Ethics and Business Success - Essay Example

Ethics Essay Two Articles on Ethics and Business Success Many businesses today are struggling in today’s economy. Even those that have remained successful are always looking for ways to improve their success, from the inside out. They seek ways to improve their productivity, efficiency, and the way their company functions as a whole. Two of the articles printed in the Journal of Value Based Leadership offer ways to improve businesses in two very different ways. The first, "Secrets of Your Leadership Success-The 11 Indispensable E's of a Leader," by M.S. Rao, essentially offers a positive, team friendly approach that will give a path to strong leadership. The second, "The Conscious Organization: Prospects for a Self-Actualized Workforce,” by John Renesch, supports developing your business using the ideas of psychological theorists, Andrew Maslow and Carl Jung, treating the business as you would a person. It places the value on the needs of the whole company, but less on its individual parts. Renesch’s approach to gaining success within a business is mixing the principles of Maslow’s self-actualization and Jung’s “shadows,” which are things that block a person from achieving their highest potentials. The author believes that by viewing businesses in the same way that you look at a person you can make the best of it; pretending that a business has the same need to self-actualize as a person does. He, also, focuses on a tightly structured organization within the business. He explains that anything that gets in the way of the success of the business it should be eliminated for the sake of the business. This is the basis of a “Conscious Organization,” which the author created in the 1990s. The author promotes that a successful business and successful people are those who are willing to evaluate themselves, their values, and relationships all of the time. “Living this sort of self examined life is what brings meaning and worth (Renesch 74-77). In the second article, Rao takes a different approach. He discusses how any successful business needs strong leadership if they hope to be successful. He suggests that the “11 E’s” are those traits or behaviors that can guarantee that someone is on the right path towards leadership, and they are easy to remember as they all start with the letter “E.” It is the combination of these elements, he says, can and will develop into the best kind leader in the best kind of business. Both articles are very interesting in their approaches. However, Rao’s article offers such a positive way of creating a happy work environment and good teamwork, while Renesch’s view is very cold. It does not seem to care about the needs or issues of the workers. Renesch want to treat the business like it is a living person and the people are like replaceable parts. The two writers are very different. For example, if there was an employee who was not working to their best possible ability; Rao would work to encourage that employee to do better, but Renesch would call this employee a “bad” employee and want to get rid of them. In this context, there is no room for anything except what is good for the business. Rao’s article appears to value the employees and Renesch’s does not really feel like that. His article feels like he sees individual people are just parts, when one is no good just throw it out and replace with a better one. This kind of heartless business practice does not always make for a good business to be a part of, even if the profits are high. People, I think, will work harder for people and for goals when they feel that they matter and the contribution that they make is important. When I enter into the business world I want to make the best choices that I can. I agree with Renesch when he explained how important being able to change and grow in the business industry, but it is Rao whose article I think will benefit me the most when I enter into my career field. Having a good way of becoming a strong leader will be very helpful to me now and in the future. I think that the “11 E’s” are really great advice. It seems to be the best way to get other people to do their best will be for me to always do mine. To think about the needs and ideas of those who work with me or for me is important. I think that these things help me to do my best, but will, also, be good for any company. I think that a good business is a good team effort and I think that Rao’s ideas will help me to achieve what I want. Ultimately, all businesses want to be successful and make money. They try a lot of different things to try to make that happen. There is probably not just one way that will work. It is better to take a little bit of good advice from different places and then decide what is best for your business and employees. Not all companies are the same. But, I want to be the kind of employee that is a strong leader and then work to become even better. I want to feel good about the job that I do and make the other people around me feel like they are important too. I want to be respected by giving respect. I think that if I live like that then I will be a success and help make my future in a company successful. Works Cited Rao, M. S. "Secrets of Your Leadership Success-The 11 Indispensable E's of a Leader." Journal of Value Based Leadership 5.2 (2012): 66-73. Print. Renesch, John. "The Conscious Organization: Prospects for a Self-Actualized Workforce." Journal of Value Based Leadership 5.2 (2012): 74-77. Print. Read More