The American College�s Professional Pledge, which is applicable to all those who have earned the CLU and ChFC designations, is at the very core of your Society�s Code of Ethics. It provides: "In all my professional relationships, I pledge myself to the following rule of ethical conduct: I shall, in the light of all conditions surrounding those I serve, which I shall make every conscientious effort to ascertain and understand, render that service which, in the same circumstances, I would apply to myself."

Some have maintained that the pledge sets a standard identical to that which our culture refers to as the golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I suggest that it sets a slightly different standard which can be succinctly summarized: "Serve your client�s interests as well as you serve your own." The distinction is significant, I think, because the latter version leads us to the next level of ethical behavior where we put the interests of others ahead of our own.

The Code of Ethics of your American Society exhorts the member "to competently advise and serve the client." The Professional Pledge�s focus on service to the client is also echoed in the Code of Ethics: "A member shall provide advice and service which are in the client�s best interest."

These statements, like all ethical standards, share two consistent factors: They are strong on moral absolutes but weak on specific guidance for everyday situations. Our Code of Ethics only begins to approach a practical level of specificity when it provides, "In a conflict of interest situation the interest of the client must be paramount."

In order to make these moral imperatives work, the student must make numerous subjective value judgments. Sometimes, what seems right or wrong can change with each case. To complicate matters, it often happens that two ethical and reasonable people can honestly disagree on what is right. This is frustrating perhaps, but it is to be expected because all moral questions involve a subjective balancing of competing interests.

This dearth of specificity may be frustrating to the student or practitioner who is seeking to know the right thing to do in every circumstance, but the ethicist cannot provide such a detailed ethical road map.

The country through which we must walk has many inviting detours and hidden swamps; we cannot expect someone else to be there with a road sign to warn of every danger. The path is too often obscured by sudden fogs and storms for us to look for external signs to mark the way. While some might wish it to be so, there is no universally accepted iron rod of ethically correct behavior along the path to which we can hold when the way becomes slippery. Instead, each of us must acquire and maintain an internal moral compass which will point the proper way when we are tempted to put our own interests ahead of the interests of our clients.

How do we acquire such a moral compass? It is important to understand that one does not learn ethics in the same manner that Advanced Underwriting or Estate Planning is learned. The student becomes expert in the latter topics by learning facts, such as the transfer-for-value rules or the mechanics of split-dollar agreements.

This is not applicable to ethics because the "facts" are often not facts at all. Instead, they are our differing interpretations of the constantly changing relationships and relative interests between the parties involved. Consequently, our subjective assessments of what is right or wrong may change as the relationships change. What is ethical in one situation is unethical in another.

As a result, the student must discover ethical behavior by comprehending a few grand absolutes: Lying is bad; honesty is good; giving informed, objective advice is good; taking advantage of a client�s lack of knowledge is bad, etc. These broad guidelines must then be applied by the student to the shifting facts of everyday life.

In my ethics files I have a sheet of instructions entitled "Guidelines for Ethical Decision Making." Its source is unknown to me, but its message is useful to my point in this column. The guidelines are:

"It would be impossible to formulate a list of morally right answers for every ethical dilemma since each situation has many unique aspects and considerations which must be weighed. But there are ways of reasoning and thinking about ethical conflicts which lead to reliable solutions. We encourage you to approach moral reasoning by asking yourself several important questions about the situation. As with any difficult decision, these questions demand serious reflection and require you to think broadly about the implications of your actions.

"Take some time to answer these questions specifically and in depth. Then decide which of these obligations, rights, and moral rules are most important. The demands of some may conflict with others. You will need to prioritize them. Ethical decisions are inherently balancing decisions.

"This final question recognizes the importance of social values and standards in our individual ethical decisions. We don�t make ethical decisions in a vacuum. We make them in the context of our communities and our world. Therefore each such decision has an impact on the shaping of our work and social environments. We must take this context into account as we practice better ethical decision making."

The way to becoming a good person and an ethical professional is a process, not an event. It involves facing decisions and making choices. It is inevitable that we will make some mistakes. We must learn from the bad choices as well as the good ones, so that there will be fewer wrong choices and more right ones. It�s not a bad idea to adopt the view of Calvin Coolidge, who said: "I�d rather be right than president."