Personal Values
January 19, 2014

Personal Values Each person has his or her own personal and professional ethics that identify their personality. Unfortunately, not everyone will share the same style or exhibit the same behavior to fit their surrounding situation. Will you be able to access their kindness, fairness, or trustworthiness just at first sight? Are they aggressive or assertive or just the opposite? The fact is organizations need strong moral and ethical beliefs in order to govern day-to-day behaviors, decision making processes, and personnel responsible for the functions. To create a sustainable functional working environment the distinction in personal and work ethics help to delineate the two. Personal ethics are developed by what we have been taught, by our moral code. These private views cannot be inflicted upon anyone and should be respected. Work ethics are driven by Codes of Conduct. Companies form these around rules and regulations but are able to give guidance on what is expected professionally from their employees (Pace, Book 2, 2006, p. 28). Sometimes work and professional views do not align perfectly, but if one is honest with themselves the two can coincide without losing themselves. One way to avoid conflict is to visualize themselves in a certain situations to understand others. At times, there is a need to reprogram the mindset to office protocols; for example business fashion in the workplace. Cultural differences can differ with business etiquette, if you lived in a western nation, you wouldn’t dress American style. Communication is a key component in developing and maintaining a good working relationship. Culture, religion, and political views are very close to people and no private or military organization is immune to the debates that can spar from it. For instance, the team leader states his political stance against Republicans during a get to know your people during his first team meeting. Can you imagine how Democrats felt? Personal beliefs are now inflicted upon the team. At this point, the team’s synergy will be affected. Pushing opinions probably is not tolerated on the professional ethic side but the team lead
Personal Values assertiveness opened a can of worms. If the intention was to break the ice, you can communicate your thoughts and opinions by being direct, honest, and respectful. The team lead could have avoided the topic or if just stating political preference then moving onto their hobby or something of that nature. In leadership roles, you must be cognitive of your co-workers stance on business protocols in addition to their personal way of getting the job done. At times, you will have to be the negotiator in making decisions that could be either a win-win or win-lose scenario. Many have to embrace not being correct at all times, listen to the concerns, and not make a quick personal judgment. Using your judgment is important when