One of the Twelve Characters

Inner Referee

'This is my truth'

Inner Referee resides in the Domain of Self and the Dimension of Ethics.

Inner Referee knows the principles upon which decisions about the rightness of an action are predicated and is willing to override lower orders of moral thinking, such as 'what's in it for me' for higher levels that embrace the broader moral issues of social contract and universalism.

Who is Inner Referee?

It is an accurate moral compass that moderates right action based upon alignment to important personal values. Inner Referee is the 'go to' Character for fairness and awareness of what is right and wrong in any situation.

Inner Referee is the twin of Inner Master in that they work best as a team. If Inner Master is all about self-awareness, then Inner Referee is about making choices from a moral perspective. It is the voice of personal conscience. Moral maturity requires development beyond moral reference points that come from family, society or are simply concerned with notions of reward and punishment. For example, when we learn from our parents or at school that it is wrong to take things that belong to other people, we also learn that we will be punished if we do so. We learn that bullying in the school playground will result in retribution, whether that is instigated by teachers or other children. This approach to what is right and wrong can sometimes be reduced to a moral code of 'will I be caught out?' In our adult world, where we are called upon to be morally responsible in our actions towards others, these lower levels of moral maturity cause huge problems for business and society. Witness the Barings bank collapse in 1995 as an example of a whole system being impacted by the immature moral conscience. Conversely, higher morals create stability, security, and communal responsibility. A mature Inner Referee provides the anchoring values for these higher levels of morality.

Inner Referee will also consider the diversity of value systems before making an Ethical decision. Its leadership role is to provide consistency in acting in a principled and fair way.

What does Inner Referee do?

Inner Referee's key role is self-decency and uprightness. To ensure your actions 'do no harm' and 'spread goodness.' Inner Referee collaborates with the other three Inner Domain Characters in the following ways:

• The Inner Referee gives the Inner Advisor the steer to ensure selftalk remains aligned to values.
• The Inner Referee gives the Inner Master its conscience.
• The Inner Referee gives the Inner Visionary a measure of the correctness of its direction.

Where Inner Referee sits in the model

At the heart of the Ethics Dimension is the question: What is right and wrong?

The Domain of Self is the inner domain: your attitudes, thoughts, beliefs and feelings. It is where self-leadership begins, and strong roots here allow more stretch in the outer Domains.

The other Characters in the Ethics Dimension are Mentor and Custodian. The other Characters in the Domain of Self are Inner Master, Inner Visionary and Inner Advisor.

The Virtues Inner Referee helps you build

Virtues emerge when Characters from different Dimensions combine. Because Inner Referee works in the Ethics Dimension, it contributes to three of the six Leadership Virtues:

• Prudent, the Practitioner who is a Specialist in Understanding and Ethics.
• Just, the Practitioner who is a Specialist in Ethics and Communication.
• Spiritual, the Practitioner who is a Specialist in Purpose and Ethics.

Read about all six Leadership Virtues.