(004) Pursuing the good: Building an ethical career

The workplace is a great place to build character and integrity. Hear more from an expert in organizational behavior, professor Isaac Smith of Brigham Young University.

Looking at time spent at work as an opportunity to build character as well as profit is a good way to make the world a better place. Many people spend more than half of their waking hours during the week at work, so they can develop a stronger moral fiber by making the effort to build an ethical framework for their career.

Although leaders have a responsibility to give employees the ability to “pursue the good” at work, ethics expert Isaac Smith of Brigham Young University explains that people also have their own duty to work to be better.

Smith is an associate professor of organizational behavior and human resources at BYU, and in this episode of the Purpose in Action podcast he explains: 

• How to treat ethics as an opportunity to pursue the best qualities in everyone, rather than a compliance exercise.
• Strategies for influencing others and helping them improve their character.
• How accounting professionals such as finance department leaders and internal auditors help people behave ethically in an organization.
• What people can do to go to bed each night knowing they behaved in an ethical manner.
• The difference between the motivation to do good and the motivation to not do bad. 

For more on audit and audit quality, visit our Purpose In Action page at AICPA.org.

Connect with our guest, Isaac Smith.

Feedback and comments welcomed at [e-mail]

This is a podcast from AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.