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Due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, all new recruitment to the Ethical Mentoring programme has been postponed. We will publish revised recruitment dates when we have further information.
NHS leaders are expected to tackle complex and often confusing problems against a backdrop of a changeable and political system. Ethical dilemmas occur when someone is conflicted about the right choice to make, and when two or more values compete for priority. These values may be personal, organisational, societal or any mixture of the three. When you combine this with the expectations of NHS leaders to tackle complex problems, making an ethical decision can be very challenging.
National programme lead for coaching & mentoring, Charmaine Kwame–Odogwu said: “This programme provides a moral context to help people evaluate business processes and resolve conflict between business and social imperatives. Ethical mentoring is about helping others make better decisions at work that affect the wellbeing of our staff and our patients. Through our skilled community of coaches and mentors, we aim to provide timely support to all colleagues in the system who are facing ethical dilemmas.”
- Create an environment for an open dialogue
- Understand and work with the ethical dilemma
- Explore and question their own values
- Recognise and challenge groupthink and false logic
- Make difficult choices
- Have difficult conversations with other people
- Raise their ethical awareness and ethical competence
Benefits
Using mentoring as a powerful leadership development intervention, leaders are empowered to resolve ethical dilemmas by:
- Identifying when an ethical issue is present
- Developing and applying a process to evaluate options
- Reviewing decisions against the backdrop of organisational policies and escalating where appropriate
- Influencing the ethical culture of their organisations by becoming a more authentic, values-driven leader