Ethics and Behaviors

            An interesting quote caught my attention at the beginning of the video, the speaker said, “You have made a terrible mistake, but you are not a mistake” (Gallagher, 2013).  Chuck Gallagher was speaking in the context of ethics – ethics was more than just being compliant to rules, it was deliberate decision-making using morals; and yet sometimes, one makes the wrong decision.  The ethical person is one who can recognize that he or she made a mistake and will not do it again.  Gallagher understood this firsthand as he went to prison for making unethical (and illegal) decisions.

            It reminded me of a quote by someone many people, including myself, consider a great military leader – General Stanley McChrystal.  Gen. McChrystal once said during a speech on leadership, “Leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure” (TED, 2011).  Great organizations are those that empower their people – the leaders understand that mistakes and/or failures will occur.  Admonishing followers for making mistakes will stifle their initiative and creativity as well as creating distrust in the leader.  

            Great organizations are also deeply rooted in principles.  Gen. McChrystal also mentioned a line from the U.S. Army’s ‘Soldier’s Creed’ that reads, “I will never leave a fallen comrade” (TED, 2011).  This stanza of the ‘Army Values’ was something that we (soldiers) believed in our hearts.  “I will never leave a fallen comrade” was more than a code prescribing what we ought to do; it was a promise, even at the risk of our own life.  If you had ever asked a soldier why he or she would do this for their comrade, he or she would most likely reply “because they would do it for me”. 

            I witnessed this promise on more than one occasion during my time in service.  I recall a situation during a combat deployment when I had heard the term “Fallen Angel” called over the radios.  Fallen Angel was the term used when a U.S. aircraft had crashed.  From that moment on, it had become everybody’s duty to secure the crash site and rescue the survivors (if any).  This was especially significant to me because I too was serving as an aircrew member on a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.  While also serving as an Air MEDEVAC crewmember, it was understood that we would risk all, “So that others may live”.

            This is what I found fascinating about how the Army portrayed its values.  The Army instilled a culture of self-sacrifice.  However, it would seem that this mindset would be at odds with our natural tendencies for egoism, that is, to further one’s self-interests (LaFollette, 2007).  It was paradoxical, to “Be all you can be” also meant giving fully to others.  Furthermore, the Army urged each soldier to embody its values of leadership, duty, respect, selfless-service, honor, integrity, and personal courage (aptly given the acronym LDRSHIP).  The Army values were not supposed to be some normative description of how we ought to be – it was who we were.

            However, this is not to say that all leaders (or soldiers) in the Army were of the highest moral and ethical caliber.  Mistakes and sins were committed.  I committed some myself.  For instance, I came in at a time when the hazing of subordinates was a norm.  The hazing was conducted to those as a right of initiation, whether it is joining the organization, the Non-Commissioned Officer ranks, or some other group.  I was hazed and later perpetuated the behavior when I was a junior leader.  When I began to mature, I realized that hazing was more about exercising power and control over another.  While some of those who were hazed had no issue with it, others would harbor resentment and distrust in leadership.

            This was an example of leaders (like myself) making mistakes, learning from them, and committing to doing better.  Values are important in the Army.  So much so that a leader’s values are evaluated on Army personal performance reports i.e. Officer Evaluation Report (OER) and Non-Commissioned Officer Evaluation Reports (NCOER).  The ‘Values’ section of the reports precedes every other section e.g. competence, leadership, accountability, etc.  This reinforced the notion that values and/or ethics was the foundation that guided behavior and actions.  Moreover, it was clear that values were not just an Army thing; values are the fabric of who we are.

References

Chuck Gallagher. (2013, January 27). Business Ethics Keynote Speaker - Chuck Gallagher - shares             Straight Talk about Ethics! [Video File]. Retrieved from         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUJ00vNGCPE .

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

TED. (2011, April 06). Stanley McChrystal: Listen, learn ... then lead. [Video File]. Retrieved from             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmpIMt95ndU .