Business ethics actually have quite a few similarities to personal development, believe it or not! Here’s what you didn’t know!
Whether you took a class on it in college, or you’re just a big fan of the movie Billy Madison, you’ve probably heard the term “business ethics” before. Yet you may not realize that good business ethics can also help you with your personal growth. To understand how, you need to first gain a better understanding of business ethics.
Business or corporate ethics is a type of applied ethics which considers the many moral and ethical problems that can occur in the work environment, and helps workers handle those problems in the most morally sound way possible. It teaches people in the world of business to make decisions that help their company continue to be successful, but in a socially responsible manner.
This includes a wide range of issues, from fair trading practices, proper tax payment, and executive compensation, to human resource issues like workplace safety, discrimination, and employee harassment. It even involves marketing issues like truth in advertising and fair pricing. So what is the big takeaway from business ethics, and how can it apply to other areas of your life and help with personal growth?
What’s Really IMPORTANT?
Ultimately, the main point of business ethics is that, no matter how much money your company is raking in, you can’t consider your company to be legitimately successful unless you’re making that money in an ethical, honest manner. In other words, winning the game isn’t worth nearly as much if you cheated or hurt people on the way to your win.
What good are large profits if the public finds out you’ve been falsely advertising your products? How can you feel proud of your department’s great numbers if you watch your boss sexually harass your coworker and never speak up to HR? This is a concept that most definitely carries over into your everyday life. It’s just as important to hold yourself to a high moral code as it is to hold your company and coworkers to one.
This can be as simple as not cutting in line at the store, even if you’re in a hurry and see other people doing it. It can also be as complex as being honest with your significant other about a problem in your relationship, even if it means you might have a big argument over it.
The truth is that we can make our lives seemingly easier if we don’t speak up when something goes wrong, or if we sometimes cheat the system. Yet taking the easy, less-ethical route can take much of the joy out of accomplishing something. It can even replace that sense of joy or pride with guilt over the immoral manner in which said accomplishment was achieved.
Live More Ethically = Personal Growth
If you elect to live your life in a more ethical manner, you are taking a huge step toward furthering your personal growth. It won’t always be easy of course, and sometimes it can be difficult to tell what the truly ethical way to handle some situations is. After all, not every scenario we find ourselves in is a black and white situation.
However, making a commitment to yourself to always try your best to take the high road shows a degree of strength and a desire to better yourself. That can go a long way toward making you a better person, which is something to be proud of.