Integrity and Ethical Leadership: What FFA’s Competitive Structure Demands of Members

What FFA Actually Teaches (Core Leadership Curriculum)

By FFApresident.com Editorial

Competition is the easy place to teach integrity, because it is the place where cheating is most tempting. Every FFA contest produces winners and losers, and the people in the room know it. That is why the organization’s competitive structure doubles as an ethics classroom: members rehearse, in miniature, the choice that adults face daily between getting ahead and doing it right.

This article looks at what FFA publishes about its Code of Ethics, what the 1930 Creed says about fairness and what the workplace frameworks add. It makes no claim about how often members cheat or how often they do not; no source cited here measures that.

Key takeaway: A shared code makes honest competition possible, and visible consequences make it credible.
The test: what do you do when nobody would catch the shortcut?

The Code of Ethics as Ground Rules

FFA staff explain the purpose of the Code plainly. Morissa Meehan, then the National FFA CDE/LDE program manager, told FFA New Horizons that the code sets ground rules for all members and that members can expect their peers to follow the same rules, which she said levels the playing field and keeps balance in the organization. The article, Play Fair With the FFA Code of Ethics, was written in 2021, when virtual, hybrid and in-person events made the expectation more important to state out loud.

The logic is practical. If every member assumes everyone else is following the rules, the contest measures preparation. If members suspect rule-bending, the contest measures cleverness at bending. A code that is understood and enforced protects the honest majority.

Integrity Has Consequences

An ethics code with no enforcement is decoration. National FFA addressed this in a 2025 FAQ entry stating that the Code of Ethics is not changing and is still in effect. A student who violates the Code or a school activity policy could potentially be a candidate for suspension from FFA activities, and advisors are told to confirm suspension with school administration so that local policy and due process are honored. The FAQ also says students should be assumed to start with a clean slate, and that a student should be removed only after an infraction has been verified by the ag teacher and school administration. That is a quiet statement about fairness: accusations are not enough.

The Creed Says It First

FFA’s ethics did not begin with a contest code. The FFA Creed, written by E.M. Tiffany and adopted in 1930, commits members to what it calls “playing square” with people whose happiness depends on them. It also speaks of enough honest wealth to help others as well as oneself, and of leadership from ourselves and respect from others. Members who recite the Creed in competition are, in effect, repeating a public promise.

That 1930 language still reads clearly today. It puts fairness toward other people at the center of success, rather than treating it as a side constraint.

What Workplaces Call the Same Thing

Advance CTE’s Career Ready Practices describe career-ready people as individuals who consider the moral and ethical consequences of their decisions and make choices with integrity, including their impact on other people, communities and the environment. They also list ethics under the skills for leading as a professional employee. In other words, integrity is not an optional extra in the job market; it is written into the standard.

Five Places Where FFA Tests Integrity

Contest preparation. Do you practice honestly and avoid sharing restricted material?
Record books. Do your numbers match reality, even when a rounder number would look better?
Elections. Do you campaign fairly and accept the outcome?
Team events. Do you credit teammates accurately?
Losing. FFA’s Rebecca Carter reminds members that success is not only about placing, but about how much you have improved and whether you are moving toward long-term goals.

Each is a small decision. Together they form a habit, and habits are what integrity actually consists of.

Where Parliamentary Procedure Fits

FFA’s parliamentary procedure work reinforces the same values from another angle. Kay Crews, a professional parliamentarian who works with National FFA, says the discipline teaches respect: all voices have the right to be heard, debate stays impersonal and members avoid name-calling. See FFA’s piece on the five skills developed through parliamentary procedure. Ethical leadership means treating people fairly even when you disagree with them.

A Practical Integrity Check

The newspaper test: would you be comfortable seeing this decision described accurately in print?
The teammate test: would your team be comfortable if everyone made this choice?
The records test: does your documentation show what actually happened?

Limits

Codes and creeds do not make people honest. They set expectations and provide a shared vocabulary, and members still have to choose. FFA, like every large organization, depends on adults to apply the rules fairly. Treat the structure as a trainer, not a guarantee.

The long careers of past presidents involved public trust of various kinds. Nels Ackerson became a Washington lawyer, Travis Jett became a justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and Jimmy Dillon invited a sitting U.S. president to speak at FFA’s 25th anniversary convention.

Sources

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