Essay on Personal Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics

A personal code of ethics is a set of written principles that govern an individual's behavior and decision when confronting ethical dilemmas. They are unique to each individual in accordance with their beliefs, morals, and values. Thus, individuals must adhere to their codes of ethics because it applies to both personal and professional lives. The purpose of my code of ethics is to guide me through difficult situations and ensure that I make the correct decisions during my professional development and various leadership roles. Overall, I will share a small autobiography, several ethical theories, and a list of actions I have either taken or wish to take in accordance with my goals.

Autobiography

In contrast to the way others perceive me, my perception of myself is somewhat different. Many of the closest relationships I have with people see me as a strong and courageous person. According to them, my decisions, way of approaching fearful events, and refusal to surrender demonstrate my strength and courage. Additionally, they view me as a sincere and intelligent person based on my love to learn, solve problems, research unanswered questions, and can understand a person’s true intentions based on their body language, tone of voice, and interaction with others. People also tend to view me as admirable and honorable due to the stubbornness, selflessness, loyalty, and justice I demonstrate to people whether or not I know them. Additionally, most people view me as an introverted person because I like to sit back, observe, analyze, and weigh my options for situations or conversations as opposed to answering right away. Ultimately, part of me believes that it is important how people perceive me to be because their opinions can help me become the person I wish to be. However, I also believe it does not matter because those same opinions can limit me to reach my full potential in life.

In correlation to what others perceive me, my perception of myself is similar with a few differences. For example, I agree that I do not easily surrender when faced with challenges because I am aware that when I accomplish the challenge, regardless of my success or failure, I am one step closer to becoming the person I desire to be. Additionally, I believe I am selfless and just towards people because even if I do not personally know them I intend to care about their safety. On the contrary, I do not consider myself intelligent but rather wise because I view the world differently than most people. Normally people are satisfied with basic knowledge and their roles in life. However, I prefer to have a deeper understanding of the material I learn and believe there is more to life than the basic routine everyone is enslaved to in life. Thus, I only hope people find their purpose in life before it is too late. Overall, I view myself to be stubborn, courageous, wise, justice, and selfless.

In relation to both perspectives, I have a few ethical beliefs that define my decision-making process. Firstly, I believe it is important to have personal and professional integrity and loyalty to both oneself and others. Secondly, I believe people must have the courage to be able to face challenges and their fears to extend their limitations and reach their full potential in life. Thirdly, I believe one should selflessly defend and protect others who are unable to do so for themselves, whether that means advocating for the underrepresented or physically protecting them from danger. Fourthly, I believe the world and many situations are gray instead of black and white (or right and wrong); thus, people should be open-minded since anything is possible and there is never one right answer. Lastly, I believe in justice and equality because everyone should have the same opportunities in life no matter who they are based on age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or nationality.

Ethical Theories

One of the ethical theories that are critical to my code of ethics is a mixture of both ends-based and care-based thinking. The ends-based theory holds that an action is right if it tends to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Additionally, it is theorized as consequentialism or teleological philosophy since the focus is on the results rather than motivation. As a result, the purpose of ends-based theory is for the betterment of society as a whole. On the other hand, case-based thinking partakes in the criterion of reversibility. According to that concept, one should test the morality of an action by putting themselves in the other person's place by reversing the situation. Thus, encouraging us to promote the interests of others instead of setting limits on our actions. The purpose of this theory is to empathize with others and consider their needs. My ethics code is based on both of these theories because I believe that it is important to help and care for the maximum number of people. Ultimately, I believe the best way for a leader to grow is to help others regardless of the consequences.

The second ethical theory that is an important part of my code of ethics, is the dilemma paradigm. Based on the dilemma paradigms, I have the ability to analyze a situation with two equally valid answers and decide which path to take based on my values and goals. When analyzing the individual v. community paradigm my values tend to lean more toward community than individuals because I desire to help society rather than individuals such as myself for the greatest good. Moreover, when it comes to short-term v. long-term, I usually lean towards the longer term, because I believe it is important to think about how one's decisions and actions affect the future. Additionally, when examining truth v. loyalty, I lean a bit more toward loyalty because from my perspective it is far more important to remain devoted and faithful than to stay truthful. Regarding the fact that I have witnessed both sides of the paradigm and have seen the negative consequences of telling the truth, which resulted in jeopardizing several lives. Overall, it is difficult to find truehearted people because even if they always tell the truth they may not always want the best for you and may limit your potential in life.

I will…

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In reference to the frameworks that I discussed above and others that we discussed in class, I have generated a list of statements that contains actions I already take in my daily life, or actions that I want to act upon, but do not yet do so, or not as much as I should. By acting upon the following statement, I should be able to create and reach my goals, as they will help me become the leader I desire to be in the future.

I will never change who I am for others as I stay true to myself by defending my morals and values even when they are disfavored. I think that this statement is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, every person is unique in their own way, this makes the world more interesting based on all beliefs and perspectives. Secondly, if people do not appreciate others for their uniqueness then they do not have the capacity to create positive change in the world because in order to change the environment they must be flexible, open-minded, and most of all creative. For those reasons, I learned that every person is as unique as their fingerprint and due to that uniqueness we all have an important role in life. Ultimately, one should never change their originality for the sake of others because no one can be the person they were meant to be.

I will find the courage to do what is right, by adhering to the higher standard of personal conduct, leading by example, and making difficult decisions under stress and pressure. This statement is important to follow because people tend to get what they give. Giving value to those in need will help them and will often inspire them to help others in return. Additionally, doing the right thing is how one becomes the person one wants to be in the future. In the result of bringing the right people into their life to succeed in their goals and potential. Also, many individuals who have had the courage to do the right things have been highly rewarded in life. As a result, having the courage to do what is right is not always easy but it is the first step to becoming selfless and changing the world for the better.

I will never surrender nor allow despair to conquer my life; for my purpose in life is not to live in luxury but to positively transform the lives of others. I have experienced many difficulties in life that I do not wish upon others, whether it was a lack of food, health, economics, or shelter. Additionally, I have witnessed and have a firm understanding of human violence, abuse, and negligence. Based on that knowledge my greatest desire in life is to help those individuals find the light in the darkness. I have experienced the fear, humiliation, and isolation of these unfortunate situations, but I have also learned that by trusting a person all those problems can be solved. That is why I wish to become a person that positively transforms the lives of others. Thus, I will never surrender to help those in need even if it means my sacrifice.

I will accept neither betrayal nor corruption from those around me as power and wealth means nothing to me unlike the happiness, security, or peace in people’s lives. Similarly, to my third statement, I have seen how both betrayal and corruption have destroyed many lives, including materially, financially, and even physically. That is why I quickly realized that I could not trust people for two reasons: 1) I do not know them, or 2) I know them and their true intentions. Additionally, I learned that trust is difficult to earn, easy to lose, and impossible to restore once lost. Especially, if it was to gain power, wealth, or some type of material because this says how little they value you. Ultimately, loyalty and trust are important values for leaders to have and give in life because they will allow leaders to reach their full potential.

I will be open-minded to all situations as it does not matter whether one is right or wrong but rather to understand the circumstance and have the ability to lead through them. Being open-minded can help me gain greater insight into new ideas and topics. Additionally, it allows me to create a more flexible and adaptable personality, which can help me become more reliable and reasonable in any career setting. Being open-minded, also means there is no unnecessary judgment and needless strife, but rather giving me an opportunity to build stronger and long-lasting relationships with those around me. Lastly, being open-minded could also help me become more humble, selfless, empathetic, and intelligent by opening my mind to the possibilities in life. Overall, having an open mind can help me reach my goal to become the leader that I want to be.

Conclusion

In summary, as a leader, I will use my code of ethics to ensure I make the correct decisions during difficult situations and during my professional growth. Additionally, I learned that my perception of myself differs from how others perceive me. Even though I see the importance of how people perceive me, I believe that those same individuals can do more harm than good to my potential. Furthermore, a few ethical beliefs I currently define in my decision-making process are to have personal and professional integrity, loyalty, courage, selflessness, justice, and equality. In correlation to that, two of my ethical theories that are critical to my code of ethics are the dilemma paradigm and a mixture of both ends-based and care-based thinking. Aside from that, this course has helped me define, and find the importance of developing my personal code of ethics, which I will use when making decisions in difficult dilemmas. Ultimately, it will be interesting to see how my code of ethics and I change over time as I continue to develop into the leader I dream to become.