The Joy of Teaching Personal Ethics To Students & Professional Audiences

 

Last week my oldest son and I travelled to Minnesota State University located 75 miles southwest of Minneapolis to discuss with undergraduate students my story of corporate wrongdoing and why personal ethics is invaluable.

One of the most important themes I stressed is the following: write a short purpose statement about yourself that includes who I am, what I wish to do, and why that is important.

In any purpose statement, it is meaningful to identify your morals, principles, and values. They help define our personal ethics.

I told these students who were all business majors to find an interest they are passionate about and pursue it.

It is all too easy to have naysayers and others all too willing to chime in with their opinions about us.

We know ourselves pretty well, we think we know what be stand for, and we should certainly have some idea of what we believe in that helps define our personal ethics.

I think we should follow our passions and interests, never letting money define what we professionally do in life.

Over ten years ago while an officer for a family owned enterprise, I unfortunately let money and status partially define me. Arrogance and greed set in over time as a value added business partner for a global information technology company.

My personal ethics became skewed and blurred to my own benefit, and our company illegally behaved in our dealings with this technology company.

Shortcuts are dangerous paths to travel on and the students listened carefully to my entire story: how the fraud started, why it started, the consequences of my behavior, and the lessons learned.

My son was a powerful person to have in the front row and he heard the entire story for the first time.

All of us have the ability to teach, develop, enrich, and assist others.

Giving back is better than taking from.

As you define your own personal ethics, think before you speak and speak before you act.

Always strive to do the right thing and not put yourself first!!

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