MSLD 634 Module 9- A Reflection of Our Learning

The Leadership Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (MSLD 634) course has reminded us of the importance of critical thinking and provided important lessons that can be applied to both my personal and professional life. The three topics that I find to be most beneficial and interesting were the slippery slope arguments (SSA), the differences in age groups in today’s organization, and The Golden Rule.

Of all the topics, I learned some new insights on the slippery slope arguments (SSA). While I’ve heard of the terminology before taking this class, I’ve always thought that SSA were always bad. This class has taught me that this is not always the case and that the general idea is SSA is a chain reaction: we look ahead and view how different kinds of actions leads to certain consequences (LaFollette, 2007). The SSA also reminded us of the importance of considering the thoughts of others in the decision making process, since each and every one of us see and think things differently. With this in mind, we can minimize or completely avoid dealing with negative consequences.

As a millennial and an individual relatively new to the workforce, I’ve sometimes worried and even struggled a little when working with different age groups. This class has provided some more in-depth information about the different age groups in today’s organizations and how they see and think things differently. The lessons learned has also reminded us that working with different age groups is not necessarily a bad thing: as differences can also promote learning opportunities (Deyoe & Fox, 2012). With these lessons, I plan to encourage myself to communicate with others in hope to learn new things to improve my everyday task as an academic advisor.

While the topic was more of a review, the last thing I thought was interesting and important was The Golden Rule. One of the most important thing I follow both in my every day and professional life is the idea to treat others in the same way I’d like to be treated in the same situation (Putnam, 2006). Prior to this class, I mentioned the Golden Rule several times in my assignments, but was not aware that there was an actual name for such idea. Now that I know the name, I can correctly refer to the Golden Rule for my future classes.

References:

Deyoe, R. H., & Fox, T. L. (2012). Identifying strategies to minimize workplace conflict due to generational differences. Journal of Behavioral Studies, 5, 1-17.

LaFollette, H. (2007). The Practice of Ethics. Blackwell Publishing.

Putnam, M. (2006). Reflections on the Golden Rule. Global Ethics University. Retrieved from http://www.globalethicsuniversity.com/articles/thegoldenrule.htm

MSLD 634 Module 8- Gun Control: What is the Answer?

While gun laws and violence has been around for a very long time, recent media seems to be getting into the topic more than ever before. Gun violence in U.S. soil has once again gone up, a 4 percent increase since last year’s statistics (Gun Violence Archive, 2018). While the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provided rights to bear arms (U.S. Const. amend. II), the public often wonders whether a wide range of alternatives should be considered: including no, partial, or total abolition (LaFollette, 2007).

As intimidating firearms looks, they’re merely just a tool for self-defense. When given to the wrong individuals however, they become deadly weapons. Despite this fact however, I personally find guns to be no different than everyday items such as forks or a pitcher of iced tea. As the Merriam-Webster (n.d.) dictionary defines, a weapon is something used to injure, defeat, or destroy someone or something. Since how the gun is used really depends on the individual, I personally believe that gun laws should revolve mostly around gun users and not the object itself. As easy as it sounds however, establishing gun laws based on our mental state is excruciating difficult since the only person who really understands it is ourselves.

While we hope that future technology allows us to accurately read and understand one’s mental state, I personally think the closest we can get to determining one’s thinking is through a series of personal interviews and close examinations of the individual’s medical and crime records. In other words, individuals should go through extensive background checks before purchasing firearm.

Although background checks may help, I believe it is also everyone’s responsibility to ensure that firearms don’t end up with the wrong person. One shooting I recall is the Cascade Mall Shooting that occurred in Washington State last year. The incident occurred just a few miles away from where my family and I live, and I recall several friends and acquaintances who knew the 20-year-old suspect, Arcan Cetin. While the motive is still unclear to this day, Cetin entered the mall with a .22 Ruger rifle, instantly killing five people. Upon further investigation, it was found that Cetin had multiple troubled histories and was banned of possessing firearm. Despite the ruling, he still managed to get his hands on the rifle, which was stolen from a family member (Solis & Hughes, 2016). Although it is unclear how the rifle was stolen, perhaps the incident wouldn’t have occurred if it were locked away and closely monitored by the appropriate owner. In addition, if ones even knew or sensed suspicion of an individual, these should be reported immediately to reduce situations from occurring.
References:

“Gun Violence Archive”. (2018). 2014-2017 End of Year Logs. Retrieved from http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/

“Weapon” [Def 1]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weapon

LaFollette, H. (2007). The Practice of Ethics. Blackwell Publishing.

Solis, S. & Hughes, T. (2016). Washington mall shooting suspect to face 5 murder charges. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/09/25/washington-mall-shooting-suspect-arcan-cetin/91071336/

U.S. Const. amend. II. Retrieved from https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992 

MSLD 634 Module 7- Ethics and Behaviors

Ethics play an important role not only in our personal lives, but also in our professional lives. For this week’s module, we watched two short videos that examined both ethical and unethical behaviors in the workplace. The first video, focused mostly on the importance of treating others with respect whereas the second video explored aftermaths when an unethical situation takes place.

Of the two videos, I was able to mostly relate to Bruce Weinstein’s statements on the Keynote Speech Excerpts from The Ethics Guy video. He first talked about the importance of respecting others. While this ensures a good relationship within the organization, he also states that doing so will also make the individual feel good about themselves (Weinstein, 2012). This was demonstrated when Weinstein called out for two volunteers: who felt unappreciated. Weinstein then told his audience to applaud for the volunteers. Although this was a simple task, it eventually made the two individuals smile as well as the audience (Weinstein, 2012).

I am able to relate to Weinstein’s statements as well his simple exercise to my current job as an academic advisor. Over the course of years, I’ve learned the importance of respect and is aware of how different the outcomes are when doing so. My advisement strategies are heavily based on my past experience as a student. While my advisors provided me the resources I needed, they often rushed through their advisement due to the large traffic of students waiting to seek advisement. In addition to easily be forgotten, I often felt a bit unimportant and a nuisance to the advisors. Now that I’m an advisor and is aware of the student’s point-of-view, I place myself in “the students’ shoes” and ensure that I not only provide the help they need, but to establish good business relationships (such as remembering names, occasionally have small talks, etc.).

In the second video, Chuck Gallagher introduced us to the Unethical Continuum, which identifies the different types of unethical behaviors and the probable outcomes on each of these behaviors. One of the most common reason why organizations and individuals fail to make effective decision making is because they often approach situations as a monolithic process (Anthony & Schwartz, 2017). Gallagher’s statement reminded us of this mistake and explains the importance of thinking critically. This included not only the decisions we make, but also how other feel about the idea (Gallagher, 2013).

Since the primary goal of my organization is student success, we overall have a good practice of looking at situations critically. While most advisement goes smoothly, there are some instances where the student is in distress. If we approach them like any other student, this could cause some difficulties with advisement and misunderstandings: which could potentially hurt our relationship. To ensure that we assist them successfully, I try to identify how the student is feeling. If the student is dealing with family troubles for instance, we have to be sympathetic (it’s important to ensure that we’re not excessive either!) and let them know that we’ll be at assistance through their difficult time. In addition to speaking in a slow, calm voice, this signals the student that we care and want to help: which could help maintain or even improve our relationship.

References:

Anthony, S. & Schwartz, E. (2017). What the Best Transformational Leaders Do. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/05/what-the-best-transformational-leaders-do

Gallagher, C. (2013). Business Ethics Keynote Speaker - Chuck Gallagher - shares Straight Talk about Ethics! [Video file]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUJ00vNGCPE

Weinstein, B. (2012). Keynote Speech Excerpts from The Ethics Guy [Video file]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLxbHBpilJQ

MSLD 634 Module 6- What are Virtues?

In 1726, at the age of 20, Benjamin Franklin established the 13 Virtues for self-improvement. While Franklin wasn’t able to always follow his own advice regarding to the virtues, he aimed to inspire others to live a better-quality life (Cain, 2016). Below are Franklin’s 13 Virtues and a short description of each (PBS, 2002):

1.         Temperance: Eat not to dullness. Drink not to elevation.

2.         Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.

3.         Order: Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.

4.         Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.

5.         Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself: i.e., Waste nothing.

6.         Industry: Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.

7.         Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly; and if you speak, speak accordingly.

8.         Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9.         Moderation: Avoid extremes. Forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10.       Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes, or habitation.

11.       Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12.       Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring; never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

13.       Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

            Of the 13 Virtues, I was mostly able to relate to sincerity: where ones communicate and act in accordance with their feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. Personally, I believe this virtue is very important since sincerity also revolves around honesty (McKay & McKay, 2008). In my organization for example, sincerity is very important since it help establish positive relationships and trust with my students. As an advisor and a student myself, I want to ensure they succeed and do not go through some of the struggles and mistakes I’ve experienced. Because of this, I often times share personal experiences to enhance or clarify advisement, but to also show students that I understand and is willing to help.

            Prior to the making of this blog, we were given a brief placement quiz based on Franklin’s 13 Virtues. While the results show that I overall made very virtuous choices and closely followed Franklin’s own self-improvement plan, the two virtues I might need to focus more on were resolution and moderation. I chuckled at these responses since they were very accurate and is indeed something that I need to improve on.

While I understand the importance of maintaining goals and keeping things in close moderation, I personally believe that I scored low on these because of my current struggle on balancing my school, work, and personal life. Due to the stress buildup on these things, I tend to procrastinate and go off track. For instance, rather than making little progress each day on homework, I almost always end up playing excessive amounts of video games: which cause me to do my assignments in large chunks (which means staying up too late!). Another example revolves around dieting. Despite having the goal to shed a few pounds, I constantly get distracted and stressed from school and work: which often times leads me to eat for comfort (junk food and excessive eating). While overcoming these mistakes is excruciatingly difficult right now, the best thing I can do is to improve my time management by sticking with some sort of schedule. Since I tend to spend too much time on work and school, I need to ensure that I make time to do things that I enjoy: which can not only relieve stress, but also increase willpower to stay on track.

References:

Cain, A. (2016). Visiting a modern-day salon where people discuss Ben Franklin's ideas showed me how valuable his insights can be 290 years later. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/ben-franklin-circle-salon-2016-11

Mckay, B. & Mckay, K. (2008). The Virtuous Life: Sincerity. Retrieved from https://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/04/13/the-virtuous-life-sincerity/

PBS. (2002). Ben’s 13 Virtues. PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html