Honesty vs. Ethics—Is There A Difference?

160

by Ken Vincent, Featured Contributor

I have seen a lot about ethics lately. It got me to wondering why I haven’t seen much about honesty though.

Ethics Is honesty a part of ethics? Or are your ethics a part of your being honest? Are they one and the same or totally different?

It raised questions for me. Can a person be honest, but have questionable ethical standards. Or, can you have solid ethics but not always be honest?

Certainly there are cases where both are violated. If you steal money from your employer it is both dishonest and bad ethics. But, what if you tell a “little white lie” to save someones feelings. While that is technically dishonest is it also a violation of your ethics? Where do they differentiate, or do they?

How do you see the relationship?

Ken Vincent http://sbpra.com/KennethVincent/

KEN is a 46 year veteran hotelier and entrepreneur. Formerly owned two hotels, an advertising agency, a wholesale tour company, a POS company, a leasing company, and a hotel management company. The hotels included chain owned, franchises, and independents. They ranged in type from small luxury inns, to limited service properties, to large convention hotels and resorts. After retiring he authored a book, “So Many Hotels, So Little Time” in which he relates what life is like behind the scenes for a hotel manager. Ken operated more that 100 hotels and resorts in the US and Caribbean and formed eight companies. He is a firm believer that senior management should share their knowledge and experience with the next generation of management.