Ethics Awareness

Introduction

Ethics is, ultimately, about people and relationships, and taking personal responsibility for the choices we make (The Williams Institute, 2011). For a person to be able to apply critical thinking and personal ethics to their decision-making process it is important for that person to have a clear understanding of their own ethics and how their ethics may differ from the personal ethics of others. The Ethics Awareness Inventory is a valuable tool that helps people identify their own ethical profile and provide insight into their own general views and approaches with regard to ethical issues.

The ethics awareness inventory calculated that my ethical profile is most closely aligned with Character and least aligned with Equity. Being aligned with Character means that I tend to base my ethical perspective on what is it good to be, rather than what it is good to do. This means that I tend to look beyond a person's actions and put more emphasis on the individual's personal character. I value such qualities as honesty, wisdom, and integrity and I place a greater emphasis on demonstrating these qualities than on simply following the rules.

I have served in the United States Navy for over 20 years. When I saw the results of my ethics awareness inventory I was not surprised to see that the ethical perspective it classified me as were almost directly in line with the Navy's Core Values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment. I have served in the military for more than half of my life and the military places much emphasis on the personal character of its members. I expect people to do the right thing because they have a core of personal ethics to make the decision on their own. I do not value people who only do the right thing because they are following established rules or laws.

My educational experience has shown me that there are many people who have different values than my own. I have worked with other classmates in learning teams that had personal values or ethics that did not align with the values and ethics which are important to me. Working with these people can be challenging at times but I have learned not to let myself become frustrated. I understand and accept the fact that not all people have similar values.

When I am faced with an ethical decision I will often have a difficult time dealing with people who do not share the same values as I do. To ensure