Whether in our daily work or in our personal life, even the most conscientious people with the best intentions can make ethically questionable decisions. The 5 Questions for Ethical Decisions helps you identify your own ethical 鈥渢rue north鈥� and avoid the costly missteps that can betray your values, damage your relationships, and even end careers.
Each of the book鈥檚 five chapters begins with a provocative question that illustrates a foundational aspect of ethical practice and explains how to apply these questions to define and uphold your own values. This practical yet robust framework provides a process for ethical decision-making in professional and personal matters that strengthens self-awareness, improves intentionality in decision-making, and enhances the ability to think beyond the moment in a pressure-packed, fast-paced, and rapidly changing world.
Drawing on David Miller鈥檚 two decades of experience teaching professional responsibility and ethics to a diverse audience, including undergraduate and graduate students, entrepreneurs and young professionals, and senior executives and civic leaders, The 5 Questions for Ethical Decisions offers compelling and inspiring stories of moral courage and success, cautionary tales of ethical compromise and failure, plus end-of-chapter takeaways and exercises to help build your 鈥渆thical fitness.鈥�
“A vital book that many would have thought had been written decades ago, but it has not been until now. Rather than providing scolding, sermonizing, or abstract theory, it guides readers through the regular moral dilemmas of their everyday lives, explaining how to define and deal with them pragmatically based on scholarship, consulting, practice, and personal experience.”—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Founder and CEO of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute at Yale University
“The Enron scandal changed my life in profound ways. In every talk I give, I remind people that ethical dilemmas aren’t hypothetical—they will come, and they will test you. The 5 Questions for Ethical Decisions is a practical guide to help you prepare before that moment arrives. It’s the kind of tool I wish every leader and employee had.”—Sherron Watkins, former Vice President of Corporate Development at Enron and a Time magazine Person of the Year
“Miller’s five questions provide professionals with an ethical pathway toward a productive and rewarding career, showing that there is no need to sell your soul to achieve the highest levels of success.”—Max H. Bazerman, author of Blind Spots and Inside an Academic Scandal
“It’s not if you’ll be faced with ethical dilemmas, it’s when. Use these practical strategies to manage those dilemmas. Consider it sleep insurance.”—Laura Forese, former Executive Vice President and COO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
“An engaging and tremendously wise how-to guide. Chock-full of wisdom, inspirational examples, and cautionary tales from the corporate world, this book is essential reading for current and aspiring leaders and anyone wanting to train their ethical muscles.”—Pat Gelsinger, Executive Chair and Head of Technology at Gloo and former CEO of Intel
“A powerful and essential read for navigating today’s complex ethical landscape. The 5 Questions for Ethical Decisions offers a thoughtful and holistic framework grounded in common sense—equipping readers with the tools needed to make decisions in their professional and personal lives that they can stand by with integrity and pride.”—Steve Reinemund, former CEO of PepsiCo and former Dean of the Wake Forest University School of Business
“The 5 Questions for Ethical Decisions serves as a valuable resource for those committed to trying to do what is right, good, and just, offering a brilliantly simple yet robust framework to decipher the complexities we face in our everyday lives. A quick and easy must-read (and reread) for any conscientious learner or current or future C-suite professional with a moral compass.”—Mark Mason Sr., Chief Financial Officer of Citigroup
“Many books on ethics are boring, abstract, or irrelevant to the world most people live and work in. In contrast, Miller’s 5 Questions for Ethical Decisions is engaging, concrete, and relevant. He offers wisdom, practical tools, and probing questions I wish I had when I was starting my career.”—Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Managing Partner of SkyBridge Capital
“In an age that is rich in information but poor in wisdom, Miller is the inspiring voice we need, wisely guiding us through the choices we make on the ethical path toward a well-lived life. Drawing from a deep well of scholarly research, wisdom traditions, and down-to-earth lived experience over decades of learning in boardrooms and college classrooms, this excellent book is a true and timeless treasure.”—Tom Nelson, Senior Pastor of Christ Community Church and Founder of Made to Flourish
“Supported by C-suite executive leaders’ testimonials and his more than two decades of teaching students, Miller shows readers how to stock their imaginations and ethical tool kits with reputation-safeguarding questions to avoid crossing the moral line. Making ethically sound decisions from our core values and asking ourselves in every possible situation ‘What is the right thing to do?’, ‘What is the good thing to do?’, and ‘What is the fitting thing to do?’ is the profound wisdom of this remarkably timed, conscience-gathering, and must-read leadership grail!”—Kenyatta R. Gilbert, Dean at the Howard University School of Divinity
“This book would have been useful at every stage of my business life. Nearly every page triggered a remembrance of an instance where my own ethical lenses were ignored or had not yet been formed. This is a great book to be kept on the top left corner of one’s desk. Written in a way that’s not ‘scolding’ or ‘telling,’ it invites us onto a useful and usable pathway to choosing in a world loaded with trade-offs. Regardless of your age, just read this damn book and let its lessons soak in. You will see yourself in the mirror it provides.”—Greg Page, former CEO and President of Cargill Inc.
“Moral quandaries we face in life are rarely so black-and-white but are full of nuances, biases, and colors. David Miller masterfully guides us through our culture marked by the violation of ethics and gives us an immensely practical antidote. Instead of strict moralism, he offers a creative path to paint a prismatic ethical vista full of hope. This powerful and timely book nurtures in us a longing for a beautiful life and grounds us in solid foundation.”—Makoto Fujimura, artist and author of Art Is: A Journey into the Light
“A practical guide for navigating ethical complexity, The 5 Questions for Ethical Decisions empowers leaders and teams with actionable clarity, integrity, and courage. This is essential reading for cultivating principled cultures and confident decision-makers.”—Cari Gallman, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Policy Officer at Bristol Myers Squibb
“It is not possible to lead others if you do not know yourself and understand your values. David Miller does a fantastic job of encouraging you to slow down and determine what really matters in your life and how you will lead and impact others by the choices you make every day.”—Harry Kraemer, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management
“From his decades of experience guiding students through thorny moral dilemmas, David Miller distills a robust framework for value-based decision-making. With sympathy and clarity, he offers practical paradigms to help us navigate the ethical minefield of modern life.”—Linda Livingstone, President of Baylor University
“David Miller is a leader on bringing forth the intersection of a complex yet simple subject of aligning one’s faith and ethical values with the business world and society in general. His clarity in framing these dilemmas with the five questions for ethical decisions challenges all of us to examine our choices each and every time, not only intellectually but in our soul and heart, in order to find the truth.”—John Tyson, Chairman of Tyson Foods
“This masterful framework for ethical decision-making leads with a provocative reveal: it’s about our stories. I found my own story and gained a pragmatic tool for contemplating the impact of values, biases, triggers, and habits on leadership decisions.”—Toni Townes-Whitley, Independent Director on the Nasdaq Board of Directors and former Fortune 500 CEO and President of Microsoft Regulated Industries
“Ethics is not a fad. With a great combination of real-world examples and actionable exercises, this book provides relatable insights on how ethical dilemmas arise and are resolved, while its Five Q’s framework offers an excellent, structured approach to understanding and applying ethics in your daily life and work.”—Jacek Olczak, CEO of Philip Morris International
“We often hear the phrase ‘Do the right thing’ and question whether it’s ‘the right thing’ at all, and according to what or to whom. David Miller shares a sharp framework for grounding ‘the right thing’ in truth.”—Tom Horton, former CEO of American Airlines
