Head, Heart, Gut

A personal, ethical decisionmaking methodology

- Lt. Col. Seth Hall

“Ethics involves not only our thinking, but also our feeling.”

-Valdemar Setzer Ethics and ethical behavior is not merely the intellectual determination of right and wrong. It goes much deeper. To fully understand and validate the ethical framework from which a person claims to live, one must understand the foundation on which that framework rests, the resulting decision-making process used by the individual and the manner in which one conducts his or her professional life. This paper explores three components as they relate to an ethical, decision-making philosophy; a philosophy that acknowledges moral absolutes, rejects relativism and maintains the flexibility to make decisions based on individual variables.

Each officer’s personal, ethical framework is unique to him or her. To best illustrate this decision-making process, I’ll share mine. Mine rests firmly on two supporting pillars. Each one embedded in me at an early age and, on which, I continue to build during adulthood. The first supporting pillar of my ethical foundation is my parents. My mom and dad have always been people of few words. The lessons they taught me were never overtly stated. Instead, they were modeled by how they lived their lives. They intentionally cultivated ideas in me such as a man’s word must be his bond, and honor is something for which to fight. To them, reputation is everything. These principles do not make them popular. Their circle of trusted friends is small, but to this day, they remain fiercely loyal to those they love and everyone with whom they interact respects them. Both traits I learned as a child and emulate today.