NO ONE TO ANSWER TO BUT EVERYONE

"All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind."

Joseph Conrad, late 19th/early 20th century Polish-British writer.

If you couldn't care less about this, take heart; no one is policing how you conduct your life.

You can be as nasty and mean as you want.

However, while no one can stop you they can, as many will, shun you.

Life alone.

Think about it.

YOURSELF TOO!

"Be true to your work, your word, and your friend."

Henry David Thoreau, 19th century American essayist/poet/philosopher.

We all must be true to something and this list, with my suggested addition in the title, works for me.

Your list could be much longer, maybe shorter.

It can contain other things; for example, your school were this a Beach Boys list.

What matters most is that you have a list.

YOU ONLY KEEP WHAT YOU CONTINUE TO DESERVE

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States

True whatever your privileges including those you earned as well as those you didn't.

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD

"How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes deeds ill done!"

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) British poet/playwright.

There is far more in life we could but shouldn't do than the reverse.

Much of that for good reason.

That you can is no reason that you should.

NOT ALL STRENGTH SHOULD BE VIEWED AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

"I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample under foot."

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American politician.

With due respect to Mr. Ingersoll who I know nothing about, many who trample the rights of others don't care what that says about them. 

Knowing right from wrong does not guarantee behavior.

YOU ARE THE COMPANY YOU KEEP

"Most men are individuals no longer so far as their business, its activities, or its moralities are concerned. They are not units but fractions.

Woodrow T. Wilson (1856-1924) Twenty-eighth President of the USA.

When wrongdoing is discovered very few employees can truthfully say they didn't know what their company was doing.

Indications of dishonesty will be plentiful and obvious.

Being quiet about it is being a part of it.

I DID IT FOR YOU!

"We should often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world understood all the motives behind them."

François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French writer

Which makes me wonder . . .

Is it possible to do any good deed, at the  base of which you will not find at least a partial ulterior motive other than simply doing good?

Is the answer to that question different in our personal and professional lives?

COMPANY CODE OF CONDUCT STATEMENTS NOTWITHSTANDING . . .

"The pit of a theatre is the one place where the tears of virtuous and wicked men alike are mingled."

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) French philosopher

But not the only place.

This is potentially just as true in business.

Probably more so.

THE KIND BUSINESS

"To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life."

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) British author

I think you could drop the second "of" and it would apply equally well.

Agree?

THE YIN AND YANG OF RIGHT AND WRONG

"Nowadays those are rewarded who make right appear wrong."

Terence (195/185 BC-159 BC) Playwright of the Roman Republic

Is today any different?

Maybe only in that those who make wrong appear right are rewarded even more.

THE HONORABLE (EASY) THING TO DO

"Ease and honor are seldom bedfellows."

Proverb

Which seems to suggest being honorable is difficult.

I find just the opposite.

(Click to enlarge Calvin)

YOUR LINE IN THE SAND

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."

Oscar Wilde 

19th century Irish poet and dramatist

And if death does not guarantee truth, neither will you sacrificing your job for what you believe is principle.

There are things you should defend.

Just make certain you know what they are.

UNSETTLING SCORES

"It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust."

Samuel Johnson

18th century British author

Be diligent guarding your rights.

Don't knowingly let others take advantage of you.

But don't always feel compelled to get "even".

"Righted" wrongs are often not.

You Will Get Yours

"God bears with the wicked, but not forever."

Miguel de Cervantes

16th century Spanish novelist

Nor with anyone or thing for that matter, not forever.

If you are a wicked manager, or you work for a wicked company, there will be a day of reckoning.

And while it could come from God, it doesn't have to.

The market has a way of sorting that out.

Don't be wicked.

You Are The Company You Keep

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation.  It is better to be alone than in bad company."

George Washington

First president of the United States of America

I'll bet President Washington knew to do this because he didn't always do it himself.

But we can learn from our mistakes.

Be mindful of the company you keep before you become them.

Non Negotiable Ethics

"Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity."

Lord Acton

19th century English historian

There is a tendency in some to see ethics and morals in the context of time and circumstance; however what is and isn't ethical and moral is not negotiable.

If you manage things and/or people, before you act, first ask yourself, "Is this right?"

If you cannot answer "yes", and you consider yourself a just person, don't do it.

Management Ethics

"I ran the wrong kind of business, but I did it with integrity."

Sydney Biddle Barrows

20th century American business woman who became famous as a brothel owner

Which begs the question, what are the implications of running an illegal business with integrity?

Or is that even possible?

There are plenty of examples where legal business have been run without integrity.

Is the reverse possible?

Business Theory Of The Moment

"Fashions, after all, are only induced epidemics."

George Bernard Shaw

Late 19th/early 20th century Irish writer

There is fashion in business as well and we're not talking about casual Friday.

Business theories come and go but at the end of the day the basics are bedrock.

Do you know what they are?

Management Mischief

"O, mischief, though art swift to enter into the thoughts of desperate men!"

William Shakespeare

16th century British playwright

And who can be more desperate than management in a troubled company?

How (do) you insure that management mischief will not appear when big problems arise?

Wicked Osmosis

"To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness."

Confucius

5th century BC Chinese philosopher

If at the beginning of your career you willingly work with people who compromise their ethics, chances are good you will as well in the future.

Be careful not to become what you didn't set out to be.