Values Assessment - Case Study Example

Personal of Conduct Introduction People often perform different activities in their lives, social and corporate environment depending on their needs and expectations. In their interactions, people are expected to have certain values to govern them in their activities. In this case, codes of conduct are often used in the process of governing interactions in human communities. Codes of conduct, as used in these interactions refer to the rules and regulations that outline the duties and responsibilities of proper practices by an organisation or individual (Morem, 2010). In this case, some of the related concepts that feature prominently in the development of codes of conduct include ethics, moral codes as well as religious laws and halanchic. Codes of conduct are essential in ensuring that people co-exist harmoniously in their atmosphere. They enhance discipline in people by providing the framework in which they are expected to function. People that are not controlled by codes of conduct are often abusive and lacking in emotional intelligence when dealing with others. In this case, they lack the ethical perspectives, which are essential in governing the interactions in people. Ethics are important, in not only individual dimensions, but also in business and other corporate functions and duties (Morem, 2010). Businesses that have certain codes of conduct often perform well compared to those that do not have them, and make no efforts towards having and applying them in the business practices. Just like the case for businesses, individuals that are often guided by certain codes of conduct make good leaders. They often have good values and characters that are emulated by people. These people often achieve great levels of success in the personal and career people, and become role models of the society. This paper examines a personal assessment of values as applied in various instances of life, as well as different aspects where codes of conduct have been challenged by life’s situations. Assessment of values In my learning processes, I have interacted with many people from different cultures and learnt many things about them. Through group discussion and other assignments, I have come across different people that are tuned differently when it comes to personal codes of conduct. For instance, some people are easy going, they are easy to deal with because they are free to discuss and share ideas. On my part, I am an introvert, although in some instances I tend to be an extrovert in most of my interactions. I have come to understand when dealing with people, it is important that one had a good understanding of how to strike a conversation with people. Sometimes, in as much as its good to make relationships with strangers, it is not a good virtue to start conversations with all people. One has to understand how people behave and make preferences for friendship. In making and sustaining friendship, not all people are interested in what one thinks it is right. In this case, the best way to make and sustain friendship when associating with especially with multicultural people is first to understand them. People have to understand the values that one stands for, it is not good manners to follow public opinion and take any idea and direction that friends think it is right. When this happens, one makes an indication that he does not have his codes of conduct and values that he stands for. In this case, people are expected to have special guidelines that they have to follow in the course of their living and social interactions Lessons I have learnt from assessment of my values Values assessment is an important practice that has to be undertaken by all people in order to ensure that they develop their codes of conduct. In my learning and other aspects of life, I have done an assessment of my values and got many lessons that I have implemented in the process of making and consolidating my code of conduct. One of the important lessons that I have learnt from assessment of my values is that having values is like having a compass direction in the journey of life (Morem, 2010). In many instances I have found myself conflicting with my peers because we could not agree on certain issues. This is something that helped me to overcome the negative influences of peer influence. Many of my peers had to succumb to peer pressure by being involved in drug abuse, alcohol and other negative influences that brought adverse effects on their lives. One of the things that helped in to overcome the negative effects of peer influence is that I have always been firm on my decisions. Overall, I am not always easily influenced by what people say or do, especially when I know that such things are not helping me in any way. I always prefer being alone that in bad company, which can corrupt my morals. The lessons I learn from those decisions Note on Obedience to Authority The main theme in this story is how relevant it is for people to be submissive and follow the orders as provided by their superiors as provided at the work place or other social places of interaction. It is important to follow the order given by the superiors according to the set goals and objectives. Obedience to authority is a important thing in any systems that is designed to achieve certain goals and objectives. In this case, effective leaders should be those that can create systems of accountability where people can follow rules to the later and achieve set goals and objectives The decisions that I made in my social interactions helped me in many ways; first, I can comfortably say that I am a good products of the decisions that I made. One of the most important lessons that I learnt from my decisions is that people that do not have a definite sense of purpose will often take any directions and approach to get what they want. I have come to learn that it is better you risk being a fool in front of people than succumb to the influence and end up ruining your life. Chris and Alison Weston The story of this couple is a good example of how lack of priority can cause effective leaders to run down a lucrative company. Soon after convincing her wife to start a company from which he would have to outsource the staffing services, being the human resource manager, Chris ends up losing the concentration in the job to make the company successful and finally loses the job. In this case, a good leader has to maintain focus for his job; he has to separate work and family issues, which may cause conflict of interest and lack of priority in handling work responsibilities. Lessons Learnt The decisions I made in my social interactions were very unpopular and disliked by many people who often thought I was extra skeptical and cautious with life. In the end, many of them have come to me and asked for advice on how I have managed to live a peaceful life without any negative influences by people, especially my peer group. One thing I have learnt about myself is that I have inert leadership potentials within myself that can be exploited if only I get the right conditions. I am a good team manager and can mobilize people to perform to the set expectations, goals and objectives. Any great leader is expected to guide people to do which is right according to the set goals and objectives in the organisation. My ability in team management saw people appreciate my skills in leading and managing people. It is important to understand that people management is an essential skill that is required of all successful leaders. From the cases I have evaluated, I realize that I am capable of leading people effectively when given the right chance to do so. For instance, I manage to lead the human resource department effectively during one of the holiday periods in company, something that earned me many accolades by the time I was reporting to school. Key values in my life In my life, one of the values that I esteem most is that of respect for other people. I have always valued and respected all people; in this case, I always keep my distance and value my space, in the expectation that people will also respect my social space. As long as I understand that what I know is right for me and other people, I always pursue it. For instance, I made a decision not to take alcohol while at school and in my life. Some of my friends that said it was good to take a little of it for the sake of their health, I did not dismiss their claims. I always stood by what I thought it right with me. This is something that I look forward to use as my guiding tool when interacting with other people. Another important value that has helped me most is that of taking wise counsel from people that are helpful. Prior to enrolling for my degree course, I was involved in various community programs aimed at creating positive inspiration and conscious living among the young people. I have learnt to take wise counsel from people that have experience in life and especially in instances that that I have no real experience. For instance, people that became my mentors influenced my values and decisions in life and learning process. I have seen many young people reaching certain stages in life and disregarding wise council especially that which seems to be in contrast to their preferences. This also is something that I hope to carry on in my adult life, getting attached to the right people that can help in in advice over various issues in life. Application of my values Most of the decisions that I have made in the past have reflected my values to a large extend. For instance, the decision that I made over my interaction with some sections of people in my social life indicated how important my values are that other people cannot influence them. I have always demonstrated the value for my social people through my selective interaction and socialization with friends. I have come to learn that if one esteems his own reputation, then he has to avoid some people in his life, no matter what the cost will be. The love for my values made some of my friends to ridicule me, but they later came to understand the importance of my values by coming to seek my advice about how to manage various instances in their lives. Another important decision that I made in the past and has greatly influenced my values concerns my choice of use of leisure. In school, I often found myself having some extra time especially during vacations. While some of my friends would choose to go for parties in various cities, I choose a different thing, I often took time to visit the underprivileged and community centres, this has improved my social standing in the community and other places that o offered my services voluntarily. I visited many hospitals and volunteered in various departments sections. Implementation of these values in the future I realize that implementing these values will not be a problem in the future. This is because, I have developed a firm foundation in their application; in this case, it may not be a problem standing by my values in career and other activities I will be involved in life. By showing love for other people and always being ready to help them in their needs in various occasions has made me to be respected by many people. I have held leadership positions and stayed by my values amidst circumstances where I would have compromised on them. For instance, I have always respected all members of the teams I have led without favoring any side. In this case, I do not think that I will deviate from these values in the next 10 years and more. I look forward to being s good and virtuous leader, who appreciates and recognizes the value of all people, helping them in their weaknesses and praising their strengths. Ethical biases and obstacles to values The journey in my leadership has not been very easy; most often, I have found myself in various situations that would have caused me to compromise on my values. However, my firm stand in values helped me stay focused, away from those influences. For instance, during one of the holiday vacations, I was in charge of recruitment and selection in the human resource department in certain food processing and manufacturing firm. During these times, most of my friends learnt of my progress and got interested in the initiative. This is because; they thought that it would give them an upper hand in terms of securing an employment after graduation at the end of their degree course. Most of them started asking me to organise some vacancies for them, because I had been placed in charge of the department while the manager was on leave. Though it was a good idea, a deep assessment of that move made me to backtrack on the idea. I realized that it would go against company practices for nepotism in the recruitment process and would have further undermined my values as a resourceful and reliable leader. This made be to object to their idea, something that did not go well with the; later I was recognized as the best staff after the end of the holiday. I also received positive letters of recommendation and guaranteed an employment in the company if I would still have an interest in the company after the end of my course. It is important to note that in the course of life, different situations will continue to emerge. These situations are sometimes important because they test people’s love for the values and standards in their lives (McGraw, 2012). However, it is always important and necessary that people learn how to create and stick by their values, because it if though them that they are respected and acknowledged as intelligent leaders and resourceful persons in the society. Avoiding such temptations in life and in leadership aspects requires that people learn how to stay firm and remain unshaken by the changes in life. Great leaders in governments and in successful companies are those that create and stick to their values and standards (McGraw, 2012). They are often not tempted to bend their values because of circumstances. This kind of leader is who I want to become in my career and life (Templar, 2006). For this reason, I have made a resolution not to be influence by people and circumstances around me. Instead, I want to the change that I want to see in my environment and the world. Personal code of conduct The leader I want to be I have seen and read about various leaders of governments and business organisations; I have learnt a lot about the things to avoid from leaders that have mismanaged resources and failed companies and other corporate organisations. I have also studied various leaders that have cause much havoc in their countries because of lack of values and disregard for the rule of law. In contrast, I have also read about leaders that influenced this world in many good ways, many other leaders have been recorded in books and journals about the contribution in establishing resourceful human systems I want to be the kind of leader that sets a good example for people in terms of due regard to the rule of law. A leader who understand that some people lack and need to be helped to achieve their goals in life (McGraw, 2012). I want to the kind of leader that does not step on others in order to get to the top. Instead, I want to value all people and help them identify their values. I want to the leader of the people, one who puts the affairs of people first and not his person interest, this way, I will help establish systems that will influence human life in my career and social life. I will show respect for my personal code of conduct and ethical values. . References McGraw, P. (2012). Life code: The new rules for winning in the real world. Los Angeles, Calif.: Bird St. Books. Morem, S. (2010). 101 tips for graduates a code of conduct for success and happiness in your professional life (Rev. ed.). New York: Ferguson. Templar, R. (2006). The rules of life: A personal code for living a better, happier, more successful kind of life. Harlow, England: Pearson Prentice Hall. Read More