Ethics 101 Maxwell Summary

“Ethics 101”by John C. Maxwell, is a book to help determine your standard of ethics once you enter the professional arena. The book uses a variety of situations and primarily discusses what Maxwell calls, “The Golden Rule”. This is essentially a motto to live by when making ethical decisions. The main concept of this rule is to do unto others as you would want them to do to you. This is essential to be a respectable person in the business world, but something that is often forgotten once money & power comes as the benefits of breaking your ethics. The book uses a variety of examples throughout the book talking about ethics, for instance, they discuss how medical students refer to classes on ethics, philosophy and other classes of similar context

I already had a high moral standard and therefore the book was unable to make a real impact on my vision of ethics. However, the book did make a good impression on me about something that’s not directly what your ethics are but how highly you value them in your life. In location 239 in the Kindle version, there is a quote from The Josephson Institute of Ethics that states, “ETHICS IS ABOUT HOW WE MEET THE CHALLENGE OF DOING THE RIGHT THING WHEN THAT WILL COST MORE THAN WE WANT TO PAY.” (Maxwell, Kindle Locations 242-243) This really caught my attention because all throughout a student’s academic life we are taught the theoretical aspects of ethics, however, once you enter the business arena the cost of following your moral code, the golden rule can be much higher. You can lose your job or lose a client because you won’t bend the rules for them. There are things in this world that no schooling can prepare you for and you really figure out what your level of ethics is once you are in those situations where something meaningful to you is at stake. So, the book did not make me think differently about my ethics and what I value, but instead, it changed my perspective on when my ethics will be really challenged. I have never been in a situation where my ethics have been challenged so it will be a true test of ethics once I enter the business