers to develop their own ethical boundaries -- lines that they and their employees should not cross. To do this, you need to:

• Know and understand your organization's policy on ethics.
• Anticipate unethical conduct. Be alert to situations that may promote unethical behavior. (Under unusual circumstances, even a normally ethical person may be tempted to act out of character.)
• Consider all consequences. Ask yourself questions such as : "What if my actions were described in detail on a local TV news show or in the newspaper? What if I get caught doing something unethical? Am I prepared to deal with the consequences?"
• Seek opinions form others. they may have been in a similar situation, or at least can listen and be sounding board for you.
• Do what you truly believe is right. You have a conscience and are responsible for your behavior. You need to be true to your own internal ethical standards Ask yourself the simple question: "Can I live with what I have decided to do?"

ACTION POINT: Set and demonstrate high standards for your team.

Responsibility for Relationships IV

Organizations are not longer built on force but on trust.

Even people who understand the importance of taking responsibility for relationships often do not communicate sufficiently with their associates. They are afraid of being thought presumptuous or inquisitive or stupid. They are wrong. Whenever someone goes to his or her associates and says, “This is what I am good at. This is how I work. These are my values. This is the contribution I plan to concentrate on and the results I should be expected to deliver,” the response is always, “This is most helpful. Buy why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

And one gets the same reaction—without exception, in my experience—if one continues by asking, “And what do I need to know about your strengths, how you perform, your values, and your proposed contribution?” In fact, knowledge workers should request this of everyone with whom they work, whether as subordinate, superior, colleague, or team member. And a gain, whenever this is done, the reaction is always, “Thanks for asking me. But why didn’t you ask me earlier?”

Organizations are not longer built on force but on trust. The existence of trust between people does not necessarily mean that they like one another. It means that they understand one another. Taking responsibility for relationships is therefore an absolute necessity. It is a duty. Whether one is a member of the organization, a consultant to it, a supplier, or a distributor, one owes that responsibility to all one’s coworkers: those whose work one depends on as well as those who depend on one’s own work.

ACTION POINT: Take responsibility for relationships by accepting others as individuals and being accountable for communication.

Responsibility for Relationships III

Today the great majority of people work with others who have different tasks and responsibilities.

The second part of relationship responsibility is taking responsibility for communication. Whenever I, or any other consultant, start to work with an organization, the first thing I hear about are all the personality conflicts. Most of these arise from the fact that people do know what other people are doing and how they do their work, or what contribution the other people are concentrating on and what results they expect. And the reason they do not know is that they have not asked and therefore have not been told.

This failure to ask reflects human stupidity less than it reflects human history. Until recently, it was unnecessary to tell any of these things to anybody. In the medieval city, everyone in a district plied the same trade. In the countryside, everyone in a valley planted the same crop as soon as the frost was out of the ground. Even those few people who did things that were not “common” worked alone, so they did not have to tell anyone what they were doing.

Today the great majority of people work with others who have different tasks and responsibilities. The marketing vice president may have come out of sales and know everything about sales, but she knows nothing about the things she has never done—pricing, advertising, packaging, and the like. So the people who do these things must make sure that the marketing vice president understands what they are trying to do, why they are trying to do it, how they are going to do it, and what results to expect.

If the marketing vice president does not understand what these high-grade knowledge specialists are doing, it is primarily their fault, not hers. They have not educated her. Conversely, it is the marketing vice president’s responsibility to make sure that all of her coworkers understand how she looks at marketing: what her goals are, how she works, and what she expects of herself and of each one of them.

ACTION POINT: Communication is your responsibility.

Responsibility for Relationships II

Each works his or her way, not your way.

Bosses are neither a title on the organization chart nor a “function.” They are individuals and are entitled to do their work in the way they do it best. It is incumbent on the people who work with them to observe them, to find out how they work, and to adapt themselves to what makes their bosses most effective. This, in fact, is the secret of “managing” the boss.

The same holds true for all your coworkers. Each works his or her way, not your way. And each is entitled to work in his or her way. What matters is whether they perform and what their values are. As for how they perform—each is likely to do it differently. The first secret of effectiveness is to understand the people you work with and depend on so that you can make use of their strengths, their ways of working, and their values. Working relationships are as much based on the people as they are on the work.


ACTION PONT: Base your working relationships on the strength and value of the people as well as the work.