Weighing, Wrestling, Balancing

“Leaders, who are essentialists, think everything boils down to one thing. It is all about shareholder value, or it is all about earnings. However, the world is complex, full of conflicts. By its very nature, ethics is about weighing and balancing different considerations, morally relevant considerations, and interests of different stakeholders who might be in conflict. What ethics really allows and inspires leaders to do is the process of weighing and balancing often-conflicting demands and interests.

“No CEO gets to have ethics or earnings. You need find a way to have both. A leader thinking that way is on the right track... They go through a process of weighing, wrestling, and balancing, and then, they make the right calls. This is very tough. Typically, the ones who get it right are the ones that think long term...

“In many cases doing the right thing is often inconvenient. It can be very unpopular. It can be dangerous, and in the short-term, it can certainly be unprofitable. Sometimes that is exactly when you know you are doing the right thing when it feels so inconvenient...

”Ethics is not something that you just cognitively learn. It is something that you struggle with and practice. Every day, people encounter ethical dilemmas, sometimes without even realizing it.”

(Dov L. Seidman, CEO of LRN, in “A Corporate Training View of Ethics Education: An Interview with Dov L. Seidman, CEO of LRN,” by Kenneth R Thompson. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies: 2007. Vol. 13, Iss. 3; p. 79)