by Gael O’Brien

Recent leadership failures in several high profile companies draw increased attention to the reality that achieving goals – performance – is only part of the formula for success. Another critical piece is the way leaders do it, which impacts others – relationships.  Leaders who are low in self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills lack something called “emotional intelligence” (EQ), a behavior model popularized by the work of Daniel Goleman. (more…)

IMPORTANT:

• • This activity runs more smoothly if you prepare a Summary Sheet in advance, preferably on a flipchart page or a whiteboard. See below for an example.
• • You will need help displaying the results of this activity. Identify a participant in advance who can help you quickly, accurately and legibly tabulate the responses on the flipchart sheet that you have prepared.

Introduce Activity/Give Instructions

Pass out the Handout and Scoring Sheet to each participant.

REVIEW the instructions on the Handout, and explain that their opinions—the way they label the behaviors— will be anonymously collected, summarized and then discussed with the group.

The Handout asks what category each of 20 behaviors belongs to:
Clearly ethical, clearly unethical, or some shade of gray.

ALLOW participants 5 – 6 minutes to work through the list and categorize each of the behaviors as E, L, M, D, or U.

Once participants have finished filling out the Handout, direct them to summarize their own results on the Scoring Sheet.  Participants should not write their names on this scoring sheet when they turn it in to the facilitator.

ALSO MAKE SURE participants understand that they are to list the actual numbers of the items in the boxes, rather than a count of how many items they labeled in each category.  (This makes it possible to tabulate the responses.)

Sample Summary Sheet: Flipchart/Whiteboard

In advance of the session or while participants are working on their Handouts, prepare your whiteboard or flipchart page to display a summary of the data.

Directions: Set up a flipchart sheet or whiteboard as shown below (this table has been shortened to save space). Summarize the participants’ responses (from their Scoring Sheets) by placing tally (or hatch) marks in the table below.  Tally marks will enable the group to see the patterns of the responses.

Item	E	L	M	D	U
1
2
20

Polling Activity Debrief

Collect all Scoring Sheets and summarize them on your whiteboard or flipchart. When the participants’ individual tallies have been recorded for all to see, proceed with the debrief.

ASK:

• • What makes categorizing some of the behaviors difficult?  Which items were difficult to categorize?
• • Can a behavior be “slightly unethical?” or “Close, but not quite unethical?”
• • What criteria did you use to categorize your choices?  In other words, as you grouped the behaviors on the list, what were your choices based on?

               Possible examples of criteria:

•            • Would the violation be discovered?
•            • Were people emotionally affected?
•            • Were significant dollars involved?
•            • Would this behavior physically harm anyone?
• • Do you think people consider impacts or consequences when they are making their choices about ethical issues?  Which impacts make the most difference?

Discuss the results displayed on the flipchart summary. Look for certain item numbers.  Were most of the behaviors listed as E or U, or were many more listed in the gray columns?  ASK participants what patterns stand out for them.

POINT OUT items (behaviors) that have the widest range of responses.  Have the group discuss why these items might have received the range of responses they did.

SUGGEST that a possible explanation for items having a range of responses (tally marks in several categories) or items where a large number of responses labeled the behavior as M is that the organization’s policies and guidance on these behaviors might not be clear enough.

As time permits, discuss other patterns participants see in the responses. It’s likely that very rich discussions will occur around the issues raised by this exercise.    

MAKE ONE OR MORE OF THESE KEY POINTS:

• • As we gain experience in the workplace, we tend to see things less often in terms of black and white.  Where we draw the line between right and wrong tends to become a bit blurry.
• • When right and wrong become blurry — when we are operating in the gray zone — we should fall back on the guidance of our experience, or the guidance of rules, procedures, and laws for direction.
• • It’s not possible for organizations to guide every specific behavior, or to have a rule or regulation to cover every situation. That’s why it comes down to the individual and to his or her choices.
• • Employees need to understand the intent of the organization’s code of conduct, and have an understanding of its values (and for the organization to have clear values).

Handout: Ethical Polling

Directions: What category does each of the behaviors on the list belong to?

Polling Scoring Sheet

Directions: Write the numbers of the items on the Handout that fall into each of the following categories. For example, if you marked items 4, 7 and 12 as E (Ethical), write 4, 7, 12 in the large box on the E (Ethical) row.  Do the same for each category (E, L, M, D, U).

 Please hand this form to the workshop leader after recording your responses.
Do not write your name on the form.
 

This activity is excerpted from the Leader’s Guide for the video training program Ethics 4 Everyone.

Need more help in this area? Ethics 4 Everyone provides a powerful ethics overview for any type of organization. In just 15 minutes, viewers see why focusing on ethics is key to organizational and individual success. They are also given an ethical action test, tips for solving ethical dilemmas, and more.

(15 minute activity)

SAY: This exercise will allow you to focus on what works and doesn’t work for you and your organization. Let’s examine more carefully the pros and cons of taking shortcuts, versus the benefits and drawbacks of planning and preparation. We all know sometimes the only way to get the job done is to do it “now,” even if it is not done to perfection. What are some shortcuts that are currently used in your organization?

List a few of these examples on flipchart. Next, label a heading SHORTCUTS and ask for a listing of the pros. When those ideas seem depleted, move on to list the cons of shortcuts. (Note: If not suggested by the group, here’s a listing of possible responses that can be mentioned. However, it works best if you allow group members to come up with their own list. Respectful debate and dialogue will lead the group to a new appreciation of the value of each perspective.)

Elicit answers such as these:

SHORTCUTS:

Pros
• Doesn’t have to be perfect, just needs to be done
• Deadline is fast approaching
• Deal with the crisis—put out the fire
• Stay on top of change
• Customers want it ASAP
• More creative under time pressures
• Beat out the competition
• “Quick fix” is addictive…adrenaline rush

Cons
• Due to quickness, mistakes are made
• Quality suffers
• Shortcuts don’t allow for creativity, and change is a creative process
• Customers aren’t well-served
• Reactive response may be “knee-jerk”

SAY: Now let’s think about the benefits and drawbacks of planning and preparation to reach desired results. When do preparation and planning lead to successful outcomes? Let’s brainstorm about the benefits and barriers to preparation and planning.

Elicit answers such as these:

PREPARATION & PLANNING

Benefits
• Planned strategies lead to high-quality results
• Process may be as important as product
• Pride increases with a solid approach and positive outcomes
• Avoid costly mistakes—“measure twice, cut once”
• Reflects mission & values of organization

Barriers/Drawbacks
• Can lead to paralysis by over-analysis
• Takes too long — everyone expects instant results
• Too much focus on the future draws attention away from current concerns
• Getting product to market fast is key
• Time is money
• Plans in the past haven’t worked

Now let’s discuss the following three questions:
• What corners are you cutting that may be cheating those you serve?
• What areas in your organization would benefit from more thought, planning and patience?
• For both “takes shortcuts” and “great at planning and preparation,” think of someone you know who epitomizes this trait (two different people). How would you characterize each person’s level of success…at work and in life?

~Excerpted from the Leader’s Guide to the FranklinCovey/CRM video Law of the Harvest.

Need help in this area? In Law of the Harvest, Dr. Stephen Covey uses the example of a potato farmer to make the point that, in any walk of life, your final result will only be as good as the effort you put into doing the task right. Taking shortcuts typically hurts your chances for long-term success.