A521.5.4.RB_StevensEric

Ethical community can be applied to just about every organization in the business of service. In the organization that I work in the ethical values is a necessity for the delivery of public service which the community expects. The public servants are expected to act in a manner of ethical behavior and to perform their job with ethical behavior.

The first is trust where the public expects you to serve and protect them at all costs. This can mean the ultimate sacrifice if need be and to act in a compassionate manner. At times this may seem difficult depending on the situation and the type of crime faced by this public servant.  The public servant is supposed to act in a neutral manner no matter what their personal beliefs may be.

The second is loyalty which can at times be hard for the public servant to immediately give the complainant of a call. This can be an issue since loyalty is a virtue that in most occupations has to be earned. The trait of loyalty is a must that is expected when you are entrusted when you are sworn in.

The third is solidarity is a trait that is common in my profession where we often perform this virtue every day. This virtue is expected when the community calls you and asks you to perform a task that they cannot.

I think that the virtue of loyalty is not necessarily missing but it is one that is lacking far behind the others. This virtue is one as I spoke of earlier that is one that is not natural to instantly given to a complete stranger.

I think you can align these values into your organization by reminding the employees of the oath that they took when they became peace keepers of the community. This can be reminded by sending out copies of the law enforcement code of ethics on a quarterly basis.

A521.5.1.RB_StevensEric

                I look at the values of my work place and I am able to compare some of these values to my own. I look at the exercise of the assessment for the section of this module and I see what I can say are very valuable attributes that I share in my personal life. I looked at the list and I can share some of the similar vales that were identified as both my personal and professional life.

                The first one on the list was rewarding loyalty and dependability. What I mean by this is that when I receive loyalty and dependability in my personal life I reciprocate this almost twice as much in return. I am a very devoted family man and I show my loyalty to my family. I do this also with my co-workers and I would defend them with my life if necessary. Now I hope this will never come to this but I know these co-workers would do the same for me if needed.  

                In the differences with this is with my family there is a step further I would go in this attribute.  My family has instant trust and loyalty from me which I can say was not earned but immediately given in contrast with my co-workers. My co-workers the longer you work with them the more intense that loyalty will become. You begin to know what your co-workers are thinking without them ever saying a word.

                How I would mitigate these differences is to get to know my partners on a personal level quicker. It is not like I am trying to be nosey and trying to pry in their personal life but it is nice to know a little back ground on them since we will be facing potentially life and death situations. We look at each other and you know what is at stack if you or your partner doesn’t come home. Will either one of us lose a wife and kids. With this we can mitigate these changes through necessity.

A521.4.3RB_StevensEric

When I look at the messages learned in this section of the module I can see the benefit of using body language in delivering a message which can incorporate hidden messages. This message can be planted into the audience without the audience even knowing that they are being subjected to them. The sub conscious can catch these messages and transfer the intended messages to listener.

The message and the manner that the presenter is trying to convey is just as important as the words themselves. The listener can understand and process only a certain amount of verbal data and this can be increased by the presenter relying on non-verbal communication with the audience.

I have used this type of delivery as an academy instructor with basic law enforcement recruits. I convey stories of past experiences to convey the message of the meaning of a topic that I am trying to get these recruits to learn. In this portion of the lesson plan I use movement body gestures and voice tone to convey the message. I can say based upon years of training these recruits I have been told that my style of teaching which reflects these styles or techniques that were presented in these chapters were very effective training tools. These tools can convey the intended message without the audience ever realizing that they are learning a new thought or skill.

A521.3.4.RB_StevensEric

It was the late summer of 1995 and I had just completed my tour of active duty army and I was honorably discharged and now a member of the Florida Army National Guard. I was 21 years old and looking for a job to support my wife and newborn son. I interviewed with the St. Johns County Road and Bridge Department as an entry level maintenance worker. I received the news that I was hired and this was my first full time civilian job making $6.85 an hour.

I was excited about the job since now I can support my family and move on with my future. I thought I had made a good choice in taking this job since I was raised to be responsible for my family and to take care of all the family’s financial needs. I quickly learned that making $350.00 every two weeks was not cutting it and I was falling further and further behind on the bills. I than made the decision that I was not going to settle for this entry level position and I was going to move up through the ranks at this job and make more money and gain more responsibility. I became the model employee always eager to learn new trades and develop my skills. I would go to all the supervisors and ask to be placed with the most knowledgeable employees so I could be like a sponge and learn skills needed to succeed.

I was asked one day by one of the supervisors why I was so eager to learn so quickly and my response was blunt and straight to the point. I said to them so I too can become a supervisor in a very short time. I think that they found this troubling and a threat to their own careers. I soon found myself on menial tasks that required only physical labor and no problem solving skills. Instead of verbally protesting this change in attitude toward me I just kept my head up and continued to work hard.

In the summer of 1996 I was set to attend two weeks of annual training with my National Guard unit. The day before I was leaving for this training I received word that I was being fired from this job due to lack of ambition, absence during probation, and lacking the skills needed to perform this job function. I was horrified that the management of this organization had turned against me which I had given 100% of my dedication too.

I filed a complaint with the United States Labor Division on the basis that they had discriminated against me based upon my service as a National Guardsman due to one of the circumstances of my termination. During this year of service I was absent two days for military duty, and all my evaluations were superior. The end result was I was the first case in Florida under the 1994 bill that protected Guardsman from termination based upon absence during military service. I won this decision and was placed back in the organization with all back pay, seniority, and vacation time after a year of being out of the job.

I learned that in some organizations you have to be careful not to appear to be overzealous and be careful in making some of the management feel threatened about their own job security. This changed my way of how I approached promotional opportunities and to keep my intentions to myself based on the circumstances of the environment. I have never lost that same desire to succeed but have reevaluated the method that I attain these goals that I have set for myself.   

A521.2.3.RB_StevensEric

Adichie in her story gives a powerful account of not only her childhood in Nigeria but also the lessons and biasness that she faced. She did an outstanding job in my opinion in tying the springboard story to what she was trying to accomplish. I liked how she set the entire presentation up by quickly acknowledging her own faults as a child growing up in a middle class family in Nigeria.

She explained how the fact that as a child she did not distinguish at first between white or black, rich or poor as a child until her parents told her about these differences. Once told of these differences she began to look at other people in a different manner. She now understood from her parents the difference between rich and poor. I use the term rich and poor in this blog as a generic reference encompassing the middle class. The portion

It seemed ironic when she explained that when she came to the United States she felt the immediate bias behavior of her roommate thinking she was a poor African student. Adichie says that she then began to understand the true nature of her thought process and how she indeed discriminate against other people based solely on their economic status. Now she was faced with an entirely different type of discrimination based upon as she says the “chocolate” colored skin. She also brought up a different by unique point how the world classifies Africa as a country but not a continent.

I do like the reference to the imagination aspect to capture the audience’s attention and try to have them put images into their own minds. She was able to find the example which in this story was accurate in details of past examples in which she faced challenges. She did however have some issues being lively. This did not retract the notion that she was entertaining. I did notice that she stood behind the podium during the entire presentation and did not use any visual aids.

 The module has a lot of material that can be used in adequately telling a springboard story. This is a great example how all or most of these examples can create an effective presentation. Adichie demonstrated the effect this can have an audience and how they can relate to the presenter.