Chapter 12 Ethics and protocols for career development
‘In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.'
Mahatma Gandhi
In chapter 1 I discuss the importance of building and nurturing trust to effective career conversations and indeed to leadership. This chapter outlines some of the key ethical principles and protocols for leaders aiming to build and maintain this trust and to create a safe and respectful environment for employees.
Ethics play a critical role in every aspect of organisational life, but never more so than when discussing, guiding and nurturing the individual careers of those you lead. While ethical considerations provide a blueprint for appropriate behaviour, no list can be exhaustive enough to cover all possible scenarios or eventualities.
In my experience, sometimes there is no one rule or clear answer to an ethical dilemma. Wise judgement is needed to produce the best outcome. Recognising that such a dilemma exists is the critical prerequisite to dealing effectively and appropriately with it. Ethics are grounded in values. Whenever I have struggled to find the best way forward, I have gone back to my values and more often than not found my answer there!
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