The Professional in the Middle

Thomas Donlin-Smith, Professor of Religious Studies

The Professional in the Middle

Professionals operate within a complex web of relationships

Professionals have relationships with (i.e., obligations to). . .

Employing institution Superiors within the institution Subordinates within the institution Peers within the institution One’s profession & professional peers Clients Competitors The public, the government Self and one’s family God

Complexity of living in the web

Each relationship brings its own moral questions

Conflicts of loyalty among the relationships

Metaphors and bureaucratic structures shape how we experience these relationships

The moral challenges of supervision

Tendency of professionals to be under-prepared for supervisory responsibilities

The moral challenges of relating to peers

What to do about incompetent or corrupt professional peers?

Relating to superiors and employers (loyalty)

Most commonly reported area of professional ethics concern.

See Dilbert’s “pointy-haired boss” from Hell

Relating to superiors and employers

Professionals in large organizations Loss of traditional autonomy

The difficulty of being simultaneously a responsible, autonomous pro & a loyal employee.

Loyalty to employer is itself a professional responsibility.

Two types of authority in professional relationships

Executive authority (a.k.a. organizational or institutional authority)

Expertise authority People with less expertise authority can have

greater executive authority

One possible area of conflict with employers or supervisors:

Public safety, risk, & service quality disputes

3 models of safety, risk, & quality-related responsibilities (from Mike Martin’s Meaningful Work): Employer’s Agents Profession’s Standard-bearers Shared Agency (Martin’s preference)

Model 1 - Employer's Agents

Professionals are hired guns who advise about safety & then carry out orders. Organizational subordinates simply obey.

Model 2 – Profession’s Standard-bearers

Professionals stand upon the standards set by their profession & the law. Professionals make their own judgments of the public good, even in conflict with their employers

Model 3 - Shared Agency

Managers & the professionals they supervise are shared decision-makers

Professionals are advocates for the public good but must be balanced by goals, cost, schedules, customer demands

Managers too must see themselves as advocates for the public’s good

Shared Goals: the compatibility of public & private goods

The dualistic view of corporations as only profit oriented & professionals as devoted only to public goods is inaccurate.

Professionals are interested in more than public goods and institutions/corporations serve more than private goods.

A life of virtue can be cultivated in organizations (at least the right organizations)

Loyalty summarized (M. Martin)

4 basic obligations of professionals: identify by independent reason problematic

orders & regulations express their views within appropriate limits create an atmosphere of tolerance & free

expression be willing to refuse involvement in projects

that create extreme public danger

The professional’s conscientious refusal of employer’s orders

A right based on: respect for personal integrity right to pursue & express professional

responsibilities

Not an absolute, but specifically entails rights to: speak without fear of reprisal alternative assignment if available

Features of acceptable situation for conscientious refusal

Potential for great harm to public No substantial harm is done to one’s

organization by following conscience One acts in good faith, sincerely trying to

meet all responsibilities

Situations of partial satisfaction of these features?

How does the tension between loyalty to employer and conscientious exercise of professional judgment play out in your prospective profession? Suggest a case where conscience should be followed and a case where conscience claims would be clearly limited and wrongly invoked. Create some general guidelines for determining when personal conscience or respect for authority should have priority.

Whistleblowing

Definition: disclosure of evidence of: violation of law, rule or regulation; gross waste of funds; gross abuse of authority; gross mismanagement; substantial threat to public health and safety.

Whistleblowing

The “double horror” of whistleblowing: the initial trauma + frequent retaliation The need for greater protections The special case of whistleblowing within the

federal government See:

whistleblowers.org U.S. Office of Special Counsel

3 views of whistleblowing

Condemning – unacceptable disloyalty Necessary evil, a tragedy to be avoided Obligatory under specific conditions

Need for criteria for obligatory whistle-blowing.

Steps in whistleblowing

Assess the seriousness of the issue Assess your motives Know your situation – e.g., how high up

does the corruption go? Create lateral links of support

Steps in whistleblowing

Realism about available protection consult attorney?

Evidence - is my information documented & verified?

Steps in whistleblowing

Where to take the information? Who is the proper recipient of my information? internal external

How much personal exposure? anonymous open

Assuming internal, open whistleblowing. . .

State your position: clarity stick to facts, avoid personal attacks come with win-win solutions

Going over the supervisor's head the ethics officer or hot-line

Steps in whistleblowing

If unresolved tension grows acute? Choices: comply try to change the system from within go public (classic whistleblowing)

To whom? Media? Law enforcement? Your profession?

exit (variations) Anticipate & document retaliation

Summing up

No apriori system for determining mandatory whistle-blowing

Whistleblowing is: often a supererogatory expression of personal

ideals (rarely “mandatory”) an appropriate expression of those personal

ideals

Importance of whistleblower protection laws

Pros can have an obligation to whistle-blow, but it is unreasonable to blame them for failing to do so if society does not provide adequate protections for them.

Must contextualize and personalize.