Value More Than Money

"A Value More Than Money"

February 06, 2012

PHI 445 Personal & Organizational Ethics

"A Value More Than Money"

Moral standards are the rules the guide every person on the planet in some shape or form. While not every person has the same idea to what or her standards means to everyone, it is the rules that for the most part that govern the person's way of life. Every culture around the world look at these standards in different ways and have different ideas to what is right and wrong with in those set of values. These values define the person, and what the person will become in life to include how strong that person weighs these values in everyday life.

My moral values are simple and are right to the point in the way I live my life. These values are what make me the person I am. I firmly believe that without these values in my life I would have no direction and would allow anyone to treat me, as that person would seem fit. I truly feel that there are two things, I have in life that, no one except myself can take away from me. Those two things are my good name and my beliefs.

First, I believe that a person should always be who he or she is and never try to be someone else; simply put be true to you. What I mean by this is the life you live is your own and you should always strive to live that life for you and you alone. Never look at someone else, and wish that his or her life were yours. You should never allow anyone to think that he or she is better than you are and that means never allow anyone to disrespect you as a person. No one is more important than you as a person.

Second, always stand up for what you believe in and never allow anyone to change your opinion of what you believe without proof to back up that you are in fact wrong. Always remember opinions are not fact, just because everyone argues that someone is right does not

"A Value More Than Money"

make that person right. Your belief must be morally and ethically correct and worth fighting for before, taking a stand on what is right and wrong with what you are fighting for. A great example of this is Susan B. Anthony when she stood up for the right to vote.

So many women felt the same as Susan B. Anthony did on the issue of voting, but was afraid to stand up for what they believed in. Susan B. Anthony was shamed and insulted for what she thought was right even though it caused her a great deal of pain and public embarrassment from a great deal of men and women alike. She refused to back down from what she felt was the right thing. Due to her belief, she won support from a great deal of people, both men and women and won the right to vote (Anthony).

The thing is that her beliefs at the time were thought as being wrong and illegal that women had the right to vote. She felt she was right when thinking that women had the same rights to vote as men. Therefore, she stood behind her belief, and fought a nation even when everyone declared her belief was stupid and wrong. Had she stopped her fight for the rights of women to vote it is more than possible that the law would never had changed when it comes to women voting?

Third, treat others, as you would have them treat you as a person. What this means is that not everyone is the same and not every culture is the same. You have keep in mind that what might be right to you may not be the same to the next person. Just because you have, power over a certain person or situation does not give you the right to do as you please without consideration for others and do not bully those that are different.

"A Value More Than Money"

Many times people will make fun of those whom are different in certain ways. To be honest growing up in the south in an all white community I always heard a great deal of the white kids picking on the nonwhite kids. I have to admit in some situations I found myself disrespecting those same kids. While I was raised to treat others with respect, I never knew what that meant until I left home and joined the military.

This is where I learned that no one is more important than I am, but no one is greater than the team in order to accomplish our mission. We first needed to learn what respect is and that while power does demand respect, it is for the title not the person. A true leader has the respect of those around him or her due to not abusing the power that he or she has but, treating all members of the team equal and with compassion when both rewarding and disciplining. This is what builds teams and unity in the group through selfless service (Army, 2012). It is not until you can see others as your equal and except that all are members in the group being important to the task at hand will the mission be completed.

Fourth, I feel that any good leader will make a decision at any given situation. The fact that a person will take control and make a decision when the time comes is most important. Sometimes even a bad decision can be the best decision. However, the decision being made must be of ethical and moral value. It is too easy to make decisions to do the wrong thing on the act of the it is what is expected of me to get the job done no matter what my values are and what moral belief I may have when in this situation I revert back to my second moral value (Gezler, 2012).

"A Value More Than Money"

Fifth, always have integrity and except responsibility for your actions. You should never allow yourself or anyone to put you in any situation where you feel the need to do the wrong thing for any reason even when no one is around. You should never put yourself in any situation where you are forced to choose right from wrong. If you do happen to find yourself in this situation always, remember who you are and what the right thing to do is.

Had people like Kermit Vandivier had stood behind his moral beliefs he would never had found himself trying to explain what he had done. He compromised whom he was just so he could have a job. In the end, he had destroyed the two things that made him what he was, his good name, and his beliefs. Once he allowed for the higher management of BF Goodrich to force him into writing that report he had given up on fighting for what he believed was the right thing only due to the money and house.

He had put himself in a situation he could not get out of once he looked at what he would lose. In the end, he still lost what he was afraid of losing in the first place (Velasquez, 2010). By letting others tell him that the right thing to do was