Page 185 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Project Name: Manual for Soft Skills
ACE Pro India Pvt. Ltd.
\\mtpdy01\Womat\Indesign\Bhatnagar-Manual for Soft skills\06-Pagination\06-A-Finals\06-AA-Appl\Bhatnagar_Chapter 08.indd

Communication Skills | 173

are selfish and unscrupulous, saying or doing whatever it takes to achieve an
end. Ethical people are generally trustworthy, fair, and impartial, respect-
ing the rights of others and concerned about the impact of their actions on
society. Former Supreme Court Justice Venkata Chalamaiah defined ethics
as ‘knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is
the right thing to do’.
Ethics plays a crucial role in communication. Language is made up of
words that carry values. So merely by saying things a certain way, you influ-
ence how others perceive your message, and you shape expectations and
behaviour. Ethical communication includes all relevant information, and is
not deceptive in any way.
When sending an ethical message you are accurate and sincere. You avoid
language that manipulates, discriminates, or exaggerates. You do not hide
negative information behind an optimistic attitude, you don’t state opinions
as facts, and you portray graphic data fairly. An ethical message makes you
honest and selfless, keeping the well-being of the organization in mind.

Recognize Ethical Choices

Every academic institution has responsibilities towards various groups:
students, parents, teachers, non-teaching staff, like a company has towards
its customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, neighbors, the commu-
nity, and the nation. Unfortunately, what is right for one group may be wrong
for another? Moreover, as you attempt to satisfy the needs of one group, you
may be presented with an option that seems right on the surface but some-
how is wrong. When people must choose between conflicting loyalties and
weigh difficult trade-offs, they are in a dilemma.
An ethical dilemma involves choosing among alternatives that aren’t
clear-cut (perhaps two conflicting alternatives are both ethical and valid, or
perhaps the alternatives lie somewhere in the gray area between right and
wrong). Suppose you are a principal of a school that’s losing money. You have
a duty to your employers to try to cut your losses and to your employees
to be fair and honest. After looking at various options, you conclude that you
will have to fire 10 people immediately. You suspect you may have to fire
another 10 people later on, but right now you need those 10 employers to
run the school. What do you tell them? If you confess that their jobs are at
stake, many of them quit just when you need them the most. However, if you
tell them that the future is rosy, you will be stretching the truth. Unlike a
dilemma, an ethical lapse lies in making a clearly unethical or illegal choice.
How do you decide between what’s ethical and what is not? A thorough
examination of the situation, articulating, or airing out your views, doing
adequate brainstorming on the related topic, taking a group consensus is one
way of resolving this kind of dilemma.

Bhatnagar_Chapter 08.indd 173 2011-06-23 7:58:30 PM
Modified Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2011 06:27:12 PM Output Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2011 07:58:29 PM
TEMPLATE Page Number: PB