ETHICS, PROFESSIONALISM, AND
THE LANDMAN
AAPL ETHICS PRESENTATION
SEPTEMBER 17, 2012
by Larry C. Ashlock, D.Min., Ph.D.
INTRODUCTION
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not
an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
“Make a habit of two things: to help; or at least to do no
harm.” Hippocrates
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, ‘Where have I
gone wrong?’ Then a voice says to me, ‘This is going to
take more than one night.’” Charlie Brown
Our Objective
Whether its philosophy, the professions, politics, or life in
general, ethics is involved in all that we are and do.
Virtually all professional associations recognize the
importance of core values, virtues, and duties to shape
what would be customary behavior for members. Sadly,
many do not provide much guidance with how to apply
these moral ideals and obligations practically.
The oil and gas industry is no different.
Your own Code of Ethics and Standards
of Practice are there to serve as
guideposts for professional conduct in
relationship to one another, to the
community, and to the earth. They are
based upon specific values, virtues, and
duties that emerge from within those
ideals.
Please allow me to explain my role today,
lest you think that I am here to serve as
your moral monitor. Someone has
bemoaned people who wear their halos
too tight and, I, for one, have choked on
mine more times than I choose to tell.
Therefore, I’d like to offer the following
ethics presentation to you as a fellow
struggler.
What is Ethics?
What Duties are Standard for AAPL Members?
Key terms:
Land Professional: a person who derives a significant
portion of his or her income as a result of performing
landwork. (Bylaws, Article II)
Landwork: is the actual performance or supervision of: 1)
negotiating the acquisition or divestiture of mineral rights;
2) negotiating business agreements that provide for the
exploration for and/or development of minerals; 3)
determining the ownership of minerals through research of
public and private records; 4) reviewing the status of title,
curing title defects, . . . and otherwise reducing title risk
associated with ownership in minerals . . . ; 5) managing
rights and/or obligations derived from ownership of
interests in minerals; 6) utilizing or pooling of interests in
minerals. (Bylaws, Article II)
Ethics: a branch of study that deals with
values related to human conduct, with
respect to the rightness and wrongness
of certain actions and to the goodness
and badness of the motives and ends
of such actions.
AAPL ETHICS
Essentially, ethics encompasses our motives and our
actions simply because who we are and what we do
matters to others and ourselves.
Ethics means that we care about being good people AND
about making decisions that lead to right moral action.
Gula, Moral Discernment, 43.
AAPL CORE VALUES AND MEANINGS
Gula writes “If we let our muscles of ethical reflection get
flabby by failing to exercise critical thinking about value,
about what we do, and about who we are becoming, then
we can easily turn into moral cripples and lose our
capacity to recognize and to avoid moral evil.” Moral
Discernment, 43-44.
Core values are worthy ideals and well worth preserving.
Key ones include: life, family, friendship, work and play,
knowledge, and integrity. (See Gomez-Lobo, Morality and the Human
Goods, 6-25).
Integrity, truth, truthfulness, and
trustworthiness: “It shall be the duty of the
Land Professional at all times to promote
and, in a fair and honest manner,
represent the industry to the public at
large with the view of establishing and
maintaining goodwill between the
industry and the public and among
industry parties.” (AAPL Bylaws, Article XVI, Section
1)
Fairness . . .equity . . .justice: “The Land
Professional, in dealings with landowners,
industry parties and others outside the
industry, shall conduct himself in a
manner consistent with fairness and
honesty, such as to maintain the respect
of the public.” (AAPL Bylaws, Article XVI, Section 1)
Dignity: Respect for the public and for
oneself.
Stewardship of the land: “Under all is the
land.” Without the earth and its minerals
there would be no profession. Your
livelihood and my material benefits are
derived, in part, from the earth. (APPL,
Standards of Practice, Preamble)
“‘Mister!’ he said with a sawdusty
sneeze, I am the Lorax. I speak for the
trees.
I speak for the trees, for the
trees have no tongues. And I’m asking
you sir at the top of my lungs . . .” Dr.
Seuss, The Lorax
Where is Ethics Evident in
Land Professional Work?
Right moral actions are those that affirm the value of
persons. So when we say that something is right, we
claim that persons are worth this kind of action. Gula, Moral
Discernment, 45.
I’ve selected one proverbial tip of the ethical iceberg that
relates to a common misstep in any form of business-conflict of interest.
Conflict of Interest
In the fictional movie, There Will Be Blood, Daniel
Plainview replies, when his young son asks him what he
will pay the Sunday family for their land and the minerals
beneath the land, that he was going to pay them “quail
money,” not oil money. (cf. AAPL, Code of Ethics, Article
XVI, Section 2; Standards, #7 and # 8)
He clearly knew facts about their land that he withheld
intentionally in order to profit personally from those facts.
Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
Of course, that was a movie, but the recent University of
Arkansas coach’s scandal is not. The former coach
bypassed the university’s normal hiring process to hire a
young woman who was under-qualified for a position, but
who was personally involved with the coach.
The coach knew facts about the employee that he
withheld in order to benefit personally from those facts.
Conflict of Interest
Defined: “any situation in which a person has a private or
personal interest sufficient to influence the objective
exercise of his or her official duties as, say, a public
official, employee, or a professional.” MacDonald, McDonald, and
Norman “Charitable Conflicts of Interest,” Journal of Business Ethics, 39:1-2,
67-74, August 2002, p. 68
Conflicted Character
Whether a movie or real life, a core value of your
profession is integrity and honesty. Daniel Plainview and
the coach lacked a valuable personal mineral necessary
for good relationships--integrity.
Aristotle once said, At his best, man is the noblest of all
animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.
In short, character counts for something personally and
professionally as your Standards state (p. 9).
Two Aspects
Conscience: “the inner sense of what is right and wrong in
one’s conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action.”
Conscious: “Conscience is a personal, self-conscious [Italics
mine] activity, integrating reason, emotion, and will in selfcommitted decisions about right and wrong.”
This means that we conduct an inner dialogue--selfconfrontations and deliberations--toward those values and
goods that lead to self-committed action on behalf of the good
and right. Callahan, In Good Conscience, 17, 24.
Why are These Significant?
Economic Reasons (work): Indeed, we are in business to make
money. But we’re naive if we think that work (profit) is the only value
in business.
Human Reasons (life, friendship): In healthcare we inform
patients of all the facts (informed consent); in car sales we report
the real condition of the car prior to a sale; and in this industry we
practice integrity because we value highly human life and support
human dignity because this is a higher value.
Your Code of Ethics and Standards aspire toward these values.
Brief Model for Moral DecisionMaking
Very few decisions have to be made right now. Sadly,
most of our decision-making is a reaction rather than a
reflection.
“We go through the process of reflecting because we are
not always clear about what best supports the value of
persons.” Gula, Moral Discernment, 45.
Drilling a single hole straight down into the ground is no
longer the best method for mineral recovery. Lateral
drilling is much more useful. Likewise, lateral thinking is
much more useful when making moral decisions.
Example
Stem Cell research was a major presidential issue for the
newly elected president, George W. Bush, in 2001. One
of his first policy decisions required him to decide
whether the government should fund research on
embryonic stem cells.
He used a process similar to the one I am presenting to
you today: “I would clarify my guiding principles, listen to
experts on all sides of the debate, reach a tentative
conclusion, and run it past knowledgeable people. After
finalizing a decision, I would explain it to the American
people.” George W. Bush, Decision Points, 110-111.
Quick decisions are unsafe decisions.
Sophacles
Define: Decide upon the core principles, “goods,” and
values involved in the decision that you will make. These
ideals, principles, and rules for the road are foundational to
life. It would help to review your Code of Ethics and
Standards of Practice on an annual basis--or as often as
needed.
Get the clear facts in a possible decision. Know the people
and companies involved, the history of the land, and the
legal facts surrounding the situation.
Stay Committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your
approach.
Tom Robbins
Deliberate: Seek wise counsel to determine the
benefits/burdens, rights/responsibilities, present/future
consequences of a decision BEFORE you make it.
Brainstorm the moral elements of the decision you are
making. Clarify in your mind a view of right/wrong, good/bad
in the decision. Call to mind the basic principles of your
profession that apply to the situation.
Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important
quality in a good leader.
Gen. George S. Patton
Decide/Act/Evaluate: Keep in mind that there will likely
remain some uncertainty as to a correct course of action
because we are indeed finite creatures. However, we can
refer to core values, basic goods, and seek good counsel
throughout the course of a decision. Once a decision is
made, we can also evaluate the strength of that particular
decision based upon others of a similar nature and success.
Conclusion
The AAPL exists to conduct honest and just business in
your communities and beyond--this holds personal,
corporate, community, and land implications.
Core values such as integrity, fairness, human dignity,
and respect for the land reflect not only upon the industry
as a whole, but also upon individuals. We are here for
economic goods, but we must never forget that we are
also here for human goods as well. I commend your
organization both for being good and doing good.
“Ability will get you to the top, but it takes
character to keep you there.”
John Wooden, Former UCLA Head Basketball Coach
Copyright, Larry C. Ashlock, D.Min., Ph.D.