Humanity is limited in what we can do in life; therefore, we must put our trust in a higher power than ourselves. All of us have blind spots, according to Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel, authors of “Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do about it.” Numerous scandals that have occurred in our time have damaged our confidence in businesses and leaders. Under pressure to become more ethical, organizations and financial institutions have undertaken efforts aimed at improving and enforcing ethical behavior within their operations.
Businesses have spent millions of dollars on corporate codes of conduct, value-based mission statements and ethical training, to name just a few types of ethics and compliance management strategies. Religious institutions teach ethical behavior to their parishioners based on biblical principles. Day after day, business leaders and religious leaders encourage ethical behavior by their employees, members and supporters. However, according to Bazerman and Tenbrunsel, “if ethics training is to actually change people and improve ethical decision-making, it needs to incorporate behavioral ethics and specifically the subtle ways in which our ethics are bounded.”
When our ethics are bound in the belief of a higher power than self, we can depend on God to direct us through our blind spots. It is said that ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching even when doing the wrong thing is legal. If you do not have integrity, you have nothing. You can not buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing. Therefore, you must seek from another source – God!
There will be times in your life when it feels like there is too much to do and not enough time to do it. When you are constantly on overload like this, you can be blindsided by things you did not anticipate. These blind spots can show up in your ethical behavior or your moral compass with God. They can show up in your attitude, your relationships, your job performance and many other important areas in your life. If this is where you are today, here is what you need to do. Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. Do not be blindsided in life by unethical behavior and remember Never Give Up! Never Give Up! Never Give Up!
By Chaplain Ghosten
chaplain@lhp.net
