My personal code of ethics shows my personality and the things I value in life. When I keep these values in the forefront of my mind regarding school, work, and friendships, I feel that I am upholding not only these values but myself to the highest standards. This code serves as the building blocks of my own “personal life blueprint”. A personal code of ethics serves to remind us of the values and the ideals that we admire and by which we enforce accountability. Some of my values have changed throughout my life, but for the most part, my foundation has remained the same. When I was a Girl Scout, there was a code of conduct that contained values that played a large role in what my values are today. I also gained many of these values through my upbringing in the church and have molded them to fit into my own personal code.
Honesty
When I think of ethics, I think of the three “T’s”; Honesty, Integrity, and Loyalty. When I talk about honesty, or when I use that in my life, I like to believe that everybody has moral fibers and that they are being sincere, genuine, truthful, and honest. I am an honest person, and that is how I expect everyone to be. Through honesty, we can gain trust, and trust is crucial to personal and work relationships. As a part of honesty, I will also include transparency since these values go hand-in-hand. If someone wants to see something I’ve done or if I haven’t done it, I’m transparent about it. If I have questions or feel like something isn’t working, I like to let people know my honest opinion on the matter. If staff can feel that you are being 100% genuine and transparent, I believe that they themselves will be more open and honest with you as a leader in return.
Integrity
When I talk about integrity with children, I usually explain it by telling them it means to do the right thing even when no one is watching. For me as an adult, integrity means being consistent in what I’m doing (being consistent in my actions, being consistent in my expectations of others, and being consistent in general with all of my practices). With integrity, you have to be consistent in your expectation of employees and students. This can be difficult, but if you don’t keep this consistency, you might end up telling one person one thing and telling another person a completely different thing, and that would just not work. Integrity shapes who I am as a person and it requires me to have trust and discipline within myself.
Loyalty
The final building block that I go by is loyalty. Loyalty immediately speaks the word devotion. Being devoted to God, your family and friends, and your job. Being raised in the church helped me build my moral fiber. Everybody was genuine, and honorable in the institution. The years, along with my family and friends have helped embed these ethics within me. For me, loyalty means you have the ability to get a person to do something not because they have to do it, but because they want to do it. If you take care of them, they will take care of you. If you are loyal to them, honest to them, if you care for them, and you are consistent in your expectations of them, I believe they will follow you until the ends of the earth. In education, being loyal can also in turn help you down the line when you need people the most. This could be in the case of making a difficult decision or trying something new. If your staff is loyal to you as you are to them, you can have peace knowing that someone will always have your back.
Reflection
As I grow in my leadership journey, I also evolve by being more and more accountable for my actions. As you get older and your job requires more accountability, you need to really understand your own personal code of ethics. These ethics are extremely important to me now. As a leader, your job is to influence people to be the very best they can be, so that they can be more proficient and reflect on their own personal code. I will continue to live by this code and stay true to these values as I explore, lead, and learn professionally and socially. I am confident that if I continue to abide by these values, I can lead myself and others in a positive direction.