Building & Sustaining Ethical Nonprofits

Values, Blind Spots, and Strategies

Tom SechrestAnn Hume Wilson

Overview

• What do we mean by ethics?• It starts with values• Blind spots and shadows• Identifying ethical issues• Ethical decision-making• Tools you can use• Strategies for building ethical organizations

ethicsmoral

right

wrongprob

lem

s

philo

soph

y

QUESTIONS

DUTY

VALU

ES

dilemma

standards

normative

EVERYO

NE

behaviorRULES

Code of Conduct

utilitarian

situation

principle

s

JUSTIFY

everyone

Ethics: Working Definition

• Doing what’s right….

• What you do when no one else is looking…

• Obedience to the unenforceableRushworth Kidder

Does this definition resonate?

competence

love

broad-mindedness

imaginationlogic

cheerfulness

obedience

collaboration

courage

politeness

ambition

helpfulness

forgivenessfreedom

happiness

inner harmony

world peace

salvation

equality

pleasure

social recognition

beauty

IT’S ALL ABOUT VALUES

Group Discussion

• Working alone, complete the Identifying Values worksheet as instructed

• Turn to 2-3 of those seated around you

• Spend a few moments sharing personal values

• Then share a few key organizational values

• Share with larger group as you are willing

Aren’t we all pretty ethical?

• Want vs. Should

• Blind Spots

• Leadership Shadows

• Compliance vs. Commitment

“Want” vs. “Should”

PredictionForecasting errors

Decision Time

Ethical FadingVisceral Response

RecollectionMemory revisionsShifting Standards

Should------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Want

I should behave ethically…thereforeI will

I don’t see the ethicalImplications…so I do what I want to do.

I should have behavedethically…therefore I did!

Bazerman, Max & Tenbrunsel, Ann. Blind Spots. Princeton University Press 2011

Blind Spots for Nonprofits

Things known by others but not ourselves:• Traits in ourselves or our organizations we fail

to recognize• Information we regularly suppress, distort, or

dismiss• Persistent lack of knowledge about areas of

leadership

Blind Spots for Nonprofits

Heroic leadership • A “cultural addiction” (Senge)• Leaders have difficulty obtaining feedback• Misplaced loyaltiesDenial• We don’t want to believe that something unethical

might be taking placeNarcissism• Are we deluding ourselves about the unique superiority

of our mission?

Leadership Shadows

• Power• Privilege• Misplaced Loyalty• Inconsistency• Quasi-moralism

Compliance vs. Commitment (Values)

• Family Connections

• HUB Vendors

• Penn State

• “Stolen” art?

Ruggiero’s Ethical Decision-making Model

1 Study the details– Context, circumstances, research

2: Identify relevant criteria– Consider obligations– Consider ideals– Consider consequences

3: Determine possible courses of action– Imagine the various alternatives

4: Decide what is most ethical– If there are choices, choose what produces the greater good or the least harm

Based on: Thinking Critically about Ethical Issues by V. R. Ruggiero, 7th Ed., 2008

Laura Nash’s Twelve Questions1. Have you defined the problem accurately?2. How would you define the problem from the other side of the fence?3. How did the situation occur in the first place?4. To whom/what do you give your loyalty?5. What is your intention in making decision?6. How does intention compare with probable results?7. Whom could your decision injure?8. Can you discuss with affected parties?9. Are you confident your position will be as valid over the long term as it is now?10. Could you disclose your decision to boss, colleagues, family, etc.?11. What is the symbolic potential of your action if understood? Misunderstood?12. Are there circumstances when you would allow exceptions to your stand?

Nash, Laura L. "Ethics Without Sermons." Howard Business Review 59 (1981): 79-90.

Kidder’s Nine Checkpoints

1. Recognize there is an issue2. Whose issue is it?3. Gather relevant facts4. Test for right-versus-wrong issues5. Test for right-versus-right paradigms6. Apply resolution principles (ends-based, rules-based,

care-based)7. Is there a “third way?”8. Make the decision9. Revisit and reflect on the decision

Kidder, Rushworth. (1995). How Good People Make Tough Choices.

Factors In Ethical Conduct

• Awareness: recognition that a situation raises ethical issues

• Decision making: determining what course of action is ethically sound

• Intent: identifying which values should take priority in the decision

• Action: following through on ethical decisions

James R. Rest, 1994

Nonprofit Dilemmas

• Compensation• Employee Confidentiality• Conflicts of Interest• Donor Influence• Grant Reporting• Transparency

Strategies for Building & Sustaining Ethical Nonprofits

• Look at your Code of Ethics• Discuss ethical issues at board meetings• Awareness is key – how can it be fostered?• What are some metrics that can be used?• Create a “Values Card” for staff and board• Other ideas?

Wrap-up: Remember These Key Points

• Awareness

• Allow Time for Decisions (Resist Pressure For Immediate Decisions)

• Be Intentional About Your Strategies