There is no guarantee that doing the right thing will lead to personal success. In thirty plus years as an ethics consultant, I have seen ethics undo more than a few brilliant careers. But I have also seen leaders whose ethics helped make them successful. You may think that rising to the top with your ethics intact is a matter of luck. But my observation is that ethical leaders follow a conscious strategy for building success upon their ethics. Here are a few steps to help you align your ethics with your career goals.
Choose who you work for. If your ethics and the ethics of your employer are in significant disagreement, your career success is certain to be limited. Organizations seldom promote individuals who are outside of their cultural boundaries, which include the organization’s ethics. It is not reasonable to expect perfect agreement between your ethics and the ethics of an employer. But a vegan who works for a meat packing company can expect problems. While most of us cannot change jobs at will, you increase your chances of advancement when you are employed by an organization with which you are in ethical agreement.
There are more steps that will be covered in future posts.
Mark Pastin 