ethics Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

15
Apr 21
-

Bad Behavior That Works Often Multiplies

Tags : advantage bad behavior ethics integrity rewards

Is bad behavior embraced, and then multiplies? It happens, and it may be happening right now, all around you.

When a well-meaning manager sets a metric and starts to measure it, what happens? If the metric is within reach and within bounds, things may start to improve. Is there a cost connected with the improvement?

Nearly everything has a cost, a pro and con, something good and something that is a price to be paid for the goodness.

Metrics and Measurement

Pushing towards the metric is a good idea. Pushing too hard can start to threaten the ethics and integrity of the person or team.

A metric pushed too hard is often identifiable through two possible outcomes. One outcome is that people start to jump ship. The pot of water is too hot and they jump out. Another possibility is that they’ll find a way to bend the rules.

Of course, a third possibility is that they will improve their performance, that they’ll stay within the boundaries and continue with an honest pursuit.

The challenge often circles back to what is the cost? Part of the equation is also connected to the potential reward.

Bad Behavior Rewarded

It isn’t always intentional. Sometimes it is the belief that everyone is doing it.

This became painfully obvious in 2019 with a widespread college admissions scandal. A pay-to-play advantage that was outside of the rules. Was everyone doing it? No. Were some doing it successfully? Yes. Was it cheating? Absolutely.

When bad behavior is rewarded or connected to enough of an advantage to be viewed as worth the risk, someone will sign up for it.

Bad behavior often creates the illusion of a performance advantage. Drugs in sports and shady business deals quickly come to mind.

It can go deeper. In private business people often have an opportunity to build the business through relationships. It is the, “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine.” Other people sometimes call this the, “Good olde boy network.”

If it is private, it’s private. However, when it is government funded it may bring on a whole new twist.

Behavior that has been done in the past doesn’t mean that it is good behavior. Behavior that works to get the job done also may have ethical or legal challenges.

Size up the behavior for good and bad. Size it up for ethics, legal, and integrity.

Reward only the behavior that stays within the bounds.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

29
May 20
-

Leaders Show Up, Even When No One is Watching

Tags : careers ethics leaders moments opportunities

Talent and the admiration for performance may show up when you need it, or when you least expect it. Performance, conduct, and ethics always matter. True leaders show up every time.

When there is a graduation ceremony, someone will likely show up to talk about leadership. We’ve witnessed leadership in the Die-Hard movies, The Hunt for Red October, and A Few Good Men.

Leadership can be scripted in the board meeting, at the awards banquet, and for the corporate retreat. Yet, those aren’t the only places it is visible.

When the organization needs innovation, it should be present. During a massive disruption, it should be there. During an unexpected emergency, a pop-up meeting, or when someone least expects it, it should be there.

Yes, it should come when no one is watching.

Leaders Show Up

The kid who watches the fireman, the farmer, or the Navy SEAL, may experience something unexpected. It’s also true for those watching the backhoe operator, the auto mechanic, or the carpenter. And, someone quietly admiring a teacher, a doctor, or an astronaut. In all of these cases, leadership is happening, or it’s not.

Everyone working, every day, making an impact or a difference may not always realize who is watching. They may just be doing what they feel is their every day job.

Their defining moments are happening and are being experienced by someone else.

Perhaps unknowingly the work that you’ll do today will matter a whole lot more than just achieving results for your business or organization.

Leadership happens during all moments, not just the moments that it is scripted for.

We can skip the graduation ceremony, ignore signs of leadership in the movies, or resist the change happening right before our eyes.

Yet, leadership is still happening. It’s happening in the moment. It’s changing lives, and we don’t even know it.

Today you’ll deliver on some moments.

What will they look like?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

20
Jan 20
-

Winning Vision for the Work You Do

Tags : ethics integrity leadership vision workplace culture

Nearly everyone believes they have a winning vision. Except for those who willingly admit that they really don’t have a vision at all.

Organizational or career vision often comes in two distinct flavors. Short-term or long-term. Sure, there are variants of either and some visionary behaviors may exist somewhere in the middle.

What is your vision and is it winning?

Short-term vision

On the short-term side people strive to win at all costs and do it as quickly as possible.

They’re often looking for the shortcut, the corners to cut, and the fast track. This angle exists, sometimes, but it also has residues or side effects from the behavior that drives it. Often, it is analyzed (or scrutinized) through the continuum of ethics.

More pressure driven by short-term goals or immediate gratification push people towards the high-risk side of ethical behavior. Trust is tested or harmed and the underground climate often appears more corrupt than it does transparent.

Long-term Vision

The other side of course, is a longer-term path. This path also recognizes the constraints of time, but on this path, time is viewed as more of an asset than it is an expense.

This scenario often wins because it is more patient and calculated with less irresponsible risk. Urgency is as much about doing things right as it as about how long it takes.

This climate is typically well respected and is tastefully seasoned with integrity.

Winning Vision

Fifty-two sprints are not equal to a marathon. The thought may be, what we can do fast must be better than what we can endure.

It’s unlikely.

The vision you have for your career, your team, or the entire organization will have outcomes based on the cultural aspects created by leadership.

How do you apply cultural values to your vision?

You can lead. There is still room for more leadership.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

23
Oct 19
-

Workplace Quick Study and the Factor of Time

Tags : acceleration ethics fast results integrity quick study

Have you ever been a workplace quick study? Have you witnessed fast-trackers, corner cutters, or a minion at work? Could any of these apply to you or someone you know?

Successful workplace performance often depends on the metric. How is the performance measured? Is it a straight forward objective measurement such as sales revenue per month, or is more subjective such as, “Ensure the team is bought-in for change.”

Almost always, measurement and metrics connect with time. Time is a constant for everyone. As such, efficiency, productivity, and even success are often measured across time.

When the measurement or expectation creates enough pressure for performance people start to look for ways to improve, or taken too far, they try to beat the system.

You Can’t Beat the System

When the demand for financial performance in the board room gets too intense, executives contemplate ethical and integrity decisions. Risk versus reward, or survive for a little longer versus revealing the reality.

If the small non-profit encounters extreme financial pressures, the Executive Director or internal accounting person may look for creative ways to channel the money.

In worse case scenarios, a person in charge of oversight for business finances who also faces personal financial struggles considers risks that are beyond legal boundaries. Theft, fraud, and deception charges may follow.

Time is the constant. Most measurement is working against the pressure of time.

Workplace Quick Study

These simple principles apply to the workplace quick study too. There are not any shortcuts. Patience is what prevails.

The next time you’re looking for ways to beat the system, change the pace of political currents, or cut corners remember that there is an opposite force.

Often the fast-tracker, corner cutter, or minion appear to exceed expectations until time catches up with them.

A quick study isn’t about cutting corners or violating ethics and integrity. It is about more hard work, more of the time.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

10
Sep 19
-

Leadership Work And What Many Avoid

Tags : authoritarian ethics leadership responsibility work

Do you like the idea of leadership? Does it get you motivated and positively fired up when you think about leading others? Leadership work may not be as easy or pain free as you think.

Leadership seems really attractive on the surface. Being the boss, having people look up to you, getting the recognition for team accomplishments. Some will quickly jump to the idea of increased pay. These and other aspects attract many.

Certainly, leadership is for everyone. Things like money and fame are not a requirement. Neither is having formal authority, yet it is often assumed.

Work Avoided

Workplace professionals will often mention to me that they dislike dealing with people issues. This is a significant part of leadership. It is not just about a title or some fame and glory, no matter how big or how small.

Leadership is people work. If you have formal authority, such as having direct reports, it means dealing with job performance, hiring, and sometimes firing.

Many so-called leaders don’t like that part. They don’t like the responsibility of managing others. As a result, they tend to avoid the people issues.

Others just hand out commands with great expectations. Reality is often in question.

This is exactly how we get what people often label, “poor leadership.”

Leadership Work

Leadership work takes guts, determination, and a commitment to excellence. It means doing the things that many others don’t like doing. It means working with people, not a dictatorship or authoritarian approach.

If you think leadership means you’re the boss and you tell others what to do, you are mostly wrong.

The true work of great leaders is as much artful as it is pragmatic.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

22
Jul 19
-

Are You Working Today?

Tags : ethics integrity motivation teamwork winning

Life is about choices. Often so is the work that we do. If you are working today, what is your motivation?

In the United States sports are big business. One sport or another many people show up to cheer on a team or curse an opponent.

We see it in many places, American Football, Soccer, Baseball, and even various forms of Motorsports.

Have you stopped to think about, “What is the goal?”

Often it is the collective enthusiasm of beating the opponent, the competition, or winning the championship.

What is the talk in the locker room? Do you think anyone in professional sports is talking about how they will lose?

Are they talking about the controversy among the team? The mistake from two weeks ago? How a couple of seasons ago there was a bad decision?

Unlikely, unless they have a twist on those aspects to increase motivation.

Working Today?

Your job and the work that you contribute to may be similar to professional sports. Are you arriving with a plan to win?

Today I’m going to close the sale.

Let’s be sure to ship 150 packages today.

Let’s build today without any mistakes or errors. Total quality.

One aspect that is always true about sports and our work, winning today (short run) is important but winning the championship (long run) is a collection of on-going wins.

Employees cannot sacrifice integrity just to win the game.

Maintain Integrity

Closing the sale in the system in the final hours of the day with the hope that the customer will buy tomorrow doesn’t work.

Throwing a few extra packages on the truck that will ultimately be refused at the customer site isn’t winning.

Fudging a little on quality to say, “We finished it, ship it.” will come back to harm your future reputation.

Are you working today?

Go do work that matters, work you are proud of, and work that will win the championship.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

29
May 19
-

Workplace Ethics and the Perceptions of Employees

Tags : cheat ethics leadership risk

Perceptions drive expectations, and expectations serve as the measuring stick of fulfillment. What is expected is both the frame and the goal. In matters of workplace ethics who decides the framework of expectations?

Ethical considerations are often quickly connected to the inappropriate shortcut, the sneaky cheaty perception of cutting corners, side deals, or even stealing. What are your ethical boundaries? What is tolerated or welcomed as acceptable in your workplace?

Decisions and Choices

The part-time assistant in the pizza shop may feel entitled to a slice at the end of his or her shift. Is that ethical?

A ream of paper from the office for your home computer so the kids can print stuff out. Is that ethical?

The company car, used for a family vacation. Is that ethical?

In many cases, your first response may be, “It depends.” If so, it depends on what? If others are doing it or if the circumstances surrounding the consumption or use seem to be permitted? Has it always been done this way?

Workplace Ethics

People are often willing to take shortcuts, or use or borrow something that does not belong to them. A popular mindset is that this ethical infringement is owed.

I worked hard during my shift so I get a free slice of pizza at the end.

Perfectly fine if this is a formal agreement as part of the compensation. Sneaking it while no one is looking may be a different story.

Boundaries exist, especially in ethics. A boundary broken may be viewed as a way to move ahead. A cheat, a steal, and against the law.

When someone is willing to cheat a little, will they cheat a lot? Is there a measurement for the allowable size of cheat? Is that the framework for ethics?

You may say, “It depends.”

The ethical question then becomes, “Does it?”

What is your perception?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

21
Sep 18
-

Workplace Cooperation, Do You Have It?

Tags : culture emotion ethics team workplace cooperation

Getting along in the workplace is a job requirement. It may not appear on the job description, but it is still a requirement. Do you have workplace cooperation or is harmful conflict, agreeing to disagree, or passive aggressive domination more popular?

Is your business or organization feeling stuck? What are the employees saying?

Considering workplace success and organizational growth, it should be clear that cooperation is a better path.

What Is Different?

When there is a different idea, a different suggestion, or something that offers a different perspective, what is the cultural response? Often different is associated with opposition, not opportunity.

Certainly, revenue and profit matter. Certainly, a unified team is important, and certainly building a cultural experience that motivates and excites often produces great work.

Have you considered how internal cultural experiences shape results? Have you grown just big enough and are now stuck?

Big Enough

Grow big enough and a culture of dominate and destroy has an opportunity to infest the communication and cooperation of your internal workforce. Push hard enough and the insistence of win at all costs will test your ethical boundaries.

Preach about perfection, you may end up with a culture that absolutely resists and rejects change.

Preach about removing emotion, you may end up with a culture that is not appropriately motivated, misunderstands their purpose, and lacks loyalty.

Absolutely, quality matters, and yes sometimes we do need to set aside emotion in the interest of a good clear business decision. A word of caution though, be careful about the culture you are creating.

Workplace Cooperation

We live in a highly networked world. In a networked world connection is the most basic and fundamental principle for success.

If you don’t have workplace cooperation you may be lacking the ingredients required to get you to the next level.

Feeling stuck? Do you question why you have internal fighting and disconnection? Have you wondered why dominance and strikeouts occur between fellow employees?

It may not only be about the cultural aspects that you allow. It may exactly what you’ve built.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

27
Oct 17
-

Want and Need, What is the Difference?

Tags : customer satisfaction ethics needs sales wants

Is the difference between want and need just semantics? It could be, but if you are in consultative sales understanding the difference may be critical. If you are setting the bar for customer service excellence it has never been more important.

What is the difference?

I want it with four-wheel drive.

I want the biggest engine.

It is common for customers to present with what they want, but do they always know what they need? The basics of delivering exceptional customer service mean that the customer is highly satisfied and hopefully delighted with their transaction. The customer decides, not the vendor.

When the vendor gives the customer what they want, is it the same as what they need? The safe answer of course is, “sometimes.”

Transactional vs. Consultative

The sales exchange at the drive through window of a fast food restaurant most often is not consultative sales.

I want the #1 with a Diet Soda.

I’ll have the big box, hold the guacamole.

Give me the two for $5.

It is a transactional sale and while want and need may still be important, it isn’t nearly as critical. Sometimes it isn’t even our business to know. Suggesting the healthier choice (in your opinion) may seem valid, but it also may not be your business.

Consultative Sales

The other side of sometimes is that sometimes it isn’t. The highest level of customer satisfaction is long-term satisfaction. The customer should understand that what they want is appropriate for their needs.

A commercial grade tool may not be required for the average homeowner. Likewise, a seven-passenger vehicle with a DVD entertainment system may not be what an 80-year-old needs to pick up groceries, even though it is on the lot at a great price and they can pay with cash.

The sales process at a car dealership, with a realtor, or in many business-to-business transactions is often consultative sales. The size, the intended use, product life, and many other variables will condition long-term satisfaction.

Want and Need

Is this all a no-brainer? Perhaps, but the words we chose often have a psychological impact. Our mind-set is important to deliver exceptional levels of satisfaction. When we deliver what the customer wants, and it really isn’t what they need, we might have a problem.

Many people subconsciously search for effortless. They, by nature, like it easy. It might be easy to be an order taker. Closing the sale fast and without debate helps make the numbers, it could also result in a nice commission check, for now.

Businesses with high integrity and ethical standards who are watching lifetime value should know the difference between want and need.

You should too.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

17
Jul 17
2

customer service ethics appreciative strategies

What Are Your Customer Service Ethics?

Tags : customer service ethics habits products reputation

Ethics can be a controversial subject. What seems perfectly fine to one person might be extremely wrong to another. Do you think much about customer service ethics?

People sometimes believe it is okay if it is a small thing. It might be the little white lie or the dirt swept under the carpet. In other cases, it might be connected to the concept of a baker’s dozen or getting a take home container after having a full meal at the buffet.

What do you think, are people and businesses ethically challenged?

Observed Ethical Challenges

Make a cake and you might hide the imperfections with extra icing, seems sweet enough.

What about the chicken nuggets left over from the lunchtime rush? Did the cook notice or simply not care? Perhaps it is about profit, no nuggets wasted.

The same might be true for the aged lettuce tossed into your salad or cleverly hidden under your sandwich bun. A few pieces here and there, no one will notice.

Ethics exist in customer service. Sometimes they are cleverly disguised in the sale. Other times there is hope that it simply goes unnoticed. Besides, if discovered there is an apology to make things right.

Is this the food you want to eat? Is it the product you thought you were buying, or what you expect to find inside the brown box on your doorstep? No customer wants this surprise.

You Are What You Build

In life, you are the product of your habits repeated over and over again. The same is true for your business reputation. You are the product of what you deliver over and over again.

You might sweeten the cake sometimes and get away with it since icing seems like an extra. Few would probably find fault or feel short-changed.

Cold nuggets and brown lettuce are never a good idea. Some might complain, but many others will just go somewhere else the next time.

Customer Service Ethics

What you try to hide or pretend to not notice might get you through the day. After all, if no one says anything did it really happen?

The successful shop, the one that cares and is ethical, is not sweeping anything under the carpet.

They are not building it for today. They are building it for today and tomorrow.

Their customers come back and refer others.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: ethics

Apr 21

-

Metrics and Measurement

Bad Behavior Rewarded

May 20

-

Leaders Show Up

Jan 20

-

Short-term vision

Long-term Vision

Winning Vision

Oct 19

-

You Can’t Beat the System

Workplace Quick Study

Sep 19

-

Work Avoided

Leadership Work

Jul 19

-

Working Today?

Maintain Integrity

May 19

-

Decisions and Choices

Workplace Ethics

Sep 18

-

What Is Different?

Big Enough

Workplace Cooperation

Oct 17

-

Transactional vs. Consultative

Consultative Sales

Want and Need

Jul 17

Observed Ethical Challenges

You Are What You Build

Customer Service Ethics

Search This Website

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Blog (Filter) Categories

Follow me on Twitter

Assessment Services and Tools

Recent Posts

Email Signup

Subscribe to newsletter

Contact Info