An individual has to recognize their moral compass for it to exist. Personally, I hold that every individual has a moral compass that they have established through their livelihood and it guides their behaviors, decisions, attitude towards others and their actions. Every person’s moral compass revolves around certain philosophies and helps them in developing a character. When encountering difficult situations and decisions the moral guide enables one to identify the morally acceptable solution. For me, it has taken self-reflection to identify personal moral weaknesses and strengths and constant effort in order to strengthen my moral compass.
Moral Vision
Personally, I subscribe to a moral vision, which ensures the achievement of economic and social justice for all individuals in the world. I have heavily routed this vision within my Wisdom Tradition. I ensure that the vision aligns with the moral code I have chosen. Mother Teresa from whom I derive a purpose for living has shaped the belief and vision. To me she represents the most inspiring humanitarians in the modern era (Kolodiejchuk 55). Mother Teresa exemplified Catholic values, which include social justice, charity, and respect for all individuals. Always true to herself, Mother Teresa aimed at living within her mission and serving others. Her sole aim involved improving life’s quality through initiating charity missions and seeking help to sustain the missions. Although her efforts received criticism from different sources, she lived as an ambassador of humanitarianism and peace. She inspires me to hold my beliefs and take actions, which influence future generations.
My moral vision is the backbone of my inspiration and identity. I trust that there is an afterlife. The belief in a later life enables me to focus on my purpose of living rather than seeking to enrich myself. Simply, I consider that life is a God granted opportunity to leave a positive difference. Many individuals hold this as a personal ambition but fail at achieving it due to interruptions from personal desires (Koslowski 12). My moral compass enables me to move along the route of leaving a positive influence without destructions. Receiving guidance from my moral compass, I have managed to establish a target timeline, which highlights how I can accomplish the vision.
Moral Code
Personally, I accept that an individual’s moral compass should have a strong foundation within a Wisdom Tradition. Religion has offered me a chance to gain wisdom and structure the moral compass. As a catholic, I base my moral principles in the catholic traditions, which are deeply rooted in biblical stories. These stories enrich my compass with virtues like humility and patience. For example, the biblical story where Jesus cleans the feet of his followers equips me with humility as a leadership skill. In leadership training, no one has offered me lessons of humility and patience. However, from religion and biblical narratives I have gathered that personal humility enables leaders to maintain relations with their followers by making them feel significant (Hamel 10). Such virtues are strongly ingrained in my moral compass and personality. Furthermore, I base my personality from personal experiences and how people treat the individuals, I respect. For example, I respect nurses due to the sacrifice I have witnessed from my mother. With this, I resent individuals who disrespect workers within the service industry in general. I admire nurse`s ability to take tender care of patients with respect and dignity although some cannot perform normal actions like make use of a bathroom.
Moral Fitness
The significant principles in my moral code include empathy, justice, and humility and I base them in my Wisdom Tradition (Thompson 20). To indicate how these three rules guide my behaviors and actions I will discuss about justice. I consider stealing as the most unjust action that one can perform to another individual. Taking an item from another individual with the knowledge that it belongs to him or her is unjust and deprives him or her of something that they rightfully own. Anybody who makes it his or her personal effort never to steal from other then abides by my moral code. In broader terms, lying also entails stealing the truth from other parties. Based on the philosophy a law can emerge which can define stealing in different perspectives according to how I view it.
I strive to perform actions that I would like others to perform to me. The effort to perform just actions to other individuals regardless of their race and religion serves as a golden rule within my Wisdom Tradition (Thompson 24). Practicing this golden rule has enabled me to make peace with individuals who had judged me prior to any interactions with them. In addition, I place empathy among the core principles because it also involves justice. With the understanding of other individuals feelings then I am able to apply justice in my actions and behavior. These principles strengthen my moral compass which enables me coexist in harmony with the individual around me.
Defining Moment
One moment that I hold dearly is when is served as the captain in my football team. The role enabled me to interact with all players at a personal level because I led them in training and other activities. However, the regulations set by the institution dictated that players were required to exhibit exemplary performance in academics in order to join and survive in the team. During the tournaments, the team had to train hard in order to gain victory. Due to the hard training, I realized that some team members were not submitting their personal assignments and would copy from their classmates. These activities had been defined as illegal by the school and I was faced by a challenging decision. I submitted the names of the team members who had involved themselves in the practice because I had a duty to the school. However, I pleaded on their behalf to the administration to give allow them to play for the season. In addition, I pulled the individuals aside and talked to them about time management. The situation enabled me to perform my obligation towards both parties.
Future as a business leader
Conscientious Leadership
My moral compass will enable me to perform my obligations as a business leader. I expect to face challenges regarding nepotism and favoritism. As a leader in business, I expect that many individuals will seek favors from me (Badaracco 32). However, these will serve as defining moments for me to prove that I follow my Wisdom Tradition. Among the opportunities, Envision in my practice, include working with diverse individuals who hold different ideas about business and management.
Conscientious Commerce
In conscientious commerce, I envision challenges regarding unethical business tendering and corruption. Other challenges revolve around identifying workers and associates who shun corruption and uphold business ethics (Badaracco 32). However, opportunities such as building strong enterprises and partnerships exist. In addition, an opportunity for me to influence other business leaders towards working with a moral compass exists.
Civic Conscience
I perceive that challenges in building partnerships lay in finding individuals who hold similar ideologies and development agendas. Success will only emerge when I work with individuals who understand the goals and vision and share similar values (Badaracco 32). However, on the same, opportunities such as having access to greater resources and ideas will appear due to the formation of partnerships. Working towards shared visions and goals will be easier due to brainstorming and idea sharing.
Summary
I have managed to maintain a moral compass, which acts as a guide towards building my character and fulfilling a purpose. The assignment has enabled me to reevaluate and realign my vision and code along with my moral compass.
Works Cited
Badaracco, Joseph. Defining moments: when managers must choose between right and right. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 1997. Print.
Hamel, Gary. Leading the revolution. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 2000. Print.
Kolodiejchuk, Brian. Mother Teresa: come be my light : the private writings of the "Saint of Calcutta". New York: Doubleday, 2007. Print.
Koslowski, Peter. Principles of Ethical Economy. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2001. Print.
Thompson, Lindsay J.. The moral compass leadership for a free world. Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age Pub., 2009. Print.
