Defining moments and ethical decision-making in managerial leadership

Ethics and Morality -- Discussions and Results Chapter

Major Message: What is the major message of the chapter?

The major message of Chapter 5 is that true ethical decisions are defining moments that form, reveal and test the self (Badaracco, 1997, p. 55).

Key Words:

Form

Defining moments "Form" a person in that they help shape his/her character, sometimes in small ways, sometimes in dramatic ways, sometimes as a fork in the road and sometimes as a turning point (Badaracco, 1997, pp. 61-2).

Reveal Defining moments "Reveal" a person in that they show whether he/she really believes in and is committed to those values or just gives them "lip service" (Badaracco, 1997, p. 59).

Test Defining moments "Test" a person in that they show whether he/she really believes in and is committed to those values or just gives them "lip service" and because they sometimes involve competing values in which a person deeply believes. The person is forced to set priorities and make the decision (Badaracco, 1997, pp. 57, 59-60).

3. Key Sentences:

i. There are ways to load the dice in favor of practical, responsible decisions -- choices that managers can look back on with a sense of achievement, pride and honor. The first step in this direction is understanding the ways in which right-versus-right decisions are defining moments in managers' lives and careers (Badaracco, 1997, p. 55).

ii. John Dewey says important ethical decisions have two important aspects: the public side, which others can observe; the private side, which involves "the ways in which ethical decisions 'form, reveal, and test the self" (Badaracco, 1997, p. 55).

iii. Stevens, the butler in "Remains of the Day," chose to fulfill his duties at an important conference rather than sit with his dying father. Upon learning that his father had died, Stevens said, "…I know my father would have wished me to carry on just now" and later says "For all its sad associations, whenever I recall that evening today, I find I do so with a large sense of triumph" because he had finally measured up to the high standards of service he set for himself (Badaracco, 1997, pp. 56-7).

iv. Revealing: defining moments can cause something hidden to surface, something unformed and fluid to crystallize, something obscure to be shown in sharp, clear view. Reveals something important about a person's basic values and about his/her abiding commitments in life (Badaracco, 1997, p. 57).

v. Compel people to arrange values in single file and reveal the priorities among them (Badaracco, 1997, p. 57).

vi. No guarantee that it will reveal a value or commitment that is morally inspiring or elevating (Badaracco, 1997, p. 58).

vii. What is revealed is rarely a startling new facet of a person's personality (Badaracco, 1997, p. 58).

viii. A single gesture could reveal a person's entire character (Badaracco, 1997, p. 58).

ix. Crystallizing in that it can give sharper, more vivid more intensified version of what a person has revealed in small ways nearly every day (Badaracco, 1997, p. 58).

x. Reveals much about a person's past (Badaracco, 1997, p. 59).

xi. Are profoundly social as well as deeply personal (Badaracco, 1997, p. 59).

TESTING

xii. Tests a person's values: whether he/she is really committed to them or just gives them lip service (Badaracco, 1997, p. 59).

xiii. Right-versus-right choices can be tough tests because a person is choosing between two or more values to which he/she is deeply and genuinely committed (Badaracco, 1997, p. 60).

SHAPING

xiv. Cumulatively, small decisions shape character (Badaracco, 1997, p. 61).

xv. Other choices dramatically and powerfully crystallize a person's character (Badaracco, 1997, p. 61).

xvi. A defining moment can also be a fork in the road or a turning point (Badaracco, 1997, p. 62).

xvii. Some don't seem important at the time but a person can look back and see that they opened or closed doors and changed the person by changing his/her life and experiences (Badaracco, 1997, p. 62).

DEFINING MOMENTS, MANAGERS AND ORGANIZATIONS

xviii. Managers use these principles but must apply them to an organization. They adapt, customize and interpret human values in ways that guide and shape an entire company (Badaracco, 1997, pp. 63-4).

xix. Right-versus-right decisions differ from budgetary decisions or job assignments in Kremlinology because they give a glimpse of the ethical priorities of the people running the company, some clearer sense of what kind of people they really are (Badaracco, 1997, p. 64).

xx. Managers are the ethics teachers of their organizations (Badaracco, 1997, p. 65).

xxi. Sometimes the decider learns it was a turning point too late. The rest of the book shows that thoughtful people can recognize defining moments as they happen and that care and reflection matter greatly for resolving them well (Badaracco, 1997, p. 65).

4. Main Idea Reflection:

I believe the author did an excellent job of breaking down ethical decision-making and looking at it from a number of different aspects to show all it does for you and to you. He examined how those defining moments, expose you, mold you, and test you, sometimes in small ways that nobody can see, sometimes in obvious ways.