When I’m deciding about what to write, I sometimes look at what is happening in the public arena or review my notes of half-completed thoughts. This Wednesday, the idea came to me in the form of a call with a potential demand generation vendor.
The offer was simple: pay the vendor to call potential customers while posing as an independent research. My question: what do you say if the contact asks who sponsored the research? Answer: We say it is independent and that no one paid for it. In other words, they lie.
This, on the heels of JC Penney’s very public disgrace in the New York Times on February 12th, may imply that questionable marketing practices equal normal marketing practices.
This led to a conversation over the weekend with Roxanne Hawkins, an international marketing guru who has navigated both business ethics and business law throughout the world. Her take on the both of these breeches of ethics is “There are neither ethical nor not ethical companies. There are ethical people who choose to hire ethical people. The people and leadership make the difference.”
This makes sense, but leads to other questions. What is a CEO supposed to do if he finds out an advisor engaged in questionable business practices? What if a member of the executive leadership team suggests a tactic that will probably improve the stock price, but is if not illegal, is at least unethical?
According to Merriam-Webster, an ethic is a theory or system of moral values. I’ve developed my own definition. Ethics are the tough decisions we make outside of the public eye. You have the choice between what may be considered right and wrong with the very small likelihood of someone knowing which decision you made. So which way do you go and how far would you push the envelope to tell yourself it isn’t wrong if it isn’t illegal? I’d argue we also see a line in the sand, but where that line is differs greatly. I’d also bet serious money most people who are caught and deemed unethical would argue their circumstance was special, the situation was misunderstood and they did nothing wrong. Again, it still comes down to a decision that is made when no one is around to see.
While working in a consulting firm several years back, I saw this played out firsthand several times. Sometimes it was after the fact, so I learned about the tactic, the decision and the impact at the same time. It was fascinating to see time and again a company come out better in the long run when it took the high road. The toughest part about talking about when ethical decisions are made is that they usually aren’t public. In fact, the real test of a person’s character is what you do when you think no one will know.
There are people who may be abrasive or egocentric, but their intelligence and ethics when decisions are hard led to my respect. For example, in 2001-02, several CEOs chose or considered to forfeit their salaries for the betterment of their companies and their employees. In most cases, this only came out if the company was publicly traded. Clearly, keeping a salary that has been earned isn’t unethical, but these executives went a step farther in believing it was not personally ethical to take a large salary if their employees were losing their jobs or being asked to take pay cuts.
Breaches in ethics are nothing new, but they also aren’t the overwhelming norm. I truly believe ethical leaders will create success and unethical leaders will be the ones people eventually avoid. Not to sound like the Hayes Act, but on some level I do believe (and at times hope) that when someone consistently does unethically things, they will eventually get their comeuppance. On the other end of the spectrum, the executives who chose to do what they believed to be in keeping with business and personal ethics have either seen their companies rebound to greater success, or are now building companies with great potential.
Are ethics optional? To some, it will always be. To respected business leaders, it guides their core decisions.
Fork In The Road 