Interview with an Ethical Leader 1

Interview with an Ethical Leader

Kathryn Stacy

FSCJ
 Ethical Leader 2

Abstract

In this paper I will interview someone who I view as an ethical leader. We will go over a series

of question that will total five in length. The questions will be pertaining to ethics and what they

personally view ethics as. As well as how they demonstrate good ethics on a day to day basis.

We will go on to discuss what they view as Americas greatest ethical dilemma. The majority of

the paper will be base on provided ethics questions. I will the end with a conclusion, wrapping

up the paper.
 Ethical Leader 3

Introduction

For this paper I had to choose an ethical leader to interview. While trying to think of an

ethical leader, I ran into the problem of not having many to choose from. After considering a few

options I finally settled on a fellow manager that I have the pleasure of working with. Even

though in our restaurant we are equals, I still look to him for guidance from time to time. This

Gentleman, who prefers not to be named in this paper, is an ethical leader in my perspective

because he displays guidance and fairness on an everyday basis amongst other qualities.

How would you personally define ethics?

For this question they answered that their personal definition of ethics was a “personal

principle set of beliefs for right and wrong”. They then further their definition by saying that

these set of beliefs are how a person can justify their actions by saying if they are right or wrong.

Essentially, this is what ethics are. Simply, as Singer says, ethics is a moral philosophy where

one decides what is morally right or morally wrong. At the same time, it is equally as hard to

define ethics as each person has their own set of ideas of what is wrong and right. Something that

I might think is ethically sound, another might think is ethically wrong.

How would you describe your personal ethics philosophy?

My interviewee stated his personal ethics philosophy as, if you are not hurting yourself or

hurting someone else then they do not care what decision another person chooses. While this is a

perfectly fine philosophy, I tried to push him some more to get him to elaborate on his statement.
 Ethical Leader 4

After a little more talking, he then added that if he would to further what he said he would do so

by saying, to treat others how you would like to be treated. Another solid philosophy to live by

because I truly believe that what comes around, goes around.

How did you handle your most recent ethical dilemma?

They admittedly started answering this question by saying that the outcome was sort of

what they expected. That they should have not had their first line of thinking, knowing that the

outcome was most likely going to be the same either way. In his defense, no one can ever truly

know for sure what the outcome of their decision will be. On the other hand, is one acting

ethically if they are expecting a particular outcome?

What was it?

He prephases the situation by saying that is was his day off. Then goes on to say that he

received a call saying that another employee had called out of work and if he could come in to

help the kitchen. Agreeing, because he didn’t want to leave another coworker stranded, he then

had to rush to work to help the short-staffed kitchen. He goes on to say that he did all this in

hopes that the same would be done for him if he were one day left short staffed in the kitchen.

What was the result?

When I asked him, what was the result of this and if he ever got the favor returned to

him, he laughs. Then he says, “I’m still waiting on the help!”. Though he already acknowledged

his irrational thinking, I believe that you can not go into that type of situation expecting the same

to be done in return. Not that there is anything ethically wrong with that, per say. Its just a hard
 Ethical Leader 5

thing to try to gauge. At what point has the favor been returned? How much help do they think is

equal to the amount of help that they thought they should have received? This is when defining if

something is ethically right or wrong becomes tricky, what one sees at ethically fit, another

might see as ethically wrong. Or, was it even a matter of ethics to expect a favor to be returned?

Some might think it is more of a moral issue.

How do you personally demonstrate good ethics?

When asked this question they pondered for a moment and then stated that they “always

assume some one is watching”. By saying this is think he means that his ethics practice is to act

the same way he would if someone were watching even when there is no one watching. This is

one good way to practice ethics because it enables one to always act the same way no matter the

situation. The general idea of his statement is to always act ethically even if sometimes you do

not want to. I could see someone getting into the habit of always acting ethically, if practicing

this technique.

What do you believe is one of the greatest ethical dilemmas facing American society

today?

Personally, I thought this is was a fantastic ethics question and I could tell that my

Interviewee thought so as well. They looked pleasantly surprised and then took a moment to

answer. When they spoke, they said that they thought the greatest ethical dilemma that American

society faces today is “Whether or not to take care of someone without getting anything in

return”. I believe that this is definitely one of the greater ethical dilemmas in life, and especially

in 2020. Today the world is in the midst of a heath pandemic, one that has taken many lives
 Ethical Leader 6

while leaving many others in quarantine. The United States particularly have experienced a

shortage of toilet paper, stores cannot seem to keep them on the shelves. This has a lot to do with

the virus that has ravaged the country. In recent, people have been met with the tasks of making

ethical decisions every day. An example being, wondering if you should get extra supplies even

if it means those shopping after you gets nothing?

Conclusion

Defining ethics as a moral philosophy is a vague concept. This paper goes to show that

ethics is defined by the individual. Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg established his stages of

moral development in 1958 (Ethics & Morality). In his model he stats that we become ethically

aware in our third stage of development. What causes us to become more aware is that we start

to think, what if everyone acted in the same way? This is when we begin to ask if acting one way

or another is more right or wrong or vice versa. Though ethics could have a number of different

meanings, it is also something we need to make a better world around us. If we did not have

ethics, there would not be a set of guidelines on how to treat others. Even with a golden rule like,

do unto others as you want done to you, there is still some grey area when it comes to right and

wrong. Everyday we use ethics and have to think what the ethically right thing is to do. Almost

every decision we make we run it through the possible scenarios and consequences, in doing so

we are essentially thinking ethically. Ultimately it comes down to the set of moral you’ve

developed through life and what those morals tell you is right or wrong.
 Ethical Leader 7

References

Ethics and Morality. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/ethics-

and-morality

Singer, P. (2020, January 13). Ethics. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-

philosophy