Ethics in Business

I made it through the third week.  Not only did I do my class load but I am also back east visiting a very sick family member.  It was enjoyable to share the study material with my sister as we caught up with each others lives and family.  As I watch videos and read the articles assigned to me this week, we talked about the talks and the implications they have in both our work and personal lives.  My sister is a homemaker while I am a business owner.  I talked about how if I am to be a success entrepreneur I needed to be an honest, reliable, and principled.  I mentioned how if I wasn't an ethical business owner I would not be in business very long.  My sister said, as she watched a few of the videos with me, that she felt the videos should be shown to new moms as well.  She said that when ethics start at home then they come naturally in the business world.  It was a interesting thought.  She joked that she was the business owner of her family and maybe she could use some of these classes for herself.
In an article titled "Making a Living and a Life", the author described a grading scale for a business man.  As I read the article I could see that his perspective was not from a purely numbers view but from a personal integrity standpoint.  Evaluating myself as a business owner based on his criteria I was satisfied to see that I could say I was an A- to a B+ business person.  While there have been times I have had made business decisions based on a purely monetary focus, for the most part I have always had my subordinates in mind when I reviewed and proceeded in with a decision.  While I think this balance does not allow me a classic "A" per this authors outline I do think it was the best recourse for the situations I was faced with.
After this week's lessons I feel really good about how I have conducted my business decisions.