FBLA Ethics Interview Paper

ISSL standard number five states, “An educational leader promotes the success of all

students by acting with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.” When asked to define

ethics, three different leaders in their professions stated that ethics are doing the “right thing”.

The “right thing” can manifest differently to different people but the ideas are still the same.

These ideas are reduced to knowing yourself, listening to others, and doing the right thing for

most.

Similarities

Understanding or knowing yourself as a leader allows you to be successful. When asked

about separating personal and professional life, Bob*, the VP of Operations for a family run

lumber and millwork company, said he can’t separate the two so he “doesn’t become friends

with people that he works with” or socialize “outside of work hours”. Bob stated that it can be

done, however, it looks different for each leader and that each person needs to make that decision

for themselves. Sue*, a high school principal, agrees with Bob. She said that she has never been

able to separate personal and professional worlds, so she just stays in her professional world.

Knowing what that separation looks like is a powerful part of understanding yourself as a leader

and as a contributing member of a successful group.

Bob and Sue both agree that a group is most successful when the leader has an open mind

and welcomes a challenge. Bob approaches meetings with his staff with the thought, “I will steal

your ideas to create a hybrid of all ideas. Nobody has had an original idea”. He believes when

people come together on level ground and he acts more as a mediator than a director, the most

progress is made. Similarly, Sue noted when she enters a meeting “not having all the answers,”

1
she tries to be transparent, letting others know that she doesn’t have all the answers. She also

welcomes the challenge from people who don’t think like her. Sue stated that she hires people

that aren’t like her for the reason that they bring unique perspectives and ideas to the table. Sue

stated that she gets “wrapped up in people that think like me, but that doesn’t provide growth,

challengers do”.

Like Sue, Samantha is also aware of her strengths and who she is as a leader. Samantha

needs to be able to put together groups which are focused and work well together in order to

accomplish a common goal. She also needs to be aware of how people present themselves to one

another and the reactions of all individuals. Since Samantha grew up in the same town that she

runs the high school group, she states “boundaries are different when you grew up with these

kids and you know their families.” She claimed, “You need to be aware of the line when you are

social and when you are professional.” Samantha added that when you set boundaries and have

appropriate student contact, ethical issues don’t arise.

While challengers create growth they can also cause leaders to deal with ethical

dilemmas that may not have been present before. Bob and Sue have had to rectify situations

where others have handled them unethically, to begin with. Bob told of a sexual harassment

situation that happened during a company holiday party. The owner of the company tried to

dismiss the allegations because alcohol was involved while Bob investigated the situation. After

talking to all parties involved, the situation was not what it initially appeared to be and was dealt

with accordingly. Bob summarized, “just because you are not at work doesn’t mean you are not

responsible for your actions. People need to be aware of that.”

Sometimes the situation is as it appears and other procedures and policies are used. It was

reported to Sue that a teacher was acting in an unethical manner. As a result of the situation, Sue

2
relieved the teacher of their duties. While in both situations the employees were well liked by

their peers, their unethical behavior is what ultimately led to their demise. As Bob stated, “people

are hired for what they know, they are fired for who they are.” If unethical decisions are made,

whether at work or in personal life, it is important to address the issue right away so that it can be

handled. By knowing who you are as a leader, and what you stand for ethically, you can create a

successful team and business.

Differences

When working with people who are volunteers rather than employees, the group

decisions have different implications. Samantha*, the sponsor of a high school community club,

must make decisions with the understanding that the people she works with are volunteers.

Samantha has to take into account that people are there for different reasons, an intrinsic need to

do good instead of financial motivation that may come from a job. Samantha stated that her

volunteers are a group of people with whom she typically doesn’t have to worry about ethics.

“They don’t usually do anything wrong so I don’t have to worry about firing anyone. I may just

have to try to keep them on task.” Samantha doesn’t emphasize ethics like Bob and Sue might.

To her, it is as easy as knowing right from wrong in a moral perspective instead of a strictly

ethical one.

In business and educational settings, ethics has been expressed as a blurred line that isn’t

always so clear. Both Bob and Sue defined “right” when talking about ethics as making decisions

that you can live with. It came down to ‘gut feelings’ for them, which is hard to quantify.

“Sometimes the most ethical decision in business is a white lie,” Bob commented. A violation

for one must be a violation for all, however, the outcome may be different. “It doesn’t have to be

a death sentence for all situations,” he claims.

3
 Surprises

At the end of these interviews, I was most surprised by how similar education and

business are. In regards to ethics, education and business have guidelines that are used to make

decisions. Businesses have protocols that are engineered from the top down. The business owner

can set, alter, and maintain these protocols to achieve their end results and goals. Education also

has a top-down approach with instructional guidance. The government, whether state or federal

create these guidelines and set the expectation that districts and the teachers within each district

meet the mark set forth. With our current political climate, the similarities between business and

education are worrisome and interesting. When society starts looking at education as a business

it becomes easier to see students as test scores and not as individuals who can shape and

influence our future. As a future leader in education, I believe that our ethical choices can allow

us to focus on doing what is right for our students, which is showing them that they are our

future and not simply a test score.

Big Takeaways/Ideas

As I think about my big takeaways and ideas, I respect how messy ethics are. Ethics are a

constant driving force in our culture/society and an essential portion of everything we do, what

ethics looks like is different for everyone. When thinking about ethical decisions that are

required of leaders, I asked Bob, Sue, and Samantha for one piece of advice. Bob advised,

“Don’t treat others how you want to be treated, treat others how they want to be treated. Nobody

cares about what you want but instead, they care about what they want.” It’s a cynical way to

look at things but I also think it’s true. When taking this advice and looking at it through an

ethical lens, that tends to blur the lines if we differ in what we think is “the right thing to do”.

4
 Samantha suggested to focus your talents and try not to be a jack of all trades and a

master of none. It comes down to time management and being able to say no to things. While the

connection to ethics is lacking in this advice, it’s a powerful thing to remember as a leader of any

group. A leader is only as successful as their time management and their ability to delegate.

Sue concluded her interview by saying that leading isn’t easy but it can be done. “It

[administration/leadership] has been described as a pastoral role. What happens in this office

stays in this office, not barring the mandated reporter information.” protect your core system of

values and you do things with the best of intentions, you will be doing “the right thing”.

*Names have been changed to protect identities.