What is Your Personal Ethics Code?
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. - William Shakespeare
As some of you know, I'm currently studying for a Master's in Media Management at The New School. Last spring, just before the pandemic ruined everything, I took a Media Ethics class. This was a great class as our readings and class conversations challenged me to critically weigh my values and beliefs against real-life scenarios and confront the viability of my own ideologies.
The older you get, the more you're faced with ethical dilemmas, moral conundrums, and internal conflicts that you can't easily fit into the good or bad boxes. What do you do when life throws you these curveballs?
In the course of the class, we had to develop and write our personal ethics code. I think everyone should have one.
Writing a personal ethics code helps you figure out who you are, who you want to be, and the values you choose to never compromise on in both your personal and professional life. Else you find yourself flip-flopping at every turn.
Opinions and preferences change but core values should remain unchanged. And these values should serve as a base for your code.
For example, your core value might be that you don't steal or lie. However, when building your code you need to prepare yourself for real-life scenarios and ask yourself more direct questions. If you get a bill and you're charged less than you owe, will you speak up and pay the full amount? Will you tell a lie to protect a friend? Do you value people over things? Will you break verbal agreements if you knew there were no consequences to you?
These are things you can address in your personal ethics code so you are a more intentional, well-rounded, and yes, a good person. (we all want that right?)
Consciously and subconsciously, we've learned, inherited, and copied most of our values from religion, or from our parents, our favorite tv or book characters (I'm a Gryffindor *wink*), etc. While this is a good place to start, it's usually not enough —especially as you get older. To be your unique and most authentic self you must do some work to figure out who you are and what you stand for. Not just what you were told to stand for or who you were told to be. Writing your personal ethics code is one major way to work towards that.
I think everyone should take a stab at writing their personal ethics code, even if it's a few paragraphs.
Below I share an excerpt from my personal ethics code. If you want to read the entire thing, leave a comment.
JIJI MAJIRI UGBOMA—PERSONAL ETHICS CODE
April 14, 2020
I was raised in a society of strict ethical rules and absolutes often grounded in religious beliefs. The absence of room for differing perspectives or individual differences and nuances led me to develop a strict code that was not only impractical but ignorant and self-righteous. As I got older, more informed, and gained different perspectives, I realized that most of life's issues exist in the gray and thus began my struggle to find a place of ethical comfort within gray areas. I have continued to work to define what the limits of leniency on either way of the spectrum should be as I moved away from absolute ideologies. I fear I struggle with this more than most because I never had much practice. Thus I craft my ethics code with the consciousness that I am making choices, some of which might not fit the ethical ideologies gained from nurture in my early years but rather fit my new and still evolving ethical and moral standards.
I stand for an action-based ethical code, therefore, as I break down my code into more specific topics and situations that are in some ways dependent on context and that are bound to evolve, I hold myself permanently to these three codes:
Lead with love
Do no harm
Let peace be your referee
Lead with love: This pertains to what I believe is my active obligation to society and those around me. It means I will go out of my way to be kind, I will seek to help others, and every interaction is a chance for me to do good and give love.
Do no harm: This is a more passive approach to "lead with love." It means that even when I'm not actively trying to do good in my everyday interactions, I will not harm or hurt anyone with my actions.
Let peace be your referee: This rule is how I navigate gray areas. When faced with difficult decisions, I will make the choice that gives me the most peace. And I will accept every consequence of my decision. As Shakespeare said: "to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
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