Ethical Leadership: It's based on who we are and what we believe in

Ethical Scenario:
So allow me to give you a scenario and you decide what is ethical...
A friend and you are traveling along a road. Your friend is driving, while you've got shot gun. The speed limit on the road is 35 mph, but your friend is cruising at 50 mph. Well, your friend crashes into another car and kills the other driver. The police respond to the scene and ask for your witness report of what happened. How fast do you tell the police officer your friend was driving?
The American culture, we often say around 45 to 50 mph. In our culture it is more common that we believe in honesty. However, in Asian cultures they more commonly say 35 mph. The Asian culture is focused more around loyalty. Loyalty to your friend.

Real Life Scenario:
So now allow me to give you another scenario, one that happened to me.
You are a student body officer and taking the hardest class in your high school, IB Physics. It's during your junior year when grades really matter for when you apply to college. The class is so hard that you, with a 3.9 GPA, are failing the class. While first semester you pulled off a C, the second semester final comes around and you have a D. You sit next to your best friend, Sally (not her real name), in the class and she is doing even worse than you. So on the day of the final, the teacher passes out the test & you are struggling. While only 50% of the way through, Sally is already done, in fact she's the first one. She sits back down and while you are working on a problem, she tells you the answer. You check the answer she gave you and it is right, what do you do?! Eventually you finish the final and it is lunch time. You both head to the library during lunch to study for the next final. While in the library you hear her whisper to another classmate about how she can't believe they were both able to pull off cheating on the final, what do you do?!
My Response: Well, I'll tell you what I did do. When she told me the answer, I checked the answer and she was right. So, I put that answer down on my test. I figured I was smart enough to know the concept and know that was the right answer I would've gotten to eventually. I then whispered back that I did not want her to tell me any more answers. Then, when I heard she'd cheated I told my teacher. My teacher told me that she had an F in the class, yet Sally had been the highest scorer on the final. Sally had only missed one question. She got questioned by the principle, but no evidence was found to hold her accountable. Sally and I were no longer friends.
Reflection: I was a leader in my high school. I was in charge of all the assemblies and running for student body president at the time. Everyone in high school knew me as 'the mormon'. Thus, my actions were watched. I believe how I handled this situation show some of my key values. First, I value integrity and honesty over loyalty. That is why I told  the truth to my teacher about my best friend. It also show I value courage and independence. I was courageous to stand up for my beliefs despite the consequences of losing a friend. I was independent enough to be okay without a friend. I valued my family and spirituality more than a friendship. Thus, my religion and my family taught me to always be honest. That I was and in the end, I still have my family and religion. These are my values that are seen through that scenario.
Consequences: My choice resulted in me not having that friendship. As one of the few Mormons, I did not party and did not have many other friends. I had a lonely senior year. However, I was blessed to have the opportunity to grow as a leader and spiritually as Laurel Class President. I was also elected to be Student Body President. Another consequence was that I scored low on my final, since I didn't ask Sally for more of the answers. However, I was blessed to have an ACT score that raised 8 points from the first test to the second. Thus, I was able to still make it into BYU despite my lower GPA. There are consequences to all the ethical choices we make, but what consequences you would rather have reflect your values.

My values:

Courageous:
The confidence to act in accordance with one's beliefs.
Independence:
Freedom from the support or approval of others.
Integrity:
Being truthful and honest in all actions.
Family:
Those who love me unconditionally. Bob, Janet, Rob, Diana, Julia, and Matthew Hild.
Joy:
The emotion of delight and happiness caused by something of exceptional goodness.
Spirituality:
The state or quality of being dedicated to God.
Kindness:
The state of being considerate and helpful.
Influence:
The power of a person to affect the action, behavior, or opinions of others.

My Mission Statement:

I have the courage to be independent in my opinions and beliefs, but do not waiver. I conduct myself with integrity, that others may be able to trust and respect me. My family members are the most important people in my life. I know that my true joy is dependent upon my own spirituality and kindness to others. As I show kindness to those around me I hope to be able to influence them.

So what do you value? What influences your ethical decisions?

Strengths and weaknesses (well the latter I don't have)

Okay, so maybe I do have weaknesses...humility maybe? haha just kidding. But here are my weaknesses as a leader...

 Stubborn with an ‘I’m right’ attitude

Don’t delegate and give responsibilities

Struggle trusting others, think I can do job better

Too caring and emotional in decision making

Too considerate that can’t please everyone and don’t make the best decision for group

Don’t take risks

Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I am a firm believer that all weakenesses can be made strong, thus my strengths are my weakenesses from a different perspective....
    willing to vocalize and share ideas
    compassionate and caring about people
    honest, moral and integrity: trustworthy
    strong character that can lead by example
    kind and considerate
    outgoing, enthusiastic, and sociable
    bring the best out of others
    able to stay calm, level-headed and cool during a crisis
    Humorous: able to revlieve stress
    Maturity

I firmly believe that I was given these strengths for a reason. The reason being my family. As the oldest child of five, I have a great leadership responsibility in my family. Thus, I believe I was given these strengths for them. For example, I am able to always remain calm, no matter the crisis or fight. As a result, I am able to be a peacekeeper amongst the youngins. This is a strength only my dad and I have. Since he is at work during the day while I am at home with the family, it is a blessing that I have this strength. Another strength that I believe I have been blessed is my morals and integrity. I have never felt a need to stray from the gospel standards. As a result, I have been able to be a strong example for my siblings to follow. We each have our own strengths we have been blessed with for a specific reason. Over time, we learn the purpose of each of these strengths and how they bless our lives as well as others.


So what are you weaknesses? & How can they become strengths?

Motivating Others- "We can do this the easy way or the hard way"

I hate getting shots. Yes, me, an eighteen year old at BYU, still has a fear of shots...yikes. Well, this fear of mine has been a part of me since my birth. So, allow me to tell you about one experience getting a shot. I was about nine years old at the time of this incident. Waiting in the doctor's room with my mom I was growing increasingly more nervous for what was about to come. It felt like forever before a nurse walked into the room with a shot in hand. I flipped out. I began running away from the nurse. This meant I was running in circles around the little room. Finally the nurse yelled at me, "we can do this the easy way or the hard way". I stopped for a moment and she stabbed me with the needle.

So, "we can do this the easy way or the hard way". That's one way to motivate a child, right? I would have preferred to hear about all the treats I'd receive if I'd sit still. However, everyone has their different motivation techniques. So let's look at a few...

Marilyn Monroe- Charismatic. Although known for her promiscuity, I prefer to look at her ability to motive others as charisma. With such a dazzling and captivating personality, she was able to influence others to do as she wished. Her charm was a motivating technique. This is an effective style, but does has its limitations. It would not be appropriate or effective in a professional environment when those following the leader seek credibility.


Sarah Palin- An example of poor motivation techniques. Clearly if she was really effective in motivating others she would have been more successful in the presidential elections. She was ineffective because she did not establish political credibility with her audience. People are not going to do what she says if they don't trust her.

These are a few of the leaders that visited our leadership lab this Halloween...& how they motivated others.