Do you remember the times you were at a crossroads, debating with yourself about a choice that challenged your personal values and your business objectives? You’re not alone. Most entrepreneurs experience this kind of strife, but not every entrepreneur will verbalize all of the conflicts.

It is a sophisticated battleground with the lines between correct and wrong so fuzzy, and the choices you make can shape your history. In this article, I’ll share a few valuable tips you can use to navigate these situations.

Related: How to Become the Leader You Envision Without Sacrificing Your Values

1. Establish your core values

Determining your core values is a prerequisite in facing ethical obstacles. As a leader, values like integrity, transparency and sustainability can be your guiding principles, which you set not only for yourself but also for your company. When these values are clear and communicated correctly, they become a beacon, helping decision-making processes to be simpler and well-managed. The unambiguousness of those values serves as a yardstick to which all company actions are compared, and thus, everybody in the organization knows what is expected of them.

2. Understand the baggage right away

One of the most important skills for any leader is to be able to tell when his/her personal beliefs are at odds with business decisions. A lot of times, the first indication of an ethical challenge is a feeling of discomfort. This unease is not just a matter of emotion; it is a sign of your conscience, which is telling you that your values are being compromised. Acknowledging it early on is a must for you because it gives you the time to analyze the situation carefully, and you won’t make any rash decisions. It gives you an opportunity to form a strategy that is in line with your moral values.

3. Seek multiple perspectives

Ethical problems frequently do not yield simple responses, and what looks right one way around may not appear to be so from another point of view. Therefore, seeking several points of view is necessary. Connect with mentors, friends or any group with different perceptions to have more diverse opinions. Such a process can disclose new insights and may even bring in solutions that you would have never thought of. Another key advantage is that it makes sure the decision-making process is not only based on one set of experiences and backgrounds, which helps prevent the risk of bias.

4. Evaluate long-term impact

It may be tempting for a moment, but these shortcuts have long-term effects. When faced with a decision, it’s important to ask yourself about the long-term impacts: What is the consequence of this choice on my business in the next five, ten and twenty years? Would it hurt my reputation or my relationship with other people? Such aspects are crucial because they facilitate the drive toward sustainable growth and the observance of ethical standards, which are usually the pillars of longevity.

5. Create ethical safeguards

To avoid ethical conflicts and have your decisions a posteriori, that is, consistent with your business ethics, put in place robust ethical safeguards in your business operations. This could be a part of the process of creating an ethics committee or establishing a decision framework that focuses on your core values. This way, ethical principles are practically accessible to everyone through the organization’s hierarchy, and every decision is subjected to ethical scrutiny.

Related: Holding True to Your Values Is an Essential Decision-Making Metric

6. Be honest and open with your team

Transparency forms the basis for the establishment and strengthening of trust among team members. When an ethical crisis emerges, admitting the difficulties and how they might affect both personal and business values establishes a precedent of transparency and openness. Such honesty and openness will become a criterion for your enterprise culture. This is not just about trust building but also helping to develop a more engaged and ethically aware employee.

7. Integrate ethics into your brand

Nowadays, consumers are more and more inclined to buy from companies that have a code of ethics. Incorporating ethics into your brand’s storyline will make your business stand out and increase consumer confidence. This synergy builds a deeper connection with the audience because they believe that they are interacting with a brand that reflects their virtues.

8. Get ready to make tough decisions

Balancing personal ethics with business decisions sometimes demands making tough decisions. This might imply declining attractive chances or dissolving cooperation with efficient associates. These decisions are always hard, but they usually have to be done to preserve one’s integrity. The respect and loyalty gained from customers and employees in making these decisions can often far exceed the costs involved.

9. Consider and memorize every decision

Every decision is a learning experience. Analyzing the effectiveness of your choices — what worked, what didn’t and how you can improve — contributes to enhanced decision-making skills. Such a learning process is of utmost importance for more successful and confident dealings with future ethical issues.

10. Lead by example

Leadership is more about walking the talk than giving orders. Through constant decision-making that supports your ethical principles, you become an effective role model for your team. This leadership style not only cultivates an ethical positive climate but also inspires your team to uphold these standards in their own decision-making.

Related: Here’s Why Values Matter So Much in Business

It is not easy to navigate the dangerous waters where personal values and business decisions come together. Nonetheless, when you remain true to your core values, look for different opinions and consider making tough decisions, you can be assured that your business not only prospers but also contributes positively to the world around you.

Do not forget that the purpose of your business is not only to be successful but also to create a business that will speak for your values. This approach does not merely resolve clashes; it turns them into opportunities for growth. Rely on your ethics, and you will build a better business world with more ethical and prosperous firms.

Global expansion is a huge move for your business that can complicate matters when you want to increase the size of your team. Hiring qualified employees from abroad can be complicated. Many things have to be considered, including new rules or regulations in different countries that need to be followed and cultural differences that may also arise.

In the ever-changing global business environment, the use of appropriate technologies and strategies can set apart successful firms from average or struggling ones.

In light of this, how do you then put together an amazing global team? Through my own experience, I’ve discovered 5 key strategies that can set you and your team up for success.

1. Support workplace diversity and Inclusivity

If you establish an inclusive and efficient system culture across your globally expanding enterprise, then performance will increase immediately. However, one should also bear in mind that cultural disparities exist among team members from diverse backgrounds. You will need to create a workplace that respects and recognizes each person’s culture while also fostering an understanding of various traditions and opinions.

There’s a need for companies to consider various holidays people celebrate in different countries so as not to be seen as ignorant or insensitive by their own employees who come from other places. Common concerns revolve around non-verbal communication like gestures at work, dress codes in offices and how we relate with one another socially . One way out is by employing experts who specialize in diversity issues across cultures, such as customs or traditions, to ensure a safe and respectful work culture.

Related: Life’s Too Short to Work With Incompatible People — Follow These 3 Secrets To Building High-Performing Teams

2. Leverage EOR Service

If you are expanding your business globally, it may really help to hire an Employment of Record (EOR) service provider. An Employment of Record legally employs your team members in their local country on your behalf. It enables you to access the best skills from anywhere around the world without necessarily having to go through the lengthy procedure of first establishing foreign legal entities yourself.

When you partner with a good EOR, you get a bunch of sweet benefits:

• Faster access to global talent: You can start building your team abroad as soon as possible instead of waiting months for all the legal paperwork to go through.
• Less worry about compliance: EORs take care of handling all those local employment laws and HR requirements that give you headaches.
• Cost savings: EORs have the expertise to help minimize your operational costs when hiring globally.
• Flexibility: You can easily scale your global team up or down as your business needs change.
• Specialized expertise: EORs have tons of experience helping companies expand globally the right way.

Lean on EOR specialists so you can focus less on annoying HR logistics and more on finding superstar talent around the world.

3. Invest in management training

To succeed globally, you need awesome managers across the board. That’s why strategy number three is to invest heavily in management training.

Make sure your managers are pros at leading global teams. A quality manager in a distributed team excels at nurturing career growth, making the most of their unique talents, ensuring smooth conflict resolution, and guiding through change and uncertainty. They build adaptability and psychological safety, encouraging open communication.

Additionally, the ability to encourage and inspire individuals as a manager will create an environment in which every team member feels welcomed and encouraged. Each one’s unique strengths can be recognized and leveraged for the success and cohesion of the team.

In fact, managers account for 70% of the variability in team engagement. Well-trained managers unite your global workforce and amplify your culture anywhere.

4. Focus on building trust

When your team is distributed worldwide, success depends a ton on trusting relationships. That’s why strategy number four is to focus on building trust and connections, even from afar.

Building trust in a global team requires participation in a variety of activities that promote bonding and camaraderie. Icebreaker games during meetings and setting up Slack channels for casual talk all help team members bond. Hosting virtual coffee talks or happy hours provides for socialization outside of work, whereas annual in-person offsite gatherings provide valuable face-to-face interactions.

Furthermore, it is critical to tailor communication techniques to each direct report, publicly acknowledge wins and progress, and listen deeply to understand different perspectives. These actions make team members feel appreciated, heard, and connected, ultimately building trust within the team.

When managers invest in relationships, their teams perform better. Trust accelerates team cohesion, collaboration and results.

Related: 10 Simple Steps to Build an Exceptional and Efficient Team

5. Set up clear communication channels

When organizing a clear communication protocol, time zone differences could become a major, even impactful, issue. Face-to-face meetings between team members may be nearly impossible when they work from different areas of the world. That’s where video conferences can ensure fast and efficient dialogue.

A number of video conferencing tools recently achieved global use as remote work grew in popularity. Tools like Zoom and Google Meet help businesses hold on-the-spot presentations, webinars, and team meetings with accurate, real-time visuals. They also give team managers the ability to arrange one-on-one check-in sessions with employees, allowing them to discuss workload and other relevant concerns.

Expanding your business globally does not always mean success. However, you can achieve this goal through careful planning, effective communication, and an all-inclusive corporate culture. Above all, using local collaborators in the form of an Employer of Record exponentially increases the chances of building a winning team.

Three groundbreaking Apple devices — the iPhone X, HomePod, and original AirPods — are now considered vintage. And the clock is ticking on how long they will be eligible for repairs.

Apple added the three to its vintage product list on Monday, meaning that it stopped selling the products more than five, and less than seven, years ago.

Apple customers who use these devices are now facing a limited window when it comes to repairs. Apple Stores and authorized repair shops will only offer service for the iPhone X, HomePod, and original AirPods for up to two more years max, depending on the parts available.

Related: Will Apple AI Convince You to Upgrade Your Old iPhone?

The three products are all instantly recognizable as a major shift or addition to Apple’s product lineup.

The $999 iPhone X was the first Apple phone to switch from TouchID to FaceID, allowing users to unlock the iPhone X with a glance and swapping out a home button for an entirely touch-activated screen. Apple assured customers that it kept its facial scans out of the cloud to make the feature more secure.

Apple now has the majority of smartphone market share in the U.S., with about 53% of the market.

^{Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the launch of the iPhone X on September 17, 2017. (Photo by Qi Heng/Visual China Group via Getty Images)}

The $349 HomePod was Apple’s first smart speaker; some users have called it a “significant and risky investment.” Apple sold an estimated three million HomePods in the U.S. by 2018, according to a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners report.

Since the original HomePod’s release, Apple has expanded the product line with the 2020 HomePod mini and the 2023 HomePod 2nd Generation.

Related: What’s Next for Apple After Vision Pro? Home Robots: Report

The $159 original AirPods were Apple’s way of “reinventing” wireless headphones, per the company’s 2016 press release.

Apple introduced an “innovative” charging case and a double-tap feature that allowed users to tap their AirPods to access Siri.

Devices on the vintage list end up in Apple’s “obsolete” category after they pass the seven-year mark. At that point, Apple withdraws hardware service and service stores can no longer order replacement parts.

Related: Apple iPhone 7 Settlement: How to Make a Claim By Deadline