When I Confronted with an Ethical Dilemma - Essay Example

Ethical Dilemma Prompt: Tell us a time you were confronted with an ethical dilemma. How did you respond? What was the outcome? How would you respondin the future? My work as a financial advisor always entails me to be confronted with a number of ethical dilemmas. One of these that I clearly remember was when I was working on an investment case and I noticed that an important document that protected the client’s rights was not notarized. I immediately notified my supervisor, who told me to ignore it and instead proceed with the case submission saying that the investment company will not notice these small details anyway.

Besides, if we pushed the deadline back, we would run the risk of the client withdrawing from the case because his extremely busy schedule might prevent him from attending to the extra paperwork that would be required if the document was to be notarized. I went home that night and thought it over. I knew that since I had my supervisor’s approval, I wouldn’t be held accountable if anything went wrong. However, I believe that as a financial advisor, I had the fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the clients are aware of all aspects of the investments.

Also, in order for me to provide my best services, I always try to imagine myself in the situation that my client is in. I knew that if I were the client, I would be extremely disappointed if I found out that my financial services provider treated me as just “another filed folder” rather than a valued client who deserved the best service possible. The following day, I asked my supervisor to assign the project to me so that I could amend the complication before the deadline. Though unwillingly, my supervisor agreed.

I immediately contacted the client, briefed him about the situation, and apologized that due to the prevailing circumstances, we might not be able to make the deadline that he originally set for us. Fortunately, the client was considerate enough to provide the additional time that his case required. I doubled up my efforts to complete all the requirements of the case including the notarization of all the pertinent documents. In the end, the case submission was delayed by a week but this did not antagonize our client because of the extra efforts that I exerted to accommodate his needs until we completed the case.

Later on, my supervisor commended me for the way I had handled the situation and I noticed that he even became more confident in trusting the decisions that I made. This particular instance has taught me a valuable lesson in integrating business and ethics, and ever since, I have vowed to respond the same way that I did, always with righteousness and integrity.