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It is hard to pick up a newspaper, or to listen to the radio or to watch the TV news without seeing or hearing some commentary about the lack of trust in today's society. In the past year, we have seen the worst corporate crises, both financially and ethically, since the Great Depression.
"A Coke Executive Will Leave His Job in the Wake of a Rigged Market Test at Burger King." (New York Times, August 26, 2003)
"Baylor Coach Told Team to Lie to Investigators." (New York Times, August 17, 2003)
"A former broker at Bank of America was charged with larceny and securities fraud." (New York Times, September 17, 2003)
"Americans have great faith in each other, but their trust in CEOs, big business, priests and HMOs is slipping away." (USA Today, July 16, 2002)
"Corporate Ethics: An Unending Fight." (Dallasnews.com, July 15, 2002)
"Among people under 40, 45% believe that downloading music is the same as stealing while 46% think it is not." (Newsweek, September 22, 2003)
Trust in all aspects of today's life is at best tenuous. As we all know trust is difficult to gain and so easy to lose. In a way, Enron and Arthur Anderson - did us a great service. Their inexcusable behavior of corporate greed and flagrant disregard for what they knew to be right-was a wake up call for the business world. Is business ethics an oxymoron or a necessity? Ultimately each one of us will have to answer that question. In my mind, it really comes down to the integrity of the individual business leader.
The power of the wolf is in the pack. The power of the pack is in the wolf.
Highly ethical leaders build values and ethics awareness. They regularly communicate and discuss the organization's shared values, operating principles and ethical standards. Not in a special meeting . . . but as part of their everyday business style.
In recent years, society may have confused image with leadership. Some business leaders may have been under so much pressure that they looked for accounting loop holes to inflate quarterly earning reports-because they confused a manipulation of stock price with the creation of long-term value.
As business leaders, we are responsible for the...