Personal Code of Ethics
The 6 Pillars of Character (Josephson, M., 2002)
Trustworthiness
To be honest in communication and action.
To perform to the best of our knowledge and ability.
To be sincere and genuine, avoiding deceit and fraud.
To be forthright and frank.
To be real, or authentic, and show consistency in values, beliefs, and actions.
To keep promises and commitments.
To be loyal to the interests and obligations of our family, friends, colleagues, local and global communities.
To safeguard all confidential information following HIPAA guidelines.
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Respect
To be the best that one can be in all situations and with all types of people.
To follow The Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
To reflect civility, courtesy, decency, dignity, autonomy, tolerance, and acceptance.
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Responsibility
To be accountable for one's own actions without blaming or taking credit for other people's work.
To perform all tasks with a pursuit of excellence.
To be diligent, reliable, careful, prepared, and informed even in the face of mistakes.
To persevere despite obstacles, setbacks, mistakes, or failures.
To continually seek opportunities to learn, grow, and become a better self.
To practice self-control and delay gratification for a longer-term vision and better decision.
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Fairness
To create a process for handling disputes and disagreements to achieve the fairest outcome and reduce complaints.
To openly and without judgment gather and evaluate information needed to make fair decisions.
To make decisions without favoritism or prejudice.
To promptly and willingly correct mistakes.
To avoid taking advantage of the weakness or ignorance of other people.
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Caring
To feel an emotional response to both the pain and pleasure of other people.
To consciously cause no more harm than is reasonable responsible to perform one's duties.
To express benevolence or altruism.
To avoid strategic charity such as, tax write-offs.
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Citizenship
To know and obey the laws.
To volunteer and stay informed about daily issues in order to better perform duties.
To exceed expectations for the betterment of society now and in the future.
To give more than to receive.
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Josephson, M. (2002). Making ethical decisions: The basic primer on using the six pillars of character to make better decisions, and a better life. Josephson Institute of Ethics.
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"Integrity [character] is doing the right thing even when no one is watching."
-- C.S. Lewis