Date:
14 October 2021
Broadening Your Ethical Horizons – Key takeaways
Key Takeaway 1
Think about ethics as being systemic and within the invisible structures we work in. It’s important to examine the underlying structures that keep our work cultures flowing smoothly and operating well.
Microstep for better decision-making:
Before you get into bed, escort your devices out of the bedroom. Our phones are repositories of our to-do lists, inboxes, projects and problems. Disconnecting will help you to sleep better, recharge, and reconnect to your wisdom and creativity.
Key Takeaway 2
To maintain our systems of ethics, we need to be vigilant and constantly curious. We must keep examining our ethical blindspots and play detective if something isn’t flowing as it should be.
Read this article by Kwame Appiah, mentioned by Vanessa
Key Takeaway 3
Not everything can be included in a code of ethics. There will always be grey zones, so you will always need to develop your people to be able to make good judgements.
Microstep for better decision-making:
Set aside a specific time each day or week dedicated to “worry time”. Make it five minutes or 15 minutes, whatever you need. Any amount of time you can commit to is worthwhile. Write down or reflect on your worries and concerns, this should help make things clearer for you.
Key Takeaway 4
Be conscious of the factors that can get in the way of people acting their ethical best. These include speed (their workload is too high, deadlines are tight), specialisation/splintering (departments don’t share information or have contradictory KPIs) and self-regard (organisational reviews are internally-facing and based on safe questions; any impact on external groups is ignored).
Microstep for acting at your ethical best:
If you catch yourself feeling particularly stressed, turn your focus to the rising and falling of your breath. Even a few seconds of conscious breathing will help you reduce stress and increase calm and focus.
Thriving Leaders Session
Organised by Thrive HR Exchange and Thrive Global APAC
From small ‘e’ to big ‘E’ – broadening your ethical horizons
When it comes to big ethical breaches like fraud or theft there are clear ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ and applicable codes of conduct. But what about the much more frequent and small ethical dilemmas – those we face every day in the course of our work – that aren’t so straightforward?
The use of questionable sales tactics or choosing to withhold information are commonplace examples of ethical dilemmas that fall into more of a grey zone. How do you balance expediency with making the kind of ethical decision that will stand up to public scrutiny? And how can you become more aware of your ethical blind spots?
Discussions about ethics all too often focus on the small ‘e’ – individual behaviours and codes of conduct. But the higher you progress up the professional hierarchy, the more you’ll be required to think of ethics in a much broader way. Are you confident that your organizational systems aren’t incentivizing unethical behaviour? How do you build an ethical organisation?
Join us for this virtual session led by Vanessa Pigrum, CEO of Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership, exploring the principles of ethical decision-making at work. Brought to you in partnership with Thrive Global APAC, this special event is exclusively for our community.
Key learnings include:
Challenging your perception of what ethics involves
Reflection upon your leadership responsibilities
Vanessa Pigrum
CEO, Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership
Vanessa is responsible for shaping the strategic direction of the organisation and leading a diverse and ambitious team in their work to transform the Australian business landscape to one where leaders put ethics at the centre of their decision-making.
Throughout her career, Vanessa has been compelled to work with organisations that strive to implement bold ideas and create positive impacts for society. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the arts and culture sector, and in leadership development, where her focus and passion has long been in driving strategic transformation within organisations and teams.
Through Vanessa’s leadership roles with organisations such as the Arts Centre Melbourne, the City of Darebin Creative Culture, Melbourne Fringe Festival and CHUNKY MOVE, she has developed innovative programs, navigated complex stakeholder relationships, managed multi-million-dollar budgets and driven international commercial activity.
Prior to her transition into organisational management roles, Vanessa studied law. In 2018, she gained credentials as a mediator and executive coach.
Thrive Global, is a leading corporate behavior change tech wellness company, founded by Arianna in 2016 after she faced her own personal struggles with burnout at work. To date, they have helped over 100 businesses globally to drive wellness and productivity in their workforces through our behaviour change technology and programs, including the Thriving Mind program in partnership with Stanford Medicine.
In September 2020, Thrive Global partnered with Monash University to launch Thrive Global Asia Pacific. Monash was the first business school in the world to embed Thrive Global programs at the core of its prestigious Global Executive MBA program - in partnership with INSEAD, CEIBS and NYU Stern.
In November 2020, Thrive Global APAC and Thrive HR Exchange partnered to bring increased attention and focus on wellness in workplaces and to enable businesses around the world to facilitate employee wellbeing and help drive engagement and performance.