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Making Ethical Decisions
The Six Pillars of Character
Go to: Read the Second Chapter: The Making of an Ethical Decision  (leaves present window)
                     Character Counts          Josephson Institute

Trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship — these six core ethical values, which the Josephson Institute calls “Pillars of Character,” provide objective criteria to guide our choices. The standards of conduct that arise out of those values constitute the ground rules of ethics, and therefore of ethical decision making.

There is nothing sacrosanct about the language of the Six Pillars. The terms simply represent discrete ethical concepts that function as moral truths. Since the Aspen Summit on Character Education, and even more so since the founding of its CHARACTER COUNTS! project, the Institute has promoted the idea that a common lexicon is possible, and indeed necessary to arrive at. Why? So that people can see what unites our diverse and fractured society. So that the challenge of ethical relativism can be tackled. So that ethical decisions, while not necessarily made any easier, can nevertheless become more consistent and defensible.

Consensus, discovered and acknowledged, has a special power to change society and lives. A clear, consistent language represents that consensus.

The principles represented by this common language in turn act as filters through which to process decisions. So, being trustworthy is not enough — we must also be caring. Adhering to the letter of the law is not enough — we must accept responsibility for our inaction.

Finally, using core ethical values as the basis for principled reasoning can help us detect situations where we focus so hard on upholding one moral principle that we sacrifice another — where, intent on holding others accountable, we ignore the duty to be compassionate; where, intent on getting a job done, we ignore how.

In short, systematically using the Six Pillars can dramatically improve the ethical quality of our decisions, and thus our character.

Trustworthiness   

When we’re trusted we’re given greater leeway by others because they don’t feel they need contracts to assure that we’ll meet our obligations. They believe in us. That’s satisfying. But there’s a downside: we must constantly live up to the expectations of others and refrain from competitive, self-serving behavior that tarnishes if not destroys relationships, both professional and personal.

Simply refraining from lies and deception is not enough. Trustworthiness is the most complicated of the six core ethical values and concerns a variety of behavioral qualities — qualities like honesty, integrity, reliability and loyalty.

HONESTY. There is no more fundamental ethical value than honesty. We associate honesty with people of honor, and we admire and trust those who are honest. But honesty is a broader concept than many may realize.

Honesty in communications requires a good-faith intent to convey the truth as best we know it and to avoid communicating in a way likely to mislead or deceive. There are three dimensions:

Truthfulness — The obligation of truthfulness precludes intentional misrepresentation of fact (lying). Intent is the crucial distinction between truthfulness and truth itself. Being wrong is not the same thing as being a liar, although honest mistakes can still damage trust insofar as they may be evidence of sloppy judgment.

Sincerity/non-deception — The obligation of sincerity precludes all acts, including half-truths, out-of-context statements, and even silence that are intended to create beliefs or leave impressions that are untrue or misleading.

Candor — In relationships involving legitimate expectations of trust, honesty may also require candor, forthrightness and frankness, imposing the obligation to volunteer information that another person needs to know.

Honesty in conduct prohibits stealing, cheating, fraud, subterfuge and other trickery. Cheating is a particularly foul form of dishonesty because one not only seeks to deceive but to take advantage of those who are not cheating. It’s a two-fer: a violation of trust and fairness.

Not all lies are unethical, even though all lies are dishonest. Huh? That’s right, honesty is not an inviolate principle. Occasionally dishonesty is ethically justifiable, as when the police lie in undercover operations or when one lies to criminals or terrorists to save lives. But don’t kid yourself: occasions for ethically sanctioned lying are rare and require serving a very high purpose indeed — not hitting a management-pleasing sales target or winning a game or avoiding a confrontation. We’re talking saving a life, that sort of thing.

INTEGRITY. The word integrity comes from the word integer, meaning “one” or wholeness. This means there are no divisions in an ethical person’s life, no difference in the way she makes decisions from situation to situation, no difference in the way she acts at work and at home, in public and alone. At one time or another, we all have allowed our behavior to depart from our conscience or to vary according to locale. Even so, almost all of us have lines we will not cross; our challenge is to draw the line around the Six Pillars.

Because she must know who she is and what she values, the person of integrity takes time for self-reflection, so that the events, crises, and seeming necessities of the day do not determine the course of her moral life. She stays in control. She may be courteous, even charming, but she is never duplicitous. She never demeans herself with obsequious behavior toward those she thinks might do her some good. She is trusted because you know who she is: what you see is what you get.

The four enemies of integrity:

Self-interest — Things we want

Self-protection — Things we don’t want

Self-deception — A refusal to see a situation clearly

Self-righteousness — An end-justifies-the-means attitude

RELIABILITY (PROMISE-KEEPING). When we make promises or other commitments that create a legitimate basis for another person to rely upon us to perform certain tasks, we undertake moral duties that go beyond legal obligations. The ethical dimension of promise-keeping imposes the responsibility of making all reasonable efforts to fulfill our commitments. Because promise-keeping is such an important aspect of trustworthiness, it is important to:

Avoid bad-faith excuses — Honorable people interpret their contracts and other commitments in a fair and reasonable manner and not in a way designed to rationalize noncompliance or create justifications for escaping commitments.

Avoid Unwise Commitments — Be cautious about making commitments that create ethical obligations. Before making a promise consider carefully whether you are willing and likely to keep it. Think about unknown or future events that could make it difficult, undesirable or impossible. Sometimes, all we can do is promise to do our best.

Avoid unclear commitments — Since others will expect you to live up to what they think you have promised to do, be sure that when you make a promise the other person understands what you are committing to do.

LOYALTY. Loyalty is a special moral responsibility to promote and protect the interests of certain people, organizations or affiliations. This duty goes beyond the normal obligation we all share to care for others. Some relationships — husband-wife, employer-employee, citizen-country — create an expectation of allegiance, fidelity and devotion.

Limitations to Loyalty — Loyalty is a tricky thing. It is not uncommon for friends, employers, co-workers and others who have a claim on us to demand that their interests be ranked first, even above ethical considerations. Loyalty is a reciprocal concept, however, and no one has the right to ask another to sacrifice ethical principles in the name of a special relationship. Indeed, one forfeits a claim of loyalty when so high a price is put on maintaining the relationship.

Prioritizing Loyalties — Because so many individuals and groups make loyalty claims on us, it is often impossible to honor them all simultaneously. Consequently, we must rank our loyalty obligations in some rational fashion. In our personal lives, for example, most people expect us to place the highest degree of loyalty on our family relationships. It’s perfectly reasonable, and ethical, to look out for the interests of our children, parents and spouses even if we have to subordinate our obligations to other children, neighbors, or co-workers in doing so.

Safeguarding Confidential Information —The duty of loyalty requires us to keep secrets learned in confidence.

Avoiding Conflicting Interests — Employees and public servants have an additional responsibility to make all professional decisions on merit, unimpeded by conflicting personal interests. Their goal is to secure and maintain the trust of the public, to whom they owe their ultimate loyalty.

 

Respect     

The way one shows respect varies, but its essence is the display of regard for the worth of people, including oneself. We have no ethical duty to hold all people in high esteem or admire them, but we are morally obligated to treat everyone with respect, regardless of who they are and what they have done — even if they don’t deserve respect. The reason is not because these undeserving souls are human beings, but because we are. We have a responsibility to be the best we can be in all situations, even when dealing with the heinous.

Respect focuses on the moral obligation to honor the essential worth and dignity of the individual. Respect prohibits violence, humiliation, manipulation, and exploitation. It reflects notions such as civility, courtesy, dignity, autonomy, tolerance and acceptance.

CIVILITY, COURTESY, DECENCY. A respectful person is an attentive listener, although his patience with the boorish need not be endless (respect works both ways). Nevertheless, the respectful person treats others with consideration, conforming to accepted notions of taste and propriety, and doesn’t resort to intimidation, coercion or violence except in extraordinary and limited situations to teach discipline, maintain order or achieve social justice. Punishment is used in moderation and only to advance important social goals and purposes.

AUTONOMY. An ethical person exercises personal, official and managerial authority in a way that provides others with the information they need to make informed decisions about their own lives.

TOLERANCE. An ethical person accepts individual differences and beliefs without prejudice and judges others only on the content of their character.

 

Responsibility    

Life is full of choices. Being responsible means being in charge of our choices and, thus, our lives. It means being accountable for what we do and who we are. It also means recognizing that what we do, and what we don’t do, matters and we are morally on the hook for the consequences.

Responsibility makes demands on us. It imposes duties to do what we can, not because we are being paid or because we will suffer if we don’t, but simply because it is our obligation to do so. The essence of responsibility is continuous awareness that our capacity to reason and our freedom to choose makes us morally autonomous and, therefore, answerable for how we use our autonomy and whether we honor or degrade the ethical principles that give life meaning and purpose.

Beyond having the responsibility to be trustworthy, respectful, fair, and caring, ethical people show responsibility by being accountable, pursuing excellence, and exercising self-restraint. In other words, they exhibit the ability to respond to expectations of performance.

ACCOUNTABILITY. An accountable person is not a victim and doesn’t shift blame or claim credit for the work of others. He considers the likely consequences of his behavior and associations. He recognizes the common complicity in the triumph of evil when nothing is done to stop it. He leads by example.

PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE. The pursuit of excellence has an ethical dimension when others rely upon our knowledge, ability or willingness to perform tasks safely and effectively.

Diligence — It is hardly unethical to make mistakes or be less than “excellent,” but there is a moral obligation to do one’s best, to be diligent, reliable, careful, prepared and informed.

Perseverance — Responsible people finish what they start, overcoming rather than surrendering to obstacles and excuses.

Continuous Improvement — Responsible people look for ways to do their work better.

SELF-RESTRAINT. Responsible people exercise self-control, restraining passions and appetites (lust, hatred, gluttony, greed, fear, etc.) for the sake of reason, prudence and the duty to set a good example. They delay gratification if necessary and never feel it’s necessary to “win at any cost.” They realize they are as they choose to be, every day.

 

Fairness     

Most would agree that fairness and justice involve issues of equality, impartiality, proportionality, openness and due process. Most would agree that it is unfair to handle similar matters inconsistently. Most would agree that it is unfair to impose punishment that is not commensurate with the offense. Beyond that, there is little agreement. Fairness is another tricky concept, probably more subject to legitimate debate and interpretation than any other ethical value. Disagreeing parties tend to maintain that there is only one fair position (their own, naturally). But while some situations and decisions are clearly unfair, fairness usually refers to a range of morally justifiable outcomes rather than discovery of the fair answer.

PROCESS. In settling disputes or dividing resources, how one proceeds to judgment is crucial, for someone is bound to be disappointed with the result. A fair person scrupulously employs open and impartial processes for gathering and evaluating information necessary to make decisions. Fair people do not wait for the truth to come to them; they seek out relevant information and conflicting perspectives before making important judgments.

IMPARTIALITY. Decisions should be made without favoritism or prejudice.

EQUITY. Fairness requires that an individual, company, or society correct mistakes, promptly and voluntarily. It is improper to take advantage of the weakness or ignorance of others.

 

Caring     

Caring is the heart of ethics. It is scarcely possible to be truly ethical and not genuinely concerned with the welfare others. That is because ethics is ultimately about our responsibilities toward other people. If you existed alone in the universe, there would be no need for ethics and your heart could be a cold, hard stone without consequence to anyone or anything.

It is easier to love “humanity” than it is to love people. People who consider themselves ethical and yet lack a caring attitude toward individuals tend to treat others as instruments of their will. They rarely feel an obligation to be honest, loyal, fair or respectful except insofar as it is prudent for them to do so, a disposition which itself hints at duplicity and a lack of integrity.

A person who really cares feels an emotional response to both the pain and pleasure of others. Oddly enough, though, it is not uncommon for people to be remarkably ungracious, intolerant and unforgiving toward those they love — while at the same time showing a generous spirit toward strangers and business associates. Go figure.

Of course, sometimes we must hurt those we truly care for and some decisions, while quite ethical, do cause pain. But one should consciously cause no more harm than is reasonably necessary to perform one’s duties.

The highest form of caring is the honest expression of benevolence. This is sometimes referred to as altruism, not to be confused with strategic charity. “Gifts” to charities to advance personal interests are (to put it uncharitably) a bit of a fraud. That is, they aren’t gifts at all. They’re investments, or tax write-offs.

 

Citizenship      

The concept of citizenship includes civic virtues and duties that prescribe how we ought to behave as part of a community. The good citizen knows the laws and obeys them, yes, but that’s not all. She volunteers and stays informed on the issues of the day, the better to execute her duties and privileges as a member of a self-governing democratic society. That is, she does more than her "fair" share to make society work, now and for future generations. And beyond respecting the law, reporting crimes, serving on juries, voting, and paying taxes, the good citizen protects the environment by conserving resources, recycling, using public transportation, and cleaning up litter. She never takes more than she gives.

When we say something is a civic duty, we imply that not doing that duty is unethical. Yet that can be a harsh and erroneous judgment. If one has a duty to be honest, caring, fair, respectful and responsible, then we mean it is ethically wrong to be the opposite of those things. But does that then mean that if one has a “civic duty” to stay informed that one is unethical if one is ignorant? Certainly we don’t have to admire self-absorbed and lazy people who take their citizenship for granted. It is important, however, to make the distinction between what is ethically mandated and what is merely desirable and worthy of emulation. To a great extent, people have to live their own lives, in whatever degree of isolation they choose.