Moral Compass, Ethics and The Truth

I was giving time to think about the recent re-instatement of the Federal Reserve Chairman and the swearing in of the Treasury Secretary, and watched enflamed arguments of both sides on Huffington Post's blog.  It made me reflect on the oaths I have taken in my life. The first oath I ever took was to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and swear to defend it with my life, against enemies both foreign and domestic. The latest oath I've taken was when I became a CISSP.

It states in the Code of Ethics Preamble:

Safety of the commonwealth, duty to our principals, and to each other requires that we adhere, and be seen to adhere, to the highest ethical standards of behavior.

Think that over for just a moment.  Think about the massive banking fraud that took place. Think about the bail outs. It is pretty clear in my mind that the bankers, the CEO’s, the trader's, the SEC, the FED and many others didn't have moral character. One of the tenants of a publicly traded company is to build shareholder's wealth, but not to do so at the expense of integrity. Yet Bernanke was re-affirmed by the Senate, and Geithner was sworn in, though he failed to pay outstanding taxes from 2001 to 2004, until he was nomination was affirmed.  In both cases there were at least 30 votes against it.

Wikipedia defines Moral character or character is an evaluation of a particular individual's moral qualities. The concept of character can imply a variety of attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits.

If our leaders do not exhibit these qualities, will you stand up and be that leader? Will you be ethical, will you have moral courage? Will you exhibit the fortitude to continue to do the right thing? In business, in life, either way - you are judged by your honesty, your truthfulness and your character. Where has the moral compass of America turned and why? When did our leaders that we elect lose their integrity, their moral courage?  What is your definition of ethics?

One of my friends, a teacher of ISC2's CISSP course gives this small talk about ethics and doesn't ask for your answer, he just presents the following

scenario:

Suppose you are in a position to make a huge sale for your company. In fact your entire livelihood depends on this one sale. If you don't make the sale, you are going to be axed, and you know this.  It just so happens as you are commiserating over your final approach to the customer in three days, you happen by the local watering hole to contemplate. As fate would have it, your primary competitor is there, discussing the same account you are calling on. They are within earshot. Do you listen in, or do you ignore?

Then your competitor opens his briefcase, pulls out the file and opens it.

Leaves the table to hits the bathroom, then the appetizer buffet. Do you casually walk by, and look? Whip out your cell phone and take pictures, or do you ignore it entirely?

Your competitor eats his appetizers, finishes his drink and walks out the door. But he leaves his briefcase behind. It's been five minutes, ten minutes. Do you take the briefcase? Do you turn it in? Do you look inside to find out what's really there?

Now remember this is possibly your job. You don't make the sell you lose the position. What do you do? Don't answer.

Now, what do you do if you just found out that your daughter has medical issues and is going to need surgery and long term care for recovery, and if you lose your job, you lose your medical insurance; what do you do?

Your resume is the first thing a lot of human resources will see. Will your character show through? When you interview, will you be ethical? Will you tell the truth?  When you present yourself will it be in the best light with no flaws, or will you, when asked for your greatest weakness, give the morally correct answer? Everyone has flaws, everyone makes mistakes.  When you are in an interview, don’t hide the truth.  I had once made a mistake by deleting critical log files; it ended up with me working extensive hours and recovering log files but everything was made whole again.  When asked about it, I told the truth.  It was a lesson learned. My employer appreciated the truthfulness, and future employers did too.

Truthfulness will only benefit you when or if you are given a security clearance.  Your moral compass should be on the right path when you are interviewed. When you are asked by the investigator about incidents, tell the truth. If you hedge, they will know. They are experts at reading body language, and changes of inflection in your voice.

Wanting to land a position with a government contractor that may require a clearance? Take a look at www.govtcontractorjobs.com

We now have over 3,000 open direct hire positions listed.