You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity

Ethical Dilemmas with Your Boss

You and your boss have a unique relationship that can be described accordingly: (1) your boss is capable of being wrong, just like everyone else; and (2) because of (1), you have more power than you think you do to affect your boss’s ethical (or unethical) decisions.

Your boss is actually the very first person you should talk to about an ethical dilemma in your workplace. While honest, open communication between supervisors and their employees does not necessarily guarantee a good, productive work team, there certainly isn’t a prayer for an effective working relationship without this kind of mutually candid interaction. John Gardner, president of the nonprofit organization Common Cause, put it this way: “There must be not only easy communication from leaders to constituents but, also, ample return communication—including dissent!”

You need to learn how to talk to your boss about your ethical dilemmas; it’s required for you to be successful in your job. You must also give your manager a fair chance to respond and help you with any conundrum in which you find yourself that you cannot solve. And return the favor by watching her back; don’t allow her to be blind-sided with an ethical problem that’s headed her way. Instead, grant her the professional courtesy of having a “heads-up” conversation with you.