This module helped me better understand the building blocks of ethics and what is truly behind the concept. Among the various frameworks, we discussed one that I found to truly relate to leadership is the concept of virtue ethics. Virtue ethics were discussed throughout many of our readings, however, one of the pieces that stood out to me came from the Markkula Center. This source shared that “virtues are attitudes or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop our highest potential” (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, Meyer, 1). This statement regarding virtue ethics is one that I feel encompasses the idea in a well-rounded way. It tells us that if we use ethics with the framework of developing in ourselves the highest qualities of character such as kindness and honesty we will reach our fullest potential. To connect this to a real-world example, this is how I have seen various leaders pursue their leadership styles. While leading with their values and good ethics, they lead with their instilled and developed virtue ethics. An example of a great leader is my current boss who leads a team of people to work with dedication, passion, and intent in all that they do. This has led them to exceed goals and be one of the best teams collaboratively that I have ever witnessed. Within this team I clearly see that each individual uses the virtue ethics framework and each of them has qualities of kindness, humility, compassion, and much more that have been deeply instilled in them. I will continue to consider this framework throughout my life and make it a goal to build upon my virtue ethics framework.

Source: Thinking Ethically – Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (scu.edu)

Throughout this module, I found the various topics covered and concepts discussed to be insightful and expand my thinking when it comes to ethics. I especially found the topic of ethical frameworks to be interesting. One framework in particular that I was able to relate back to my own real world experiences was the rights and responsibilities framework. This framework was discussed in the Frameworks For Ethical Analysis reading from the Science Learning Hub. As defined by Science Learning Hub, the ethical framework of rights and responsibilities entails the following – “the rights of one imply the responsibilities (or duties) of another to ensure those rights” (Science Learning Hub, 1). When learning about this framework, I found myself relating it back to my career interest. My major in textiles and apparel has shown me the rights and responsibilities of both the consumer and the company or producer involved within the industry. This framework made me consider the responsibilities that textile companies have towards consumers to produce ethically made and sourced products and the crucial need for transparency. This framework is especially prevalent in one of my other classes, supply chain and sourcing in the textile industry. In this class, we discuss the ethical responsibilities that textile companies have to their consumer in transparency of where clothing was manufactured such as avoiding child labor or cheap labor. We also discuss the topic of sustainability. Sustainability has become a widely discussed topic in the textile industry and one that companies have the responsibility to deliver to consumers. Consumers have started to realize their rights as consumers and want this to be recognized and taken on as a responsibility by the companies from which they purchase. Overall, I have seen this framework in various aspects of my everyday life and it is interesting to see how much ethics influence our decisions.

Source: Frameworks for ethical analysis — Science Learning Hub 

I found the readings in module 2 to spark my interest in learning further about how are values are used in the workplace and team settings and understanding the impact they make. The article Personal Values and Performance in Teams helped me to understand the ways that values have been studied for years and the impact it makes to understand why individuals and groups embody the values they do. It was interesting to read about the 4 ways that the values were studied. I especially thought “the third approach to studying values, an examination of differences in values across national cultures” was interesting as it gave insight to the way values are unique across various cultures and made me curious about how this plays a role in the team work we engage in (Glew, 1). Individuals with different background and unique sets of values make for a unique team and sense of collaboration while opening up a space for learning from one anothers perspectives. Another important point the article made was that “values are potentially useful predictors of individual and team performance” (Glew, 1). This was relevant to our group assignment we are workign to now as we see the important of developing interview questions that are centered around values to ask our CEO candidiates as knowing their values will give us the best sense of their individual and team performace.I now have a better understanding of how values are studied, their influence on individual and team work, and how I can continue to learn more about values of myself and others.

Glew J. David, Personal Values and Performance in Teams. N.d.. https://moodle-courses2425.wolfware.ncsu.edu/pluginfile.php/654177/mod_resource/content/2/Glew_Personal_Values_Performance_Teams.pdf

Module 2 provided great insight to various important topics and the readings gave great examples of how these topics are connected to real settings and scenarios in the world. One reading that I gained insight from was the reading, How to Link Personal values with Team Values. This readings shared the purpose behing why it is so imprtant to lead with values in the workplace and shared the case of Levi Strauss completing an exercise with employees to identifiy the top values of employees within the company. The article shares that “people were amazed at the diversity of the values and at the range of values people selected as most important” (Jaffee, Scott, 1). This shows how vastly different each individuals values are but how they also motivate us in unique ways and drive our work. I found it interesting how many values each employee shared and the few that were selected in the end as the top core vaues. A couple values that shared great isnight into Levi’s and how the company operates based off values were integtrity and communication. Both of these values are vital to the proper operation in the workplace, leadership, and overall motivation of employees. I have seen both of these values within any leader that I have ever worked alongside and how they were driven in their work by them. The article retierated the motivation behind values with this statement, “a company’s values what it stands for, what its people believe in-are crucial to its competitive success. Indeed, values drive the business. Values motivating employees and driving their work” (Jaffee, Scott, 1). From this we gain a better understanding of the powerful motovators that values are and how we can ahve great collaboration in teams and produce great work if we keep our values at the forefront of all that we do.

Jaffe, Dennis T., Scott, Cynthia D.. “How to link personal values with team values”. EBSCOhost, 20 Aug. 2015.

https://moodle courses2425.wolfware.ncsu.edu/pluginfile.php/654176/mod_resource/content/3/Jaffe_Link_Personal_Values_Team_Values.pdf

This module was useful in gaining a better understanding of ethics and leading with one’s values. One of the readings that I found the most insightful and useful in making a connection to the world and how these values and ethics make a difference in our daily lives was the reading How to Live with Purpose, Identify Your Values and Improve Your Leadership. One piece that was mentioned was that those who are great managers typically are those who lead with their values. This is something I have seen to hold true in a corporate settig wth the team I worked with during my summer internship. I was able to not only see how my managers led with their values to guide our tea but also was able to interact on multiple occaisions with the company CEO. The reading shared “most people have approximately 5-7 core values that identify who they are at their core. Each person’s values are unique to that person; even if two people happen to pick the same value word, such as integrity, each person will demonstrate it differently in her daily actions and language” (Loehr, 1). I saw this to be true within the setting and my interactions with the CEO. He led intentionally with his values and it was true that although he held the same values as many others within the company, he had a unique set of values from his experience and time in leadership that shaped him into the value driven leader he is. His language and actions spoke highly of his character and aligned with the company’s mission and vission statment as well as the company values. It was great to experience this leaderhip this summer and be able to have a real wodl experience to connect back to this course.

Reference:

Loehr, A. (2017, December 7). How to live with purpose, identify your values and improve your leadership. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-live-with-purpose_b_5187572

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