Regardless of our position in an organization or profession, we all have obligations and responsibilities to the career that we have chosen. In my case, as a registered professional engineer, I am legally, ethically and morally obligated to protect the public health, safety and welfare above all other interests. While not everyone has the legal component, we all have an ethical and moral obligation to do no harm.
This comes out of our natural instincts and the upbringing that our parents, grandparents, and, to a certain extent, peers instilled in us from an early age. Those natural instincts provide us guidance on ethical and moral issues throughout our lives. While differences in upbringing and our environment may make our experiences differ, one must believe that we all have similar ethical and moral principles.