Character Development and Faces of Evil, Thesis of Financial Accounting

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Character Development and Faces of Evil Ashford University MGT 440: The Dark Side of Leadership

Character Development and the Faces of Evil Character is described by Websters as “One of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual” (Wesbsters.com, 2020). Knowing a person’s character will help you understand how an individual will handle certain situations and what steps they take to correct a problem. An individual’s character is based off many different aspects from upbringing to past experiences and hardships they have experienced in life. Not all past experiences are good and unfortunately some individuals develop darker or evil character traits from these past experiences. There are ways to help ensure a person’s character does not develop these traits but there is no guarantee. Understanding how an individual’s character is developed over time and from past experiences will help make sure they do not develop evil characteristic traits. Character Development There are six broad categories of character strengths, Wisdom and Knowledge- cognitive strengths entailing the acquisition and use of knowledge. Courage- and emotional strength involving the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition, external or internal.Humanity- an interpersonal strength that involve trending to and befriending others. Justice- a civic strength underlying healthy community life. Temperance- a strength protecting against excess. And Transcendence- a strength that forges connections to the larger universe and provides meaning. (Johnson, 2018). These broad categories help us explain how what makes up an individual’s character and provided character traits that should be developed by good mentorship and positive reinforcement. Some traits individuals are born with and are much harder to teach or cultivate. According to Duckworth et al (2007, as cited Dunkel and Linden, 2017), “Grit, defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” has recently received a

Perspectives of Evil The five perspectives of evil are, Evil as a dreadful pleasure- an individual starts to enjoy the pain they cause others. Exclusion- those outside of the select group are considered as undeserving or expendable. Deception- people who refuse to admit their own shortcomings and consider themselves above reproach. Bureaucracy- a system is allowed to compartmentalize to a point where evil is allowed to exist because no individuals are looking at the whole picture only fragmented parts. Choice- individuals choose to willingly make evil decisions. Ordinary- based of situational factors an evil act may seem completely normal to an individual or group because that is all they have known. As individuals we may all easily fall into anyone of these types of evil and not know it. Most of this is based off situation especially Ordinary evil. By being educated on these pitfalls and types of evil it will help individuals make sure they do not become part of the evil themselves. If an individual comes to realize they are already part of it they will be able to recognize it and do something about it. Break the Cycle There are several ways to break the cycle of evil. One of the simplest of ways is to forgive and forget. Forever there have been examples of family members who have gotten into a conflict that has lasted for years. An immense amount of time and energy is spent being angry or upset with the other person. Simply choosing to forgive and move on will result in you being happier and make it so you no longer have to harbor resentment. Seeking forgiveness is another option, if you have harmed another person either intentionally or unintentionally, be sincere and ask for forgiveness. Most importantly choose not to retaliate if possible and seek other ways to rectify a situation by using reason and understanding.

Unethical Leader The energy company's bankruptcy in 2001 after allegations of massive accounting fraud wiped out $78 billion in stock market value and led to the collapse of Arthur Andersen and the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. A class action settlement of $7.185 billion was the largest of all time. Former President Jeff Skilling is serving a 24 year sentence (10 Unethical Famous Examples, 2020). This is a great example of both Exclusion and Bureaucracy perspectives of evil. Exclusion because those outsides of the group were treated extremely poorly by mismanagement, fraud, and outright deception. Bureaucracy dealt with the compartmentalization where it was difficult to see all the financial discrepancies because it was spread across several departments. Real World Application I will be able to use these lessons in daily life to assess how both myself and my employer treat others and how they conduct business practices. There may not be much I can do at my current position to change business practices at work aside from choosing to continue employment if I see some of the negative sides of character. For me I think the biggest lessons learned will be in my own self-evaluation. Ensuring that when I am leading troops or in command of my helicopter crew I am acting with sound moral character and not letting any evil character traits dictate my actions or decisions. I do not think I have difficult doing this based off my past experiences but it is nice to be able to break down the different aspects of character. I think this will serve me well with future decisions, mentorship, and dealing with others who struggle with evil tendencies.