The Ethics Coach on Dealing With Entitled Employees

Q: I want to do right by investors and keep operating costs low, but one employee who travels for his job advocates for high-end hotels, restaurants and transportation as compensation for being away from his family. He argues that a better travel experience makes for healthier, happier employees, which leads to more sales and benefits investors. We need a written travel policy, but shouldn't he understand the culture we're trying to build and behave accordingly?

A: A sense of entitlement is blind to culture. People who are preoccupied with their own self-interest find ways to rationalize that they should get everything they want. (Those of us who don't lean as selfish understand that want and deserve don't always overlap.)