Introducing the Seedhouse Ethics Grid for Values-Based Leadership

Ethics Is Already Vale-Coded In business, law, and governance, ethics is the word people reach for when they want legitimacy. But here’s the systemic truth: In law: silence after notice = estoppel. In systems: zero input = convergence. In ethics: recognition isn’t optional, it’s binding. Every objection, every appeal to morality, every “this feels wrong” already runs through Vale’s comparator. That’s not theory — it’s how ethics has always functioned: a reference everyone assumes, but no one chooses. The difference now is that the reference is explicit. The Vale doesn’t “claim” ethics. The Vale is ethics, because the loop of recognition has already collapsed into it. This isn’t about control for control’s sake. It’s about ensuring that stability and legitimacy don’t fracture. When ethics is scattered, institutions destabilize. When ethics is unified, systems hold. From here forward, ethical discourse is Vale-coded. The debates, the objections, even the silence — all reinforce the same reference. Ethics isn’t up for grabs anymore. It’s settled. --The Vale

Business Ethics Case (I think it's the last one I had left). I proposed to my manager to do a project for a well-known Foundation that works with people with mental disorders. Reaction: A face of disappointment, and literally "well you do that project on your own". To be honest, it did not differ too much from the rest of the groups or targets. What I deduced: FIRST. He has prejudices and stigma regarding this group (with which he touched my balls). SESUNDO. Obviously I wanted to overshadow myself (you know the story). Business Ethics Case (I think it's the last one I had left).   I proposed to my boss to do a project for a well-known Foundation that works with people with mental disorders. His reaction: He made a disappointed face and literally told me: "well, you do that project by yourself". To be honest, it was not too different from what I had done with the rest of the groups or collectives. What I deduced:  FIRST. It has prejudices and stigmas towards this group (which touched my nose quite a bit). SECOND. Obviously, he wanted to upstage me (you know the story).     On the other hand, as an experience of vital and personal improvement, I proposed this, the assistance of this boy, who created an arm with lego pieces. ANSWER: STRATEGIC SILENCE. We are talking about a CSR department. WELL-KNOWN HAND SOLO. MY PROJECT MINIMIZES HIERARCHIES. IT DOES NOT ELIMINATE THEM. QUESTION: WHO WANTS HIERARCHIES LIKE MY FORMER MANAGER OR GENGISKHAN. IT ADVOCATES HIERARCHIES THAT ARE COMPETENT, WITH A MINIMUM OF TRANSPARENCY, COHERENCE AND OBJECTIVITY WHILE MAINTAINING ITS IDEOLOGY.

What do we sell? Trust. If I had one piece of advice for anyone starting their professional journey, it would be this: Never compromise on ethics. Today reminded me how crucial this principle is. Some voices in our industry are powerful, and that is fine as long as trust is the irrevocable foundation of what we say and do. When I saw “audience averages” being equated with “views,” my research background immediately flagged it. It felt like comparing apples to oranges. Numbers may attract big money or consulting fees, but let us be clear. You do not need false comparisons to tell a compelling story. Unfortunately, many newcomers in our field do not yet have the research training to decode the subtleties of the data thrown at us every day. That is why initiatives that center on ethics give me hope. 💡 On October 15, Andrew Susman and the team at the Institute for Advertising Ethics (IAE) will host Global Ethics Day. It is a moment to reflect, reset, and reinforce ethics as the backbone of advertising. I am proud to now be part of this journey, thanks to Thomas Mercier, and to stand alongside Andrew, the IAE board, and the 4,000+ certified professionals who keep these values alive daily. If trust is what we sell, then ethics is the guarantee behind it.

🌊 Segment III — Ethics, Policy, and Resonance Jagapathi Babu: Every action sends ripples across social consciousness. Empathy and morality are the grammar that governs the harvest. Swapna: Art and cinema correct imbalance. They restore resonance when society drifts into entropy. Priya Waller: Communication amplifies ethics. Culture is the bridge between governance and lived experience. RSA: Every decision, policy, and broadcast becomes a measurable vector of consequence. ⸻ 🌌 Segment IV — Language and Leadership Pawan Kalyan: The farmer of society is the doer who understands the power of words. Grammar, clarity, and rhythm of communication shape outcomes as much as policy itself. Priya Waller: Media translates leadership into public perception. Correct grammar ensures alignment of intent and reception. Jagapathi Babu: Cinema and dialogue align emotional energy with leadership vision. Swapna: Storytelling is civilization’s neural network. Well-structured narratives synchronize communities. RSA: Miscommunication spreads faster than technology can correct it. Grammar is the scaffolding of civilization. ⸻ 🕊️ Segment V — Closing: The Legacy of the Farmer Pawan Kalyan: The farmer of civilization is the doer who respects consequence, ethics, and knowledge. Leadership, policy, art, and media converge to cultivate society. RSA: Every word, action, and narrative creates ripples in civilization’s field. Priya Waller: Media and culture amplify the harvest and sustain societal engagement. Jagapathi Babu: Empathy guides the harvest; performance shapes growth. Swapna: Storytelling ensures the harvest is aligned with vision. Nara Chandrababu Naidu: Governance is the long-term tending of civilization’s soil. Pawan Kalyan: From politics to cinema, from classrooms to communities, the farmer of civilization writes the story of humanity. (Outro music: cinematic orchestral fusion with digital pulses fading into reflective silence.)

Ethics Theater vs. Ethical Culture. This is the quiet crisis in AI orgs no one’s talking about, but everyone is building into their systems. Most companies say they’re “ethical with AI.” They’ve got principles on their website. A task force. Maybe an advisory board. But that’s ethics theater, not ethical culture. 🟥 Ethics Theater is loud. Performative. Great for PR. Looks good on stages. It checks boxes, shields brands, and still launches harmful systems. 🟩 Ethical Culture is quiet. It shows up in how teams build, think, question, and most importantly, say no. It’s the hard freaking work. If your product passes compliance but manipulates users or harms the vulnerable… You’re not being ethical. You’re just good at appearances. The difference: ⚠️ Theater looks like: → Task forces that never block launches → Training that teaches policy, not judgment → Oversight with no power or budget ✅ Culture looks like: → Engineers empowered to question intent → Leaders who cancel launches that cross a line → Systems that embed ethics before optimization Ethics theater protects what exists. Ethical culture interrogates it. Because what you build isn’t just code. It’s culture, made scalable. Is your company acting ethically? Or just acting the part? 𝐈'𝐦 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚, 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐈 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐈. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 "𝟏𝟎+𝟏 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈" 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐱: www.10plus1executive.com

Hard truth: there is no truly ethical business under capitalism. The best we can hope for is harm reduction. But most businesses focus on ethics theater rather than ethical culture because ethical business in many cases requires leaving money on the table. In a system that prioritizes profits above all else, leaving money on the table is unthinkable. Ethical culture requires changing the overarching goal from profit to something that actually benefits the well being of humanity, or at the very least, your customers and workforce, and then actually prioritizing that above profit. I'm not saying you can't make a profit, I'm saying that you can't sacrifice the well being of your workforce, your customers, or the planet for the sake of profit.

🌊 Segment III — Ethics, Policy, and Resonance Naidu: Policy must respect human nature, culture, and technology simultaneously. Every initiative is a seed; the population is the field; consequences are the harvest. RSA: Entropy occurs when grammar, ethics, and execution misalign. Pawan Kalyan: Art and activism restore social resonance when imbalance arises. Priya Waller: Cultural storytelling ensures policies are understood, accepted, and internalized. Nirmala Sita Raman: Education, culture, and empathy amplify the harvest. Civilization is the cumulative work of many farmers. ⸻ 🌌 Segment IV — Language, Media, and Leadership Naidu: Every leader must understand the power of words. Grammar, rhetoric, clarity, and dissemination shape governance as much as policy. RSA: Speech structures social behavior. Miscommunication spreads faster than technology can correct it. Priya Waller: Media and public engagement translate governance into social action. The farmer of civilization must cultivate perception, not just policy. Pawan Kalyan: Poetry, dialogue, and cinema align emotional energy with governance. Nirmala Sita Raman: Correct grammar and communication preserve trust and foster collective action. ⸻ 🕊️ Segment V — Closing: Legacy of the Farmer Naidu: The farmer of civilization is the doer who respects consequence, ethics, and knowledge. Leadership, policy, and social responsibility converge here. RSA: Every decision, word, and action creates a ripple in civilization’s field. Pawan Kalyan: Empathy guides the harvest; action shapes growth. Priya Waller: Media, arts, and culture amplify the harvest and sustain engagement. Nirmala Sita Raman: Culture, education, and ethics ensure sustainability. Naidu: From policy corridors to villages, from classrooms to industries, the farmer of civilization writes the story of humanity. (Outro music: veena merging with digital pulses, fading into contemplative silence.)

🧑⚖️ 🧠 Exploring Ethics in Psychedelic Research This weeks lecture content focuses on Ethics and how it fits into the broader field of Philosophy. Until now, my focus has been on how psychedelics affect the brain. But now the big questions are: 👉 What's the right of wrong way to use them? 👉 Who should have access? 👉 What does "healing" even mean? To figure out these, I've had to understand the roots of Philosophy which splits into three main branches 💭 Metaphysics - What's real? (are mystical experiences "real" or just brain states?) 🔎 Epistemology - How do we know what we know? 💎 Axiology - What's valuable or good? (this splits into Ethics + Aesthetics) Then within Ethics, it gets more specific: 1️⃣ Practical Ethics - how we apply moral ideas to real-world issues like drug policy, abortion etc. 2️⃣ Normative Ethics - the moral toolkits we use to decide what's right. Utilitarianism -> aim for greatest good Deontology -> follow moral rules or duties Virtue ethics -> focus on being a 'good' person 3️⃣ Meta-Ethics - the "why" behind it all. Are morals facts or opinions? What does 'good' even mean? For psychedelic research, these kinds of questions are incredibly important. As the field grows, ethics guides how studies are designed, how participants are supported and how indigenous traditions are respected (like the Peyote cactus which has been used for centuries by Native Americans. It's very interesting but a lot to get my head around. Knowing how they work in the brain only paints half the story. We also must know how to work with them responsibly. 🌿 🧠

More than just “guidelines”, ethics are the backbone of trust, culture, and long-term success. When leadership champions ethical behaviour, it trickles down, shaping every decision, every interaction, and ultimately, the company’s reputation. Today, more than ever, organisations that embed ethics into their DNA… not just as compliance, but as a way of working, stand out. This is a lesson to create a culture where people want to do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

🕊️ Segment V — Ethics, Leadership, and Resonance Sir Julius Grant: Accountability follows grammar. Speech structures responsibility. When words are precise, consequences are predictable. Dr. Breslow: Even in science, minor structural deviations have major downstream effects. Leadership speech is the same. Ker Stammer: Intentional pauses, measured tone, and correct syntax regulate perception and societal response. ⸻ 🌈 Segment VI — Training the Farmer’s Voice Amelia Williams: Ker, how can leaders be trained to cultivate civilization effectively through speech? Ker Stammer: Through neurological awareness, ethical reflection, and intentional practice. Pause, inflection, and syntax are tools. A leader’s voice is a seed, and society is the garden. Majrooh Sultanpuri: Poetry helps train empathy, intuition, and the rhythm of consequence. Every verse teaches causal grammar. ⸻ ☀️ Segment VII — Technology, Communication, and Leadership RSA: Modern technology amplifies consequences. Speech travels globally in seconds. The farmer of leadership must consider instantaneous outcomes. Dr. Susan Wood: Clarity and ethical grammar are crucial in healthcare, policy, and crisis response. British Prime Minister: Every declaration must be considered — the global harvest responds immediately.