Perhaps we’ve all had the experience of being in an unpleasant, distasteful and messy situation which demanded that we make an ethical choice among undesirable options. In the midst of the anguish, we yearned for the problem to be a clear-cut, “black or white” no-brainer. But, it didn’t happen! Reality has a way of not going away whether we deny it or wish it away!

But, happily, we got through those trying times. And, here we are, to live another day, and to engage in more of those very messy life situations. In fact, every life has them. We can avoid them sometimes, but not completely. In fact, such challenges can bring out the best from within us. But, what were we doing? And how did we do it?

WHAT were we doing? We were engaging life fully, as thoughtfully and intuitively as we could, with our abilities. We were actually working hard at “active ethical thinking,” i.e., grappling with the messiness of life using the various values, hopes and realities of which life is made. Among the first principles of engaging reality is the acknowledgment that life is messy. One’s willingness to engage that complexity in noble and virtuous ways is what makes life a thoughtfully ethical endeavor.

But, HOW did we do it? There were a number of dynamic tools we used even if we were not aware of them.

The Accurate Perception of Reality: Whether the situation developed slowly or suddenly, whether we liked it or not, we had to figure out what was going on with sufficient truth so as to be able to engage realistically and appreciate what was happening. Naming the problem truthfully is the first step in coping with reality. Inaccurate labeling is always destructive.

Thoughtful Consideration: One must have thought about what was happening and what might be the possible ways of responding. We had to be realistic, intelligent and wise all at the same time. Some of this effort was intellectual (i.e., reasoned out) and some was intuitive (i.e., more instinctively felt). This might have happened very fast because some issues are nearly instantaneous in their demands and require quick response.

Engagement with Reality: Dealing with the truth and applying genuine abilities to the situation is the real business of life. This might have included everything from philosophical insights to the survival instinct. But, all our human intelligence and intuition worked together to allow us to engage the situation well enough to be effective.

An Ethical Frame of Reference: In other words, the contexts and perspectives from which we worked — our background experiences and memories, the information we possessed and our abilities to process all that information applying the ethical principles and lessons we have learned – determined much of how we approached the issue. From such a frame of reference we engaged the problem applying wisdom and taking risks all at the same time.

Once I had to compose a definition of “”being moral”" in order to teach a class of gifted high school students. It is quite challenging to put a huge concept into a few words, but here is the definition I crafted: To be moral means to freely do the truth in justice and in love.

By elaborating on those four components (freedom, truth, justice and love) I was able to describe and nuance the messiness of life from the perspective of active ethical thinking. Active ethical thinking is not merely about avoiding the wrong and embracing the right. (Believe it or not, one can arguably avoid breaking any of the famous 10 Commandments by merely doing nothing at all!) Active ethical thinking is about engaging life as fully, intelligently and wisely as possible so as to be good and do well all at the same time. Active ethical thinking is possibly the most effective approach to making good sense a way of life!

For more information and for the opportunity to arrange for a seminar on Personal Ethics especially in the context of membership in an organization (business, club, neighborhood, group) go to this site and click on the Organization Ethics web page. Author & presenter: Nathan Mamo.

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Tags: ethics, training, business, corporate, code

“With the globalization of integral business and corporation expansion, has come the increased focus on corporate compliance. Companies cannot do as they please; there are regulatory factors that balance ethics with rationality. For example, simply because a company can make a product cheaper by polluting the environment, does not give it the right to do so. Compliance simply means following the law. The law for corporations comes in many forms: federal laws, state laws, agency law, and industry standards. Breaking any of these regulations could have disastrous consequences for a company. According to Gentiva “The initial purpose of compliance was to act as a mitigating factor to reduce liability under the law. Over the years, compliance has evolved into a more integral business component with its focus on maintaining the company’s status as a good corporate citizen.” This emphasis and new standard has caused many companies to create a corporate compliance officer position where the sole duty of this individual is to maintain and monitor the company’s state of compliance. Some of the main concerns with corporate compliance are ethics, financial statements, equal opportunity / fair hiring practices, sexual harassment, and environmental preservation. Company’s that maintain vigilance on these fronts are normally safe when it comes to compliance issues. Maintaining a good record of compliance is not only beneficial, but more times than not will make or destroy a company. The main point is that non-compliance can affect a company’s bottom line.

Sexual Harassment: Civil Rights Act of 1964

Sexual Harassment is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and applies to companies with 15 or more associates. It is defined as “Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment” (visit the site).The circumstances include but are not limited to:

• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.

• The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.

• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.

• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.

• The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome. (visit the site).
Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Passed in 2002, Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) was enacted to help win back the public trust in companies after the disasters of such companies as Enron and WorldCom. The first part of the act was to create the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which is charged with “overseeing, regulating, inspecting, and disciplining accounting firms in their roles as auditors of public companies” (read this).

EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)

The EPA comprises 18,000 people in headquarters program offices, 10 regional offices, and 17 laboratories across the country. The EPA employs a highly educated, technically trained staff, more than half of whom are engineers, scientists, and environmental protection specialists. A large number of employees are legal, public affairs, financial, and computer specialists.
The EPA provides leadership in the nation’s environmental science, research, education, and assessment efforts. The EPA works closely with other federal agencies, state and local governments, and Native American tribes to develop and enforce regulations under existing environmental laws. The EPA is responsible for researching and setting national standards for a variety of environmental programs and delegates to states and tribes responsibility for issuing permits, and monitoring and enforcing compliance. Where national standards are not met, the EPA can issue sanctions and take other steps to assist the states and tribes in reaching the desired levels of environmental quality. The Agency also works with industries and all levels of government in a wide variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs and energy conservation efforts.
In July of 1970, the law that established the EPA was passed in response to the growing public demand for cleaner water, air and land, spurred by such scandals as the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire. Prior to the establishment of the EPA, the federal government was not structured to make a coordinated attack on the pollutants which harm human health and degrade the environment. The EPA was assigned the task of repairing the damage already done to the natural environment and to establish new criteria to guide Americans in making a cleaner environment a reality
Compare Company’s Researched

Toyota North America Inc and Denny’s Inc.

Both company’s, Toyota Motor North America Corporation and Denny’s Inc. were cited in a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment against a female employee. Involvement by the EEOC helping both employees with their claim helped with changing the mindsets of both company and employees. The size of the company did not play a fact in the lawsuits but showed that any type of discrimination or sexual harassment will not be tolerated.

According to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, it states:
“Harassment is a form of employment discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, (ADA).”

Harassment is unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, and/or age. Harassment becomes unlawful where 1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive. Anti-discrimination laws also prohibit harassment against individuals in retaliation for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or lawsuit under these laws; or opposing employment practices that they reasonably believe discriminate against individuals, in violation of these laws.

Petty slights, annoyances, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious) will not rise to the level of illegality. To be unlawful, the conduct must create a work environment that would be intimidating, hostile, or offensive to reasonable people.

(visit the site)

Both company’s tried to silence the acquisations by either terminating the employee as in the lawsuit against Denny’s, Inc. or relocating the employee to a different department then termination as in the lawsuite against Toyota North America Corporation. In either lawsuit, the person in charge was in the wrong.

Apple Computers

The first company looked at in violation of the SOX was Apple Computers in which an internal investigation showed that there was backdating of stock options. The results for Apple Computers were developing a special committee to investigate the allegations. Though the investigation found no fault on the part of Apple Computers there were some serious concerns raised. The end results for Apple Computers would proactively report to the SEC as well as providing non-cash charges for compensation relating to past stock option grants.

Wind River Systems

Next were Wind River Systems the international software company was found itself non-compliance with the regulations of the Sarbanes-Oxley with managing financial risk. The problem was solved Wind River streamlining its fragmented accounting teams in to three regional teams as well as closing unnecessary bank accounts. This reduced the risk of fraud as well as saving Wind River Systems thousands of dollars in unnecessary banking fees.

MSN and AOL

Another phase of protection that the SOX offer corporations as well as their customers and investors is requiring internal security. With the age of computer the latest form of communication known as IM raises new security issues. A great deal of corporations in the corporate world is finding that they are more reliant on these sorts of technological advances. Two major providers MSN and AOL rely heavily on their corporate partners as well as staying compliant with the SOX. Therefore they partnered up with a software provider known as Akonix that provides the real-time requirements and internal controls required by the SOX for these IM services.

Conclusion

The importance of a compliance program in avoiding anti-competitive conduct under the Act, and in detecting and dealing with such behavior, should not be underestimated. The procedures put in place as the result of a compliance program serve not only to identify unlawful or questionable conduct, but also to promote awareness that will result in ethical standards of conduct.
Implementing an effective compliance program which addresses both criminal behavior and civil reviewable conduct is good business. It can help a company avoid the adverse publicity and financial costs associated with contraventions of the Act. A compliance program will also enhance understanding of what is acceptable behavior so that legitimate competitive practices can be vigorously pursued without unwarranted concerns of contravening the Act.

Steven Brown, MBA is a loving husband and father of two boys. He enjoys his time with his family by providing a strong family foundation of Christian Faith. After completing his Bachelors degree, Steven wanted to further his ability to teach and share to others his mindset that they can do anything if they would believe in themselves.

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Tags: corporate, compliance,ethics, policy, financial

Survival skills.

Make a list of what it takes to succeed in business, and you might not think of ethics. As corporations merge and jobs are purged, a sense of values sounds like a luxury these days. But ethics can be plenty practical. Consider the case of Packard Brown.

Brown, 47, was a human resource manager at Pace Warehouse, until September when he resigned over a matter of principle. Brown left the company just two weeks before it was sold to Wal-Mart and 700 jobs, including his, were eliminated. By leaving at his own pace, Brown doubled the size of his severance package. Here’s his story.

Brown directed an employee assessment program for Pace: a deep-discount merchandiser with 120 outlets around the country. Founded in 1983, the company expanded rapidly – but just as rapidly went into debt. In 1989, Pace was sold to Kmart.

In 1992, as the red ink flowed faster, Kmart brought in a new team of top managers. That’s when Brown first noticed a change in the climate of the organization.

“The new execs held a series of ‘mini-conferences’ with the managers of each region,” he recalls. “They wanted to communicate their philosophy to as many employees as possible. But when they visited corporate headquarters, less than a third of the employees were invited to the conference and most managers seemed reluctant to share what they’d learned with their subordinates.

“You could see people pull in their horns. There was a huge drop off in trust and communication.” Still, Brown enjoyed his job. Pace had embarked on a training program to upgrade employees’ skills and identify potential managers. Employees were offered courses in interpersonal relations, marketing, computer literacy, and financial management.

Managers were to be selected through tests of their behavior, not just on the basis of their job titles. Brown and his staff used role-playing exercises as well as paper-and-pencil tests to determine whether prospective managers had leadership skills for the job.

As the employees were tested, Brown’s assessment team would meet to compare notes and come up with a joint recommendation on each person. That’s where the system went sour.

Last summer, Brown’s team was asked to evaluate three employees as possible managers for two new stores. They agreed that one person was an outstanding candidate for the job. “But as soon as the meeting broke up, my boss cornered the person who was to write up the minutes and told him to change the recommendation,” Brown says. “It may have been because she had a long history of conflict with this individual. Some people thought it was because her husband wanted the job.

“Then, later that week, she tried to doctor the results again: this time to improve a candidate’s position. That ‘s when I knew I had to take a stand. I wrote a letter to the CEO, pitting myself against my boss. I told him I knew I was risking my job – and I was right!. But this was becoming an environment I didn’t want to work in.”

The story has a happy ending. Less than two months after leaving Pace, Brown found a good job with an employee leasing company. Now he’s in one of the nation’s fastest-growing industries.
The moral of the story? Perhaps It’s just that good guys don’t always finish last. But maybe there’s another lesson: that unethical behavior is often a sign of stress in an organization. It’s what people do when trust and loyalty break down. That’s the time to take a stand, or stay in a rotting environment. Brown stood up and made a solid career decision.

William Charland is the author of “Soundings,” (Wheatmark) a novel set in the mid-1990s telecommunications boom in Denver, Colorado. This article originally appeared in his column, “Skills Update,” in the Rocky Mountain News and Scripps Howard News Service.

In a review of “Soundings,” the Rocky Mountain News notes: “Charland excels at depicting the competitive frenzy in the corporate world, where everyone is seeking a new person, trend or idea to exploit before the inevitable crash. One such idea is the video phone targeted at executives too busy to attend meetings and at the phone-sex industry.”

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Tags: ethics, business, corporate, training, moral

How many of us remember our failures more than our successes? My own divorce, the time I didn’t get a research grant, the last job that I was fired from (come to think of it, there were some other messy situations that I still recall), the I time I rear-ended someone on a slippery freeway. The list goes on and on. You could say that I have had a full life.

Those of us in technology are fond of the line from the Apollo 13 book and movie: “failure is not an option.” Back then, it was something to revel in, a bunch of NASA nerds working around the clock to figure out a strategy that would save the three astronauts’ lives and get them back to Earth safely. It was a good story then, and still is.

But I wanted to talk to you today about a somewhat different point of view, that failure is an option, and in fact, those of us that fail frequently are better for it. The trick is to think of each failure as a learning and growth opportunity, especially how you can learn to triumph over your own business adversities. Easy to say now, especially as these failures are illuminated in the dim light of my faded memories, but still. This isn’t a new concept. For example, Jeff Atwood in his blog, Coding Horror, says, “Fail early and often.” And Mitchell Ashley in his blog says: “If you aren’t seeing some failures along the way, it’s a pretty good idea you’re not stretching, challenging and really going for it. You’re probably believing in your own assumptions and plans too much Other people have called this concept rapid prototyping: put something together quickly, barely working, to show your customers or clients. Then, based on this feedback, you go back and make small changes, get more feedback and sharpen your ideas. And really, when you go back to our childhood, this is how we all learned a new skill, whether it is in playing sports, mastering the piano, or whatever.

We took small steps, saw what worked and what didn’t, and learned from our mistakes. The hard part is to figure out the right feedback loop so that you aren’t micro-managing everyone. This isn’t good either: you have to give people the responsibility to make their own mistakes, so that they can really learn from them. I got to witness this first hand this past weekend. I was attending a professional speaker-training workshop, and got to see first-hand how really good speakers can still fail and how they can tune their craft. It was like drinking from a firehose, but extremely worthwhile as I try to move into that orbit. Part of the notion of frequent failure has to do with corporate culture, and the acceptance by management of a certain level of risk. After all, who wants a bunch of employees that don’t produce? The other thing to figure out the right amount of freedom to try out new ideas and experiment, and to make these adjustments without a particular timetable or schedule of “deliverables.” This is the philosophy of many innovative companies. For example, last week I met Keith Sawyer, a professor here at Wash U. His Group Genius book talks about the culture at WL Gore (the makers of GoreTex and other products less famous). Employees have ten percent of their time that isn’t allocated for particular billable projects. They are free to experiment and fail, as long as the other 90% is actually producing results. This is how they come up with some of their most profitable products, and failure at Gore is tolerated within this guideline.

So really, why I can understand why NASA says that failure is not an option, because after all they were talking about actual lives at stake, what we are usually dealing with in our lives is a bit less critical and threatening. Instead, may I suggest a replacement motto, on the order of “Failure is not an only option, but should always be encouraged.” Now I am not talking about promoting your least productive employees. What I do mean is that you want to give your self the permission to fail, and in doing so foster innovation in your company and make you a more agile business. But unlike the astronauts, by making it easier to fail you can avoid the bigger mistakes, and make smaller steps towards progress. Start thinking about promoting the culture of frequent failure at your shop. It is the first step along the path towards being more innovative and agile. And if you are looking for some inspiration, it is worth renting the Apollo 13 movie if you haven’t seen it in a while. David Strom is a noted speaker, author, podcaster and consultant who has written two books and thousands of magazine articles for dozens of IT publications such as Computerworld, eWeek, Baseline Magazine, Information Week and Information Security magazine. His blog can be found here

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Tags: business, ethics, professional, workplace, corporate

A new study from the University of Georgia concludes that Hispanic spending power will surpass African American buying power in 2007; marking the first year that Hispanics control more disposable personal income than any other U.S. minority group. This conclusion leads me to question the motive behind the research and the social consequences if Hispanics and Blacks buy into the competitive research. Will corporate America pit the two groups against each other when disbursing advertising dollars to their respective ad agencies?

The business case for diversity in corporate advertising has been a solid one for decades. Corporations have slowly realized the importance of advertising to ethnic markets and the results of such efforts to their bottom line. Despite the recent projections, African American consumers continue to be a powerful force in the U.S. economy.

Ethnic spending power is vital to the US economy. The vast majority of states continue to see Blacks as the nation’s strongest ethnic market because of the concentration of the Hispanic population is limited to a few key geographical areas. Hispanics are expected to have buying power of $863.1 billion verse Blacks estimated of $847 billion in 2007.

Despite this collective buying power, minority consumers are still greeted with suspicion about their intentions and with skepticism about their ability to pay. Many companies still function under a non-urban dictate when working with ad agencies. A non-urban dictate means that a company does not want their marketing and advertising materials placed in media that claim an urban audience as their main target.

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic group and will comprise 8.5% of the nation’s total consumer market next year. Rosa Rosales, President of LULAC, says that she hopes the study will get the attention of companies who have ignored the Hispanic consumer.

I find it hard to believe that the Hispanic consumer has been ignored given the tremendous success of Hispanic owned advertising agencies. Maybe it’s time that African American consumers themselves take a stronger stand by taking their dollars to companies who advertise directly to them. Not only will this send a large economic message to companies who engage in discriminatory practices, such as non urban dictates, it will also send a strong message to all other companies that consumer discrimination will not be tolerated.

Imagine a pep rally where all of the ethnic groups competed for the top spending power chanting “We spend more! Yes, we do! We spend more! How about you?” Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? Pitting two ethnic groups against each other is nothing to cheer about it. Inclusion is about engaging everyone. Separation is about keeping things apart. Which team are you on? Which team are you rooting for?

Mrs. Crystal Brown-Tatum is the CEO and President of Crystal Clear Communications- a Houston based advertising agency and public relations firm with whose portfolio boasts work for Fortune 500 companies including Intel, Wal-mart, Comp USA, Best Buy and Audi. The firm was ranked as a 2006 and 2007 “Top 20 Public Relations Firm and named the 4th Fastest Growing Woman Owned Businesses in Houston in 2007 by the Houston Business Journal.

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Tags: unethical, hispanic, corporate, behaviour, business

Much is written about business ethics especially with the fall of Enron to the compensation for CEOs. With the presidential campaign in full swing, we as citizens and business leaders have the opportunity to see ethics being or not being consistently display by those in leadership roles.

The recent misspeaks by Senator Clinton and Senator Obama are such examples. These incidents really show that ethics should be consistent and should not be given the standard wink and a nod.

When those in positions of authority fail to be ethical, then this undermines how people perceive them and their ability to lead or manage change. This failure to be ethical can be viewed by these individuals much like a wink and a nod. Well, you know that I know this is not true (wink), but let’s agree to let this one pass (nod).

Senator Clinton’s recent remarks about the sniper fire truly demonstrate that those in authority, leadership roles, whether government or business believe that they have the right to misspeak, not get caught and not be held accountable. She is not alone in this belief and joins the ranks of all the other executives who have been caught and have, in many cases, paid for the consequences of their actions.

Some are surprised that even though Senator Clinton’s mis-speak was actually her third time recounting this particular event in error (documented by film footage) that she had not been taken to task publicly when she mis-spoke the first time. Whether she was given a pass because of her positive relationship with the broadcast media or because of other factors remains unclear. What is clear is that the truth did eventually surface. How she handled this is what requires our focus. The truth always wins out, sometimes it just takes years instead of minutes.

The old adage “Of what tangled webs we weave, when we plan to deceive” is clearly reflected in these most recent incidents of poor business ethics. One lie turned into another lie and eventually the truth won.

Why people fear telling the truth, I do not know. Alfred Adler once said:

“A lie would have not sense unless the truth were felt as dangerous.”

When we are ethical and consistently tell the truth, we do not have to fear lies because we do not have to remember what we did or did not say.

Being ethical is not about what you do whether it is running a company or running for an elected office or running your own personal life. Ethics is about who you are, your core values and those non-negotiable behaviors that you demonstrate day in and day out. For in today’s society especially with the technology available such as camera phones, not being ethical will eventually be displayed to the entire world.

Is your leadership contributing to poor work ethics? Take this FREE leadership audit to help you identify your leadership skills.

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Leanne Hoagland-Smith with locations near Chicago & Indianapolis helps organizations through business coaching training services to return to the purpose of business that being building ravings fans while increasing productivity and profitability.

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Tags: business, corporate, ethical, issues, training

“Not a day goes by that we aren’t involved in some type of conversation about current corporate shenanigans. The media are consumed by corporate wrongdoings and dinner party conversation eventually turns to who’s the latest to be investigated. While many conversations revolve around ethics and morality in the business world, I suggest there’s another perspective – spirituality, rather, the lack of spirituality. And the current crisis not only concerns corporate executives, but those who coach them as well-there needs to be a focus on integrity and authenticity at both ends of the coaching equation.

SPIRITUALITY, NOT MORALS OR ETHICS.

For me, it’s all about spirituality. The commotion about what’s happening in the corporate arena is about “”spirituality”", not about ethics or morality. Why? Morality is often connected with issues of right and wrong and eventually is based on social traditions or consensus that vary from culture to culture. At the end of the day, morality becomes subjective and judgmental and separates one from another.

In addition, ethics is a code of values that translates “”morality”" into daily living, i.e., doing and being. It “”defines”" right and wrong, how we relate to others, how we conduct business and how one behaves in general, most often leading to judgments, win-lose, right-wrong, mind games and ego-based stuff.

Spirituality is non-judgmental and non-separating. Spirituality is unchanging, so there’s no debate, right-wrong, me vs. you, what spirituality is and isn’t. At the end of the day, we all know what it means to live from the place of our soul and hearts. For those who come from a spiritual place, there are no labels and definitions and spirituality is a way of being that is common to all of humanity, needs no descriptions, definitions, etc.

So, at the end of the day, the “”moral”" is not spiritual and for much the same reason, neither is the “”ethical.”"

The spiritual is that which allows me to be non-judgmental, and to serve as a witness, observer and watcher. The spiritual is not “”mind”", is not “”information”" is not “”knowledge”", not quantifiable DOs and DON’Ts . It is way, way beyond that. So, while the “”moralist”" and the “”ethicist”" spends countless hours and enormous energy “”debating”" the rights and wrongs of the corporate world, in their heads, intellectual stuff, one who practices spirituality just notices, e.g., “”That’s interesting.”" “”Hmmm, is that so?”" without any ethical or moral judgment, i.e., right-wrong, good-bad.

EGO AND MIND; WHO’S RIGHT, WHO’S WRONG

With a ground in spirituality one is not engaged in endless ego-based and mind-based “”discussions”" about corporate morality and ethics (read: “”I need to be right; so you are wrong.”" “”I win the argument so you lose.”" “”My labels and categories and information are right, so your labels, and categories and information are incorrect.”" I, I, I – ego, judgmental and comparative mind.

Genuine spirituality does not judge, plain and simple. True spirituality comes from one’s inner Self, one’s essence, with an integrity, honesty, sincerity and self-responsibility that drives one’s thoughts and actions. Such spirituality manifests patterns and behaviors that are common in all of life. Spirituality is an essential essence of human nature, a nature which is all to often clouded, diminished and distorted during the course of our upbringing.

So, what often happens is that we grow up less aware of our in-depth spiritual understanding of events, and operate more from an outer-world-driven subjective and judgmental “”moralist”" or “”ethicist”" mindset based on information and mental models that are stored in our brains over the course of time. The essence of who we really are, our True Self, becomes muddied as we grow up, and “”my ethics and morals”" are then developed based on mental models, beliefs and thoughts that emanate from our parents, schools, churches, synagogues, television, advertising, friends, Reality TV etc.

The downside is that I come to believe that MY mental models, MY beliefs and assumptions and images of the world, MY ethics and My morals are Truth (my Truth and thus, the Truth for everyone else as well).

One who is grounded in genuine spiritual understanding is not engaged in such ego-based stuff.

WHY WE ARGUE INSTEAD OF OBSERVE

Because so many of us identify with our ego minds, i.e., I AM what I know; I AM my information; I AM my mind; I AM my knowledge and, of course, I AM right, one often has trouble accepting and entertaining someone else’s perspective. Consciously or subconsciously, one feels forced to view another’s “”perspective”" more as a “”position”", one point on a continuum, or one end of a polarity, which then forces oneself to be engaged in a “”right-wrong”", ego-mind, conflict, because one identifies not with one’s inner core or essence where there is no polarity, but with one’s outer personality and ego-mind which need labels, categories and right-wrong analogs to give one one’s (false) sense of self and identity.

Spirituality, on the other hand, surfaces as simply witnessing another’s perspective and generates no need or desire to “”fight the good fight”", to be right. No ego; no mental drama. Just reading, listening, watching, and moving on, noticing, observing, witnessing with a “”beginner’s mind.”"

CORPORATE STATE OF AFFAIRS AND LESSONS

So, grounded in spirituality, one witnesses and observes what is happening in today’s corporate environment from an interesting perspective. Spirituality allows one to know and understand that when the Universe wants someone to learn a lesson, be it one person, a family, a team, a corporation, and one refuses, then the Universe will deliver a rather hard “”slap on the face”" as a wake-up call. For the individual, this often occurs in the form of a divorce, an accident, death, loss of a job, bankruptcy, etc.

For the corporation, it can mean total demise. Practicing spirituality, a “”spiritual observer”" sees what is happening in the corporate world and rather than excoriate the CEO, CFO, etc., based on ego-driven mental models and beliefs about good-bad, right wrong, asks a larger question: What’s the lesson/learning here for me (not for you, not for “”them,”" but FOR ME)?

Thus a spiritual perspective can tutor the executive, and those who coach the executive, in the following ways:

1. Spirituality is an inherent need of human nature. And with a single focus on spirituality comes healing (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and creative). Without a focus on spirituality, we become spectators, bystanders who feel good about pointing fingers, judging others, analyzing others, prescribing for others, but not being self-responsibility for the betterment of people. This “”feel-good-type-conversation”" or perspective permeates the talk shows, Internet chats, water-cooler conversations and dinner gatherings. We hear lots of talk about “”them.”" We allow little or no time for an honest evaluation of “”me”" (as it’s too scary, too sensitive …). There’s lots of talk about the corporate folk, but few take the self-responsibility to “”show up”" in integrity and be honest and sincere in our dealings with people in our office, at our own home, at play, right here, right now.

2. On a macro level, in this country, to say the least, systems are breaking down. Education, health, environment, and corporate. No surprise. Coming from a perspective of spirituality, for me, this is as it should be. Shocked but not surprised. Why?

Folks have not gotten it on a micro level – as individuals seeped in a culture of excess, greed, toys, materialism, self-medication and the need to acquire – creating a culture of greed, corruption, dishonesty. Often, when we don’t “”get it”" on an individual level, the Universe gives us a larger slap on the face, on a larger level. Thus, the demise of larger systems – currently, the corporate arena.

3. It’s crucial to ask the question, “”How am I comporting myself on a daily basis?”" Again, lots of “”discussion,”" mind stuff, information, but how many of us “”walk the talk”" when it comes to acting with honesty, sincerity and self-responsibility at work – right here and right now, in the past hour, the past day, the past week?

4. It’s crucial to ask, “”Am I showing up and acting with honesty, sincerity and integrity, according to my inner essence, my True Self, in alignment with my inner core values right here, right now in my workplace environment?

5. The tug on our collective (corporate/business) sleeves urges us to reconsider what we value, to evaluate how so, so much of our life, our faux joy, our faux happiness, our well-being, our health, our identity, our self-image (who we take our self to be), and our ego is tied up in money, wealth, the “”packaging”", and the externals. “”Why do I have such an inextricable attachment to money, that I can be close to ruin (mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually and creatively) because of money and what it represent?”".

6. Finally, it’s crucial to ask one’s self some tough question, when it comes to how many of us, self-righteously, pontificate about the current corporate state of affairs. “”Am I being hypocritical, a phony, fraudulent, inauthentic, insincere, dishonest in my own everyday affairs?”" For example, consider the following situations, without judgment, and then ask, “”How can I tug on my own sleeve about my integrity and authenticity?”" “”How am I doing in my own everyday life with respect to coming from my essence, my spiritual side, my inner source and core values when I relate to others?”"

Consider:

Scenario 1: Lunchtime during a busy day. It’s 1:30. I go shopping and am running late. I cut into the checkout line, pay the cashier, not listening to her greeting, and dismissing her, bump into folks on the way to the parking lot, drive out cutting someone off, run a red light and make a right turn at the sign that says “”no right turn between 1:00 and 3:00 pm”" so that I can get back to my office and engage in a conversation about the “”morals and ethics”" of corporate America.

Scenario 2: Friday evening. Out to have drinks with some of the team. Spend lots of time being sarcastic to, and verbally abusing, some of the younger teammates (with what I call my “”wit”" and fine sense of humor in a “”just for the fun of it”" or “”only kidding”" context) so I can appear smart and witty, while criticizing some of the staff behind their back, with the excuse that I’m just letting off steam after a hard week of work while, at the same time, presenting my “”noble, moral and ethical”" opinions about how to clean up corporate America.

Scenario 3: Wednesday morning 6:00 am. I’m at the gym with a buddy and rather than work out, we spend forty-five minutes watching the “”babes”" in their aerobics class and making lewd, sexist comments interspersed in our conversation about what’s “”wrong”" with corporate America.

Scenario 4: Tuesday night after dinner I watch TV and some cable talk shows, which I “”steal”" through a “”black box”", resting and relaxing while watching a program on how CEOs are stealing from their companies.

Scenario 5: Friday lunch – I drive to lunch, make suggestive comments to the waitress, gorge myself with too much food, have one Vodka too many and speed back to work, endangering my self and others, so I can have a few minutes to get on the Internet and read how corporate folks are being irresponsible.

Scenario 6: Wednesday morning. I wake up late and am angry and take it out on my spouse and children, feeling every bit a victim, and behaving downright mean and nasty, while I think how the CEO being interviewed on TV this morning should be more “”humane.”"

The point? It’s not about “”them.”" It’s about me. At the end of the day, as a spiritual witness, observer, watcher, I am aware that if I take care of my spiritual self, and the next person does the same, and the next, the cataclysms that we witness will no longer rule the day. It all starts with tough questions and starts with me, right here, right now.

Spending precious time and psychic energy in moral and ethical conversations about “”them”" won’t do it.

So, for me, this is the $10 (spiritual) question. How am I allowing my soul to manifest right here, right now? How am I regarding my fellow employee, colleague, spouse, child, neighbor, stranger, right here, right now, this minute, today?

What’s driving my do-ings and be-ings? My soul? Or my ego-driven self-images and limiting beliefs that are often tied to the past (resulting in anger, resentment, abuse, frustration, control, defensiveness, blaming, greed, pride, jealousy, argument…) or the future (fear, worry, tension, stress and anxiety)?

How much of this day, so far, have I spent analyzing, judging, and criticizing the actions, thoughts, beliefs and deeds of others (i.e., corporate folks, and others), as compared to looking inward to grow my own soul and manifest right action, right thought, and right understanding–right here, right now?

So, the challenge is for me to watch, observe and witness my self in every moment, be present and in the now, and tug on my own sleeve, rather than play at being judge and jury, being concerned with what’s happening in the corporate arena (which allows me, at the end of the day, to be no more than a spectator trying to believe that I am effecting change).

Either “”I”" walk the talk, or I don’t. It’s about me, not “”them.”"

As Gandhi said, “”If you want to see change, be the change.”" Corporate and business change begins with each of us, the executive and the executive and coach, – right here, right now. This is what spirituality is really, really, really all about.

(c) 2007, Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D. and SpiritHeart. All rights in all media reserved.

You may reprint this article as long as the article is printed in its entirety, including the author’s information.

—ABOUT THE AUTHOR—

Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D, C.P.C. is a founding partner of SpiritHeart, an Atlanta-based company that supports conscious living through coaching, counseling and facilitating. With a practice based on the dynamic intersection of mind, body, emotion and spirit – that is, Essential Well BE-ing – Peter’s approach focuses on personal, business, relational and spiritual coaching. He is a professional speaker and published author. For more information visit this him here.

Some people believe that ethics is of little concern to business people. Ethics is ethics and business is business. When faced with an ethical dilemma today, many upwardly managers tend to take the position that they must wear two hats and cloak themselves with two separate, conflicting codes of ethics. One is applying to the professional or technical aspects of their work and the other is for their business behavior.

This leads to the development of a schizophrenic professional personality, with the manager striving for professional excellence and high ethical standards for his own self, but resorting to unethical practices to achieve business success for his organization at all costs. Indeed this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde approach is at the heart of many ethical dilemmas in managerial decision-making.

Ethics is the discipline that examines one’s moral standards or the moral standards of a society. It asks how these standards apply to our lives and whether these standards are reasonable or unreasonable that is whether they are supported by good reasons or poor ones.

Business ethics is a specialized study of moral right and wrong. It concentrates on moral standards as they apply to business policies, institutions and behavior through which modern societies produce and distribute goods and services, and to the people who work within these organizations. Business ethics in other words is a form of applied ethics. It includes not only the analysis of moral norms and moral values, but also attempts to apply the conclusions of this analysis to that assortment of institutions, technologies, transactions, activities, and pursuits that is called business.

Business is a cooperative activity whose very existence requires ethical behavior. First, any individual business will collapse if all of its managers, employees and customers come to think that it is morally permissible o steal from, lie to or break their agreements with the company. Because no business can exist entirely without ethics, the pursuit of business requires at least a minimal adherence to ethics. Second, all businesses require a stable society in which to carry on their business dealings. Yet the stability of any society requires that its members adhere to some minimal standards of ethics.

Business cannot strive without ethics; it is in the best interest of business to promote ethical behavior both among its own members as well as within its larger society. There are many difficulties involved in trying to study whether ethical companies are more profitable than unethical ones. The results have been mixed. Although, several studies have found a positive relationship between socially responsible behavior and profitability, some have found no such relationship. Other studies have looked at how socially responsible firms perform on the stock market and have concluded that ethical companies provide higher returns than other companies. Together, all these studies suggest that, by and large, ethics does not detract from profit and seems to contribute to profits. When employees believe an organization is just, they are more willing to follow the organization’s managers, do what managers say and see managers’ leadership as legitimate. In short ethics is the key component for any business.

Jon Elton owns and operates a Best Penny Stocks Picks website to help other investors with their stock decisions. He also operates a Home Based Business earn money online site to help entrepreneurs gain experience and wealth.”

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Tags: business, code, corporate, ethics, work

You may be DJ’ing at many events were the hosts ask you if you would like to drink. You want to be very careful on how you answer this question.

To Drink or Not to Drink?

There have been many times I have been offered drinks at an event and I have just said “No Thank You.”

There have been also times when the owner of a corporation or an important person has asked/ requested that I have a drink with them. You do not want to offend them by saying you don’t like to drink on the job.

The best answer I have come up with is, “I have a lot to do now, but I will accept the offer later.” Many times they will forget to ask you again later, but if they don’t forget, it will be the end of the night and there will be a lesser opportunity for you to be offered more drinks.

You don’t want to offend the client by not drinking, but you also do not want to have a bad performance or make it appear that you came to drink.

Performing Unprofessional

When people see you drinking behind the DJ booth, they see you as very unprofessional. This can reduce your chances of getting more jobs or just make the audience not happy with you.

They may ensure you that it is “OK” to drink, but I highly recommend not drinking.

Remember you are the coordinator

One of the most important things you need to be professional is the way you approach CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Your business is all about the customers, and if you want to drink wait till the next night you are not working and go out and have a few drinks.

As a DJ you are a coordinator and you need to make sure you can function at your best during an event. You do everything from planning the music to coordinating when certain parts of the events happen.

You do not want to be intoxicated because you may forget to do certain parts of the event, and when the night over the people will be upset with you and not recommend you again.

You really need to ask yourself: “ARE YOU THE GUEST…OR THE WORKER?” Remember, you are the one getting paid to perform.

Drinking on the job will never get you good referrals, and it may cost you some future jobs.

-Brian-

Please check out more DJ info here for more tips and info relating to DJ’ing and businesses

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Tags: business, corporate, decisions, ethics, process

In this age of business scandals, it’s crucial to remember that businesses based on ethics and quality actually work better. With that in mind, here are ten easy resolutions to inspire your business to achieve a very profitable 2008.

1) I will base every aspect of my business on honesty, integrity, and quality.

2) I will make sure every employee, from janitor to CEO, is trained to view every interaction with a customer as a key step in the marketing process, and to always give the customer respect and attention.

3) I will train and empower every employee to let the customer go away feeling good about the entire interaction.

4) I will stand behind my products and services. It is better to refund the money and create a positive buzz.

5) Understanding that it costs an average of five times more to bring in a new customer as to keep an existing one, I will see that the entire organization exceeds customer expectations.

6) Recognizing that my competitors can be my strongest allies, I will initiate at least one joint venture (after all, if FedEx and the Postal Service, Apple and IBM, and General Motors and Toyota can cooperate, surely I can too).

7) If my company is not the best answer to prospect’s needs, I will refer that prospect to the company that can best serve.

8) I will devote business resources to make the world a better place.

9) I will volunteer on a community project, and set up incentives for my employees to volunteer on the projects of their choice.

10) I will base decisions on the Abundance Principle that there is enough to go around, and not on market share.

11) I will reduce my firm’s use of water and energy, and reduce my family’s use at home, and inform others of the easy changes I’ve made. (See sidebar for suggestions)

12) I will grow by marketing the advantages of doing business with a socially and environmentally conscious, ethical company.

Marketing consultant/copywriter Shel Horowitz is founder of the international usiness Ethics Pledge campaign and author of seven books including the Apex Award winner Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First.

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Tags: business, code, corporate, ethics, moral

7. You’re much more likely to build a lasting business, and build it more easily

6. When your customers trust you, they come back again and again

5. It’s much easier to build joint-venture relationships that can exponentially grow your business

4. When your customers fall in love with the way you do business, they start recruiting other people to do business with you–they actually become your unpaid sales force

3. Your business will be worth far more when it’s time to sell it

2. If you tell only the truth, you don’t worry about being caught in an embarrassing and profit-killing lie

And the number one reason…

You never have to worry about seeing your picture on the front page, in handcuffs

Action Steps:

1. Measure the impact of any action on all stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, neighbors

2. Always tell the truth

3. Sell only products that you can fully stand behind

4. Buy a copy of the award-winning book Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, which tells you in 160 pages exactly how to translate your high ethical standards into bottom-line dollars. This book has been endorsed by some of the top names in marketing, including Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup series, won an Apex Award, and has been re-published in India and Mexico. Visit the site

5. Show your commitment to ethics by signing the Business Ethics Pledge, with signers in 30 countries, and take advantage of the resources available to you as a signer (signing also earns you a discount on the book, as a way of saying :”thank you”).

Visit this site to read more about this topic

Marketing consultant/copywriter Shel Horowitz is founder of the international Business Ethics Pledge campaign and author of seven books including the Apex Award winner Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. This article may be reproduced without charge as long as this blurb (including the URLs) is included and that edits are approved by the author.

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Tags: business, corporate, ethics, training, workplace

In the world of business today, trust is more important than ever, especially when it comes to your relationships with your clients, customers, employees, and all stakeholders in your business. But what do we mean by trust. Webster’s dictionary defines trust as the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach believes that trust is right at the foundation of the survival and success of any business. Without trust there can be no sustainable business. Trust is a strategically critical issue in any type of relationship because a relationship without trust is not really a relationship at all. Over the long-term, business success is dependent upon a network of positive relationships. Trust is invariably the critical component in enhancing business relationships. The moment a person is not trusted by an individual or team, their chances for success within that group are diminished dramatically.

One of the major challenges and problems facing businesses today is the building of trust internally among the employees, management and ownership to create a healthy and productive work environment. Research has shown that trust is the basis for creating healthy work environments because it forms the foundation for effective communications, associate retention, motivation, and contributions of discretionary energy (from Susan Heathfield, Trust Rules! The most important secret. 2002a).

Your working relationships that have been built on trust are an important sustainable competitive advantage because trust is so valuable and so rare. The level of trust a leader is able to achieve with his or her associates is contingent upon the associate’s perceptions of the leader’s ability, honesty, and integrity. A study that was conducted to determine whether trust could be a source of competitive advantage. That study showed that trust is significantly related to sales, profits, and turnover. The study also concluded that “the ability of a general manager to earn higher trust from her or his employees likely creates a competitive advantage for a firm over its rivals.”

There are certain components of trust that every client, customer or other stakeholder in your business looks for in doing business with you. There are several levels of trust and I have chosen five (5) to present in this article. A first level of trust is trust in technical competence and know how. Clients and customers are looking for someone whose level of competence inspires trust. A statement like “Just trust me!” is woefully inadequate in today’s world. There is an obligation and a duty for you to provide explanations that are clear and concise and not overly simplistic.

A second level of trust is trust in ethical conduct and character. Your reputation is paramount and your honesty and integrity must be impeccable.

A third level of trust is trust in your interpersonal skills and relationship. You must ensure that your clients and customers believe that if they tell you something about themselves, their business or any sensitive information, you will handle it with the utmost respect and confidentiality.

A fourth level of trust is trust in you being transparent and open in your business relationship. A lack of transparency will make you much more vulnerable to damaging your business relationship.

A fifth level of trust is trust in you being a “person of your word” and holding yourself accountable in all actions within your business relationships.

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach encourages you to fully realize the benefits of business coaching to strategically build trust within all your business relationships. If you would like to learn more about how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact.

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 250 articles on business.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site here.

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Tags: ethics, corporate, business, code, conduct

Expertise is of more importance to a successful career, while ethics is of the least significance.” This was the feedback of a study group at a well-known American university. This group recently completed a nationwide survey of university graduate program directors in the field of communications. They were commenting on the importance of the four professional competencies set forth by the National Speakers Association (NSA): Expertise, Eloquence, Enterprise and Ethics.

I was interviewed and asked to comment on some of the findings of the study group. My reaction to the above statement was shock. After all, if “ethical communication” is insignificant, does that mean that we needn’t tell the truth? What would George Washington have to say about that? And where is our country headed?

As an image consultant, I teach a workshop entitled “The Expert Impact,” a term I have trademarked. In essence I tell my clients that I cannot supply expertise, because that is up to them. What I can do is make certain they are immediately perceived as a highly-credible expert in their field. Credibility implies believability. We believe the other person is an expert and that he or she is professional and, therefore, can be trusted. Trust is one of the tenets of branding, and it is one of the most important. Ethical behavior produces trustworthy decisions and actions. The two are intertwined.

My experience indicates that the image of most clients does not keep up with their résumés. I do not teach others how to be credible. If they are truly experts, they already have credibility in terms of performance; they just don’t know how to convey it non verbally. And according to social psychologists, non-verbal communication surpasses verbal communication in terms of credibility.

For the interview by the university’s study group, I was asked to comment upon several other findings from the interviews of professors. For example, the majority of university faculty reported that their curriculum was the most effective in the area of expertise and least effective in the area of enterprise. This seemed a jarring contradiction to me, since the internet and the World Wide Web literally require an enterprising nature. Furthermore, the safe corporate jobs of a lifetime are a thing of the past, and the enterprising spirit of recent generations brought it about. Students who are enterprising, it would seem, surely have an advantage in getting on the fast track to gaining expertise. Perhaps universities need to take a close look at their curriculum.

Furthermore, a college degree does not necessarily bestow expertise upon a graduate. Knowledge, yes; and it sets him/her on the way, but expertise ultimately comes from experience. Four years of university studies should, however, give graduates a great deal of knowledge in various subjects. An enterprising nature puts the student on the fast track to becoming an expert.

One of the problems with new hires is their lack of experience, and most of us don’t want our account to be handled by a greenhorn. So how is a recent grad going to get that first job. My 30 years experience suggests that the answer is to look experienced. Social psychologists have proven that if you look good, it is assumed that you are good. They have also shown that in order to be trusted or believed, you must be consistent with both

Written by Sandy Dumont

Sandy Dumont, THE Image Architect is an image consultant and professional speaker based in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, with 30 years of international and national experience helping individuals and Fortune 500 companies improve their image. She conducts customized Branding for People™ workshops on a regular basis.

For more information, click here

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Tags: business, corporate, ethics, professional, training

What causes people to make unethical choices when they know it is wrong? Ask someone who has stolen money – did you ever think of yourself as a thief? Their answer is always a resounding – No! Yet, their unethical choices tend to lead them to disastrous consequences.

As a Motivational Speaker, no matter how much I share my story, people continue making unethical choices. What really saddens me is to watch people I know enter into ethical dilemmas after all I experienced and all that I share. I certainly do not withhold sharing my story, believing that telling my story helps other people.

There are those who learn by observation – the ones my story helps the most. Then there are those who insist on learning lessons by experience regardless of what they hear. Those people are the ones who live in denial who already have rationalized their behaviors.

My friend shared with me a story of a phone call she received from her niece. She was crying and upset. She felt frightened like the world was crashing in around her. She felt like she needed help – she needed a way out.

My friend listened and finally the story was shared. Apparently a few months ago there arose in her family medical issues. They felt they had nowhere to turn. Her husband managed an account in North Dakota. They decided to “borrow” money to help them cover the medical issues. They believed they had a way of paying it back without anyone knowing. Over a period of months they paid back all but $2000. The account could soon be audited. The niece and her husband were terrified of the outcome. There were many sleepless nights and lots of planning on how to replenish the balance – and how to cover up the fraud.

My friend’s heart ached. She knew from my experiences what the possible outcome could be. Her niece knew as well. They could be exposed, lose their reputation, be charged with embezzlement, and even go to jail. It seemed the house of cards was crashing down. My friend was frightened for them and the possible outcome. Her niece had so much integrity and kindness in her. She was shy and quiet. She hated to draw attention to herself. What happened?

This woman had grown up in an environment where lack and limitation was practiced. There was a period of time that she and her mother were homeless. Her mother worked hard to take care of her. This woman as a child, felt ashamed of where she lived, what she wore. She was envious of what other people had in their lives. She didn’t have a father and money was a huge problem. Although she knew her mother did her best and that her mother loved her dearly, she wanted a different for herself and her children.

They have raised their children to have everything they didn’t have. Both parents came from broken homes. Her husband was given everything he could want by his parents, but love. The woman was given all the love she wanted but not the things. They worked hard to have a home in the suburbs, meaningful jobs, name brand clothing for the children. Maintaining the illusion of a happy life was getting quite expensive. There was no savings account. They went more and more into debt. When the medical situation arose, they felt there were no more options and they “borrowed” the money – rather stole the money under the guise of “borrowing.”

Whenever someone enters into making an unethical choice, typically there are three things that occur. First, there is a need. In this case, this young family had a medical necessity and no immediate money to cover the expense. Second, there is opportunity. They had access to the money. Third, there is rationalization. This family had to take care of a medical need, the money was there, and they would pay it back.

They were good people. But then, in reality, most “white-collar criminals” would call themselves good people as would the people they associated with. All the ingredients were in line for them to make an unethical choice and in their mind they were only “borrowing” – a typical rationalized cover for theft.

Now they are faced with another ethical dilemma. They want to turn the finances over to someone else recognizing that they made a mistake. Can they do that without the new person reviewing the account records? Will the leadership demand a financial accounting? Do they hold onto the books so no one will find out? Do they turn them over confessing their situation and hope for mercy? What if there is no mercy? Will there be jail time? What about the reputation?

There is nothing easy about the consequences of making unethical choices especially if you are a person of integrity. In this woman’s case, she had a lot of integrity. She moved away from her authentic self. She did not honor who she is as a person. This just didn’t happen overnight. It happened over time. Once we move away from self-integrity, we are living with illusion and open to attracting more illusions to our lives.

As of this writing, the outcome is yet to be determined. What choice they make today will have an effect on their lives and the lives of their family forever. All I know for sure, is that if they make an ethical choice today, they will reap the benefits in the future. If they make an unethical choice today, eventually it will collapse around them.

My greatest lesson in life came from sitting in Federal Prison 13 years ago. I, too, created an illusory life and my house of cards crashed down around me. I made the exact choices my friend’s niece except mine involved $250,000. Just the amount of the money is different. I had a need, I had the opportunity and I rationalized it. Eventually it caught up to me. It was the worst and the best time of my life. It was the worst because I lost everything: my job, my family, my reputation, my things. It was the best because I became integrous to myself for the first time in my life. I learned invaluable lessons which I share today as a Motivational Speaker whenever possible. We can all make mistakes. We are not our mistakes. We are more than what we seem…especially when we make choices that create a positive outcome.

Chuck Gallagher is an international motivational speaker and author who shares his life experience in a way that is meaningful for his audiences. For information on Chuck’s presentations on choices and consequences or how to subscribe to his free ezine…visit his site.

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Tags: ethical, dilemma, issues, corporate, business

At one time or another, we have been warned to stay out of office politics-it can be the ruin of a promising career! It is an old warning with a lot of tradition to support it.

Company politics has seen its evil days, but the day when close-knit groups resented each other in general and all ambitious newcomers in particular is drawing to a close. Most people are recognizing that such intramural skirmishing for prestige and influence did the groups no good while greatly impairing the productivity of the company.

“Company” in this context is a generic term that applies to any working situation. It does not matter whether it is private industry, government agency, educational institution or some other kind of organized work situation.

When people get along together, production rises; when they do not, it falls. Politics-good or bad-is inescapable. If people are not talking about their work at the drinking fountain, during a coffee break, or at lunch, they just do not care, and that is bad.

Company politics is here to stay. To close your ears to it is not to remove yourself from politics but from the company. How else are you going to know what is going on? And if you do not know what is going on in the company, how are you to know where you are going?

If you follow three simple rules, playing good company politics will be easy, informative and rewarding.

(1). Say something interesting or constructive about your work.

(2). Say something good about your boss, supervisor, or company policy-with sincerity.

(3). Keep on doing a good job.

If you cannot do those three things after a month or two on the job, if your work is so dull and the company so uninteresting, you are in the wrong job. Start looking for a different one now!

Private life and work are both parts of you as a whole human being. They cannot be completely separate incarnations. You are probably spending your most productive hours in each day at work-five days a week! Friendships do count in the business world.

Bad politics is based on greed, selfishness, power-seeking, and often prejudice. More often than not, the leaders are insisting that some outside influence is the cause of all their problems. They are unwilling to admit that their own actions might be at fault.

I once worked in an office where the goal seemed to be finding something nasty to say about the boss. It was almost a “can you top this” kind of daily conversational game.

The two most vocal individuals had worked for the longest time in the department. They must have been getting some kind of emotional payback from their actions in order to justify working for such an individual. Possibly: “You have the title but I am better than you in every way!”

Actually company politics is not the name for it, for the company will suffer irreparable damage in the long run. It is personal or factional, or clique politics, played for the advancement of the few, and let the company go hang, as it frequently does. Yet it cannot be ignored.

If bad office politics is to be counteracted intelligently, it must be recognized for what it is, from the lowest man subjected to its pressures to the president of the firm. If one is in no position to combat it, then one must know what it is all about for his own protection.

Personal success is not to be found where partisanship and bias have more influence than merit. Always remember that recognizing the talents and achievements of your staff and co-workers is a valuable asset. If you fail to give credit where and when it is deserved, there should be no complaints when the same thing is done to you.

Hard work and attention to detail does not automatically bring a promotion. Your skill working with others is an essential ingredient. It is almost tragic to overlook the constructive side of office politics. If you do not know what is going on around you, no one is going to know you are around.

Sign up for a free Becoming-Your-Best Newsletter here – The newsletter features lifestyle changes for optimum health, living life in abundance, feeling and looking great, changing your mind to change your world and other resources for self improvement.

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Tags: corporate, ethics, politics, public, training

Feb. 5 – known as the “Super Tuesday” for presidential primaries – is arriving with all the hoopla the political scene can muster.

Candidates from both sides have been squaring off to persuade voters to mark the ballot in their favor. Each candidate believes his or hers is the only way to run our country.

In some ways, the process is characteristic of what happens in our workplaces and within our families, with feuding among people who believe they have the corner on what should be truth.

Office politics can be particularly harsh, derisive and painful. Small groups gather in the breakroom or behind closed office doors to gossip about colleagues. Often the talk is based on assumptions about how their office world should operate.

They assume that CEOs don’t care for their employees, that managers don’t consider as important what employees believe need attention. And employees themselves often view each other with suspicion. As gossip grows, the workplace can become an unhealthy environment.

A friend recently related how difficult it is to work in her office. Among her colleagues is an individual who finds fault with and is suspicious of other co-workers. She takes new employees under her wing to perpetuate the gossip chain. And every time she thinks someone is not doing what she thinks they should be doing, she calls the corporate office.

“The tension when she’s in the office can be cut with a knife,” my friend told me. “She looks for any infraction she believes has been committed and is like the office tattle-tale.”

Judgments begin to fester, dispersed among everyone due to a lack of trust and belief someone is getting something they do not deserve. Soon the infection spreads.

Recently I read some wisdom written by Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, in the 18th century. He said, “We should worry about our own spiritual lacks and our neighbor’s material lacks. But usually we do it the other way around. We worry about our neighbor’s spiritual lacks and our own material lacks.”

In essence, he is saying we should look within ourselves first to see where we lack in our work ethic, morality and spirituality. Instead of trying to tear them down or put up roadblocks to their success, we need to consider what our co-workers need from us to support them in carrying out their responsibilities,

More often than not, gossip is merely a half truth because the whole story is not known by the gossip mongers.

This kind of workplace behavior is a carry-over of the herd behavior commonly seen among adolescents. Someone gossips about another, and rumor spreads to the others in the clique without regard to the parameters of the truth. Assumptions and misconceptions form the base of the gossip.

How do we respond to the unkindness of gossip? Now, that’s where true strength of character emerges. It comes in the form of our ability to respond without retaliation when someone does something wrong.

There is a Talmudic saying, “He who takes vengeance or bears a grudge acts like someone who, having cut one hand while handling a knife, avenges himself by stabbing the other hand.”

Consider these steps suggested by seminar speaker Sara Rigler:

1) Judge the person favorably;

2) Do not speak negative, true speech about the person;

3) Do not hate the person in your heart;

4) Do not carry a grudge and do not take revenge;

5) Only confront the person privately, but only (when) you can do it (by) making the person feel like s/he was helped rather than criticized;

6) View what happened as a message to examine your own deeds.

I suspect this is easier said than done. What it does require, however, is the ability to go within ourselves and recognize that seeing deficiencies in others often is the same deficiency we need to work on ourselves. It also requires that we consider the correct response to what we envision others are doing that we believe is inappropriate.

For example, say someone leaves work early. His or her colleagues don’t know why. The result can be a false judgement.

What is the correct response? Be careful. Your response could trigger the assumption of wrongdoing when, in fact, the person may have left to attend a meeting, or attend to a work-related crisis they are not at liberty to discuss. It could be a pre-approved absence.

I remember sitting in the waiting room of my obstetrician for almost 45 minutes. Several others had been there longer than I had been and began complaining about the wait.

I refrained from complaining, since I knew that when both of my children were born during the noon hour, the obstetrician was in the delivery room attending to their births. I never complained about how long I had to wait, knowing someone else was getting the attention they needed.

Competition, both political and in the workplace, often brings out the worst in people. Harsh words are uttered, judgments made, and half-truths are manipulated to become gossip that tears down another, serving only to make the teller feel superior.

However, as the Talmudic admonition implies, our response to such behavior must rise about vengeance, carrying a grudge, or repayment with added judgments.

Lao-tzu said, “One who understands others has knowledge; one who understands himself has wisdom. Mastering others requires force; mastering the self needs strength.”

(c) All rights reserved Maralene Strom Jan-08

Maralene Strom is a speaker and author who teaches on topics dealing with grief and recovery;Issues of living life 50 & Beyond; Caregiving in extended care facilities, home care, and special needs; Communicating with Empathy & Compassion and Business Management Issues. Her website features some of the topics she speaks on with information to connect with her for tele-classes, workshops or speaking to groups, conferences, etc.—- let her help you discover your life’s meaning as you journey now and into your future.
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Tags: corporate, ethics, politics, public, training

“Everything is transparent these days” says Larry Hochman and he is also known to be one of the best advocates on corporate ethics and responsibility.

And yes, everything we do as companies and corporations is transparent to our consumers nowadays, since via the new media they can compare and discuss and figure out what we are all about! And that is why it is important to have our corporate blogs and forums and podcasts to be able to participate in the dialog consumers are having about us online, because with or without us – this discussion is happening anyway!

And what is also becoming very important is our proof to our consumers that we deserve for them to be loyal to us. To give them more and more reasons to be happy to be associated with us and our brands – reasons off-line and on-line.

And here is one – just as an example, but a brilliant one on how social media and networking, the “consumer unions” as Larry Hochman calls them, are starting to lead the dialogue with corporations. I came across this yesterday and if you decide to invest the time, do watch it and here is why:

• First of all because it is from TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) and TED is knows for inviting some of the most brilliant minds to present at their events.
• Second because about 10 of those 18 minutes of your time might be one of these rare moments when we stop and remember how beautiful life actually is.
• Thirdly because it is YouTube and one more way to enter where a lot of our consumers dwell.
• And then at the end …. you will see how consumers are starting to demand corporate responsibility and all for a very good reason.

YouTube

Makes you think – does not it: What are the good causes your company would like to be associated with?

Would like to show your consumers where your stand on corporate responsibility and why they should be proud to be loyal to you.

Christina Vlahova is the founder of “Intellecta Srl” – Strategic marketing consultancy. She is also a “CSA Celebrity Speakers” associate, working with conference organizers from around the world in providing the best key note speakers and experts for their events.

To get an expert advice for the best speakers for your conference or event visit this website

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Tags: corporate, ethical, ethics, information, responsibility

When we started Fathom Corporate Training, we searched high and low for a name befitting our firm. So many ideas can surface when undertaking these types of endeavors. Sometimes though, we have a hard time simply deciding what to order on the restaurant menu. Trying to make the right decision can become an obsession. We turn in circles trying to make perfect decisions, but we really don’t have all the information to do that. Recently I had a revelation. I woke up with a clear understanding and realization of how much time I have wasted in my life trying to make that “right” decision. While my life has gone pretty smoothly, I have indeed sacrificed. I have sacrificed precious time trying to make these types of perfect decisions. Time is something we can’t get back. I now remind myself every day that “right” does not exist. There will always be a “left” staring you in the face so that you inevitably will ask yourself, “I wander if I should go that way?” When the fear of the unknown and indecisiveness comes up because of a new fork in the road we must realize a couple things:

1. We don’t know the future.

2. There is no right way.

There are many different roads to getting there and because there is no way to know what roadblocks may be ahead, it may be time to simply choose. Ultimately, you’ll get where you’re going and feel more productive and efficient. Or, you may discover a new way of getting things done that you could have never planned for. Go ahead, step into the unknown. And remember, we are all whistling in the same darkness!

What about procrastination? Do you procrastinate? We all do to some degree. If getting a project started in the perfect way or at the “right” time is holding you back, your procrastinating. One key to stopping your procrastination is to first know when your doing it. We all do something different when we procrastinate. Do you find yourself running lots of errands. Sure, your getting lots done, but what? Most of us are very efficient, but not effective. What’s the difference? Doing the most in the shortest period of time is called efficient use of time. Effective use of your time means getting the right things done. Things that will lead you to accomplishing your most important life goals. It’s seems easier to go to the store or watch TV than to start on something that feels threatening, such as an important project. So simply get started. Just remember the Spartans if the project is too large and feels overwhelming. When facing the ruthless Persian army and outnumbered by thousands, the 300 brave Spartan soldiers felt completely overwhelmed. With one simple question, the Greek leader of the Spartan army broke down the massive task at hand. “Can each of you slay 3-4 more Persians today than you did yesterday?” They agreed that they could. And they did, one at a time!

John Males spent 10 years on the management team of Continental Airlines in sales and marketing, taking part in what is recognized as the largest and most significant corporate turnaround in American business history. Used in case studies worldwide for its exceptional business practices, the firm continues to rank on the Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work for List” and as one of the most globally admired firms. John Males brings expertise to clients facing critical challenges in the areas of management, sales and branding. His customers include some of the world’s most successful firms and recognized brands. He can be reached here

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Tags: business, corporate, ethics, training, workplace

Integrity is putting your values into action. Robin Siemens

Immediately, I jotted down this incredibly powerful definition because Robin had not only defined the word, but more importantly connected the word to performance. So many words are used to define business ethics and yet the lack of actual demonstrated ethics still remains very high within business and the rest of our society. One can only read the paper or listen to the media about “”corporate greed”" how how this corruption culture has damaged our country.

The reason for this disconnect is because the definition is not connected to any measurable action. By taking the word beyond the cognitive state and making it about behaviors, Robin now is walking the talk as some would say.

So, how do you define integrity for your business? If you cannot define key words within the values statement located inside of your strategic plan, you are trying to hit a moving target. Yes, moving targets can be hit, but it takes far more effort. Also, there does exist a greater likelihood of missing the target.

After you define integrity for your business, then how are you connecting to your daily business actions? Alignment is a key when making connections between the values statement and the actual behaviors of your employees and even yourself.

A recent survey of employees indicated that many managers lacked business ethics. The old Do as I say and Not as I do appears to be still very much alive in corporate America regardless of the size of the organization.

Since another survey indicated that bad attitudes which are a definite result of bad ethics are the reason for 68% of customers not returning. Take that with the knowledge that people leave managers and not organizations should be reason enough to construct and implement a values statement right now.

Then maybe you will be able to clearly articulate what integrity to respect means within your code of business ethics. And who knows some day when you are on the radio, you can quickly share your definition just like Robin did.

Want to learn how to increase sales? Sign up to receive notification of Leanne’s forthcoming sales coaching book to help you become the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits.

Leadership of any business is responsible for demonstrating the ethics and beliefs. How do you fair as a leader? Take this leadership audit site.

You probably do not want to be uncomfortable. Who does? Yet, you want to increase sales and to stop all those sleepless nights right before sales figures are due. Now is the time to give Leanne a call at 219.759.5601 to schedule a free business coaching training or sales coaching strategy session. Experience how being uncomfortable can help you increase sales.

Here we come into the season of smokescreens and manipulation, otherwise known as the presidential election year. With each passing election, the question turns increasingly away from which candidate would make the best president and which policies would be best for the nation, and toward which campaign can do a better job manipulating public opinion in order to get their person elected. It’s the season of guilt by innuendo or association, of character assassination, and of the absolute flouting of every principle of logic since Aristotle. Prepare to be snowed, buffaloed and bamboozled.

You’re not a citizen, you’re not even a voter, you’re a demographic: a ‘target audience’ of a set of sophisticated mass-marketing techniques. They already know your ‘buying habits’ and they know what gets you fired up or turned off. They’ve been putting together their marketing campaign for years – long before they had a ‘product’ to offer you. They already know how n% of you are going to vote. They also know that they can increase their ‘sales’ by x% by using such-and-such a tactic. Isn’t it nice to know that they can so accurately predict your behavior and, when they can’t predict it, they can re-set your buying criteria at will by re-framing each question?

‘Politics is a dirty business.’ Why should it be that way? The answer, I think, was best formulated by Robert Moses, the designer of our contemporary urban setting (he had already conceived of the interstate highway system and showcased it in the transportation pavilion of the 1939 New York World’s Fair), when he said, “If the end doesn’t justify the means, then what does?” It probably never occurred to Mr. Moses that a good means doesn’t needjustification.

Contrast, for the sake of argument, education with manipulation. Does an educated electorate need to be justified? Or, is its benefit evident in itself? Would you rather be given an accurate set of facts and have the opportunity to make your own informed judgment, or would you prefer to be kept in the dark and sold a bill of goods?

The unimaginable prevalence of conspiracy theories haunting us today – like the one that says that the issue of global warming is just an attempt by ‘them’ to subvert the American economy (for what possible reasons, I’ll never guess) – provides ample proof that people have been so manipulated that they can no longer even recognize observable facts. Illogical emotionalism reigns supreme and, as the marketing experts are fond of teaching us, people are moved not by facts but by feelings.

What I’m talking about here doesn’t only have to do with politicians and mass marketers. It applies just as much to you. Like it or not, we’re all in the business of marketing. We have something valuable to offer others, and we have a right to expect to paid an honest price for the value of our product or service. Nobody will be able to take advantage of what we have to offer if they don’t know about it. Marketing makes all the difference between an artisan and a business woman or man. With the obligation to market your products and services in order for others to gain the value you have to offer comes the responsibility to use the power of marketing ethically.

In business, as in politics, a good end (a valuable product or service) does not justify smokescreens and manipulation. There exists a fine line between persuasion and manipulation. That line is drawn between education and obfuscation. So long as you are promoting an educated consumer, you’re on the ethical side; when you cross over into hiding, twisting, or misrepresenting the facts, you’ll know that you’re on the ‘dark side’.

You can ask, “Is my potential consumer buying what I have to offer because they know all about my product or service, or because they don’t know all the facts about it?” Or, “Are they buying it because they’ve made an honest comparison between what I have to offer and my competition, or between my product or service and the caricature that I’ve created of my competition?” As long as there has been human commerce, there have been unscrupulous marketers. Ask yourself now, “Are these the people I want to be in competition with?” The answer to all these questions will tell you a lot about your future prospects, a lot about your business and, ultimately, a lot about yourself.

H. Les Brown, MA, CFCC
ProActivation® Coaching
Visit the Website here

Copyright © 2008 H. Les Brown

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H. Les Brown – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: ethics, business, training, corporate, problem

Well, we finally did it to ourselves. Our profession refused to police itself, much less exercise prudent lending practices; now the government (state and soon federal) will do it for us … plus …

FBI Suspicious Activities Reports have tripled in the last couple of years, from 10,000 to 35,000. That is an indication that fraud is blooming in the business. One statistic from the FBI is that 80% of all known fraud cases involve somebody internal in the industry. Frequently people see the other guy, cutting corners and the like, all in the name of commissions commissions commission! I don’t think it’s strictly “”I want to maintain these good times for my own income.”" There is a little element of “”I’m making the American dream come true for somebody. I’ve got this person who has a perfect house and if I can just inch their income up by just $10K …”" These aren’t industry experts, they’re loan officers (industry entry-level personnel), so they don’t necessarily understand that the raging good times always have resulted in a significant downturn, as the cycle swings in reverse for a similar length of time.

It’s also a large problem from the origination base to when they go into loan pools and are bought and sold on Wall St. as bonds, these bonds are underperforming as well, it’s becoming a major problem in the past couple months. These loan pools are getting downgraded every day. Usually this was due to prepayments (‘churning’ by originators also hurt a great deal here). Now you have to look into the escalating Early Payment Defaults (EPDs) as well, because it was normally factored in as a fixed, half-percent, but now we’re seeing a lot of times it’s rising into a whopping 6% and 7% factor! When these bonds are bought and sold to investors that try to sell them for fixed-income and aren’t getting results, their reputations are getting hammered in a big way.

The reason it took several years to finally explode, is that underwriting used to be what we call the three C’s: Character (credit history), Capacity, and Collateral – somehow credit and capacity fell by the wayside for the most part and everybody seemed to start focusing on the Collateral part. If a lender had a decent AVM along with the added plus of warp-speed appreciation of 15%-25% per market, you could not do a bad loan.

As rates have finally stopped falling like a stone, and property values nationally are sinking back onto a more realistic plateau (from values soaring up and up year after year), everybody needs to re-assess their new role as career industry professionals (those who don’t see this as a career or as professionals need to exit the industry immediately for everybody’s good) since they are not a positive force for those of you who love the biz – and I know there are many of you out there that feel that same way as I still do.

I myself learned this ‘brother’s keeper’ lesson early in my career; it has done me well ever since I was a ‘twenty-something’ newbie. Everyone needs to look-out for the other guy. When you see things being done that are inappropriate, it is your duty as a good industry citizen to speak up and help all of us out. Lately you have all seen where when one sector is injured, it goes around full circle and bites YOU and me on the butt … every time … so I guess you could say in addition to being Ethical, you are protecting yourself by doing your best to influence others to stand up and do the right thing. With the right set of values, the career minded ones of you have a responsibility to ‘help them’ … and when they don’t, there’s another answer right HERE for you to consider.

Article by Peter Samuel Cugno, Chairman & CEO of Secret! University, the educational division of Americas Money Center, Inc. with 40 years experience in the subprime industry niche. Questions or comments may be directed to Peter at this site

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What an interesting situation. The Supreme Court validated our right to own guns. I’m not a gun owner, I don’t believe in it. I love to shoot and I lean toward a non-violent approach to life. Disclosures over, I don’t see how they could have come up with a different verdict. I do think the constitution gives us the right to bear arms. That said, what are the ethical implications and considerations that lie under this issue?

The essay by Donald M. Wolfe in Executive Integrity edited by Suresh Shrivasta, set my perspective on this a long time ago. He posits primary and secondary ethics. Primary ethics are the ethics of survival. This is the ethical stance that the NRA (National Rifle Association) and many pro-gun folks take. The ability to protect oneself is a primary right. We have even coded this into law assuring our ability to self-defend. What becomes unethical is the conscious fostering of fear (The Bush Administration’s terrorism mantra) to stimulate and maintain that fear.

Secondary ethics moves away from the fixation on individual survival and moves into community and relationship. Secondary ethics deals with fear through strengthening relationships and community governance. Here the focus is on long-term solutions and sees the needs of the community as paramount. This is the reason for the tension around this ruling.

It is clear to most people that the rule of law comes under threat when we regress into fears about individual survival.In doing so we negate our faith in law, community, relationships and principled discussion and instead put our faith in force and might.

This is an underlying tension in many organizations as well. The more secretive and heavy handed the leadership, the more primary ethics holds sway. Authoritarian leadership styles give permission for “me first” behavior – often at the expense of the company. It opens up the company to ethical issues and violations. In fact the justification for much of the illegal and unethical behavior that companies confront is the “They deserved it” logic that stems from disgruntled employees who have felt they have been dealt with unfairly. Unfair treatment often results in feeling of powerlessness which activates fear and acts of vengeance.

Justice Anthony Scalia made it very clear that control and regulation of hand guns ownership is still possible. We as a people and as a Nation, need to decide if we will move toward a more civil Union or devolve into every person for him or her self. Freedom requires responsibility to ensure people understand and accept their individual responsibility they need: information to be freely and easily accessible; to be educated to be able to think critically and effectively; to be supported in their personal growth, development and understanding so they can manage their own emotions and personal hurt effectively; and to be nurtured and cared for a children so that normal growth and development IS a norm. This is a tall order, but isn’t this one of underlying drivers of civilization? Isn’t our striving as a species, to create an environment where we are free enough from fear that we can develop, explore and express our true capabilities? If we want to reach a place where the true potential of humanity is developed and expressed is a hand gun in every home the way to go?

This is the path that business is on as well. The volatility of the marketplace, the rapid advances of technology and the shrinking of the globe all call for new ways of working together. To address these issues and if business answers the call, then, as employees and leaders rise to the occasion, they will transform a fear-based environment into one of innovative collaboration – out of necessity.

This is my belief, hope and vision for business. I believe that the external pressures combined with the drive for success will create a crucible of transformation. At the heart of that transformation is a rock solid knowledge in the exquisite capacity of humans, the courage of an o9pen heart as we all come together, and the wisdom to use the collective intelligence of participation to create a world we WANT to live in.

Kathryn brings her serial entrepreneur, teaching and spiritual practice background to her work helping leaders and teams create and navigate the desired future. In her 22 years working with change in organizations she has learned the secret that effective organizations are ethical organizations. Working with leaders and teams to address the need to think differently about their problems, she has been instrumental in co-creating significant shifts in organizations. Her passion is creating communities that generate enlightened business practices.

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Tags: dilemma, ethics, corporate, issues, cases

There are many different reasons business fail and much of it is debatable but there are some common mistakes that are detrimental in business failure.

Some of the reason many business fail are due to the following reasons:

• Overexpansion.

Many companies over expand too soon. They look at the books and see 3 months of good sales and profit and think right let’s get more staff. Then another 6 months down the line the profits have not followed suit which leaves you in a difficult situation. You need to stick with realistic goals and allow yourself to grow as needs dictate. And old saying ‘don’t not run before you can walk’ is relevant. You need to look at the statistics and watch for trends. If sales and profits looks good now it’s doesn’t necessarily mean it will look good tomorrow.

• Overspending and lack of reserve funds.

Overspending can have detrimental affects. You should only spend on what is necessary. Be realistic, just because you have good cash flow at the minute doesn’t mean you will have in the future. Ask yourself is purchasing this item really necessary, will it make a real difference or not. Look at all the costs of the business and if some are not necessary then drop them. Having money in the bank is important to carry you through market downtrends and seasonal slowness. You should always be prepared for fluctuations in business. You should always put money away in boom times to prepare for the slow times.

• Poor management

Poor management is one of the main reasons business fail. If you haven’t got happy customers and happy stuff your business is almost curtain to fail. Poor customer service, poor accounting and overall employee incompetence can all combine to collapse a business. You need to ensure your employees realise the importance of good customer service. Establish protocols for how tasks should be accomplished and ensure they are carried out. Many companies these days have a relaxed attitude and don’t place to much importance on carrying out basic good management practice. Having meetings regularly with all staff will help your business run smoothly. If no meetings take place then resentment can set in. Everyone needs to air their opinions and explain how their job could be done more efficiently.

• Poorly treated Staff

Labour is the biggest expense for most small business so it makes sense to ensure your company employs the right amount of people and treat them correctly. Companies that invest highly in their staff by offering training and advancement will find it easier to keep their staff. Ensure you pay your staff every month on time as not to do so would be breaching your contract with them. Invest in your staff; they are your biggest asset. If they feel they cannot advance in your business they will not stay long. Listening to your staff is important. If employees are leaving you need to be asking why. Treat your staff how you would expect to be treated and you will gain respect from them and get the best of out them.

• Poor or no business plan

Having a good business plan is your key to success. A well-thought-out business plan forces you to think about the future and the challenges you’ll face. As long as your forecasts are realistic and you have done plenty of market research you should be ok. Ensure your plan has a budget and stick to it.

• Dishonesty and Greed

Being dishonest will catch up with you eventually. Remember your ethics, try to treat your customers and staff as you would be expected to be treated. Don’t charge the earth for customers just because they look like they can afford it, this is exploitation and will come back and bite you on the bum. Greed is another aspect that kills businesses. You feel like you’re on a roll and feel invincible so you over charge people and promise them the earth. When you can’t deliver you will lose customers and eventually your reputation. Always be honest and ethical and you will reap the rewards.

There are other reasons business fail and I have only touched base on some. As long as you work hard, do plenty of research, treat staff and customers with respect, keep a tight control over your accounts and leave your ego at home you should be alright. Oh and most importantly use common sense. You would be surprised at how many business owners are egotistic, arrogant with no personnel skills and very little common sense, these business are bound to fail eventually.

Carolyn is the webmaster of Angel Startups, specialists startup funding, business grants and Business Advice.

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Tags: corporate, article, ethics, business, professional

The business world has been shocked and rocked by major corporate scandals involving unethical behavior. The real “poster” companies of ethics violations include: Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom, Global Crossing and Adelphia. The risks and costs associated with these examples of unethical behavior are astronomical in dollars, but also extremely high in other non-quantified costs and risks. Your strategic thinking business coach developed a list of these other significant risks and costs from unethical behavior and that list includes:

#1: increased risk of doing business and the possibility of bankruptcy and severely damaged company brand and image.

#2: decreased productivity.

#3: increased misconduct and conflict internally.

#4: decreased performance levels of employees.

#5: increased employee turnover and more challenging employee recruitment.

#6: decreased productivity.

#7: increased absenteeism and “presenteeism.”.

#8: decreased probability of reporting misconduct and unethical behavior of others.

#9: increased dysfunctional behaviors such as not paying attention to details, scapegoating, withholding information, under delivering & over promising, not giving credit to others, lowering goals, misrepresenting results, etc.

#10: decreased value of the company.

If you want to learn more about the high risk and costs of unethical behavior and would like to discuss what you and your business can do to avoid and/or minimize those risks through a solid commitment to ethics in your business, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at this site.

“Ten Most Significant Risks and Costs of Unethical Behavior in Business By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group ™

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Tags: ethical, behaviour, business, corporate, training

Indulgences are an ancient form of church-granted amnesty from certain forms of punishment, in this life or hereafter, for sin. The selling of indulgences, a practice that became generally accepted with the first Crusade and grew considerably during the later Middle Ages, allowed the popes and professional pardoners to sell the forgiveness of sins and during that time actually fund some of the Crusades. In Catholic theology, buyers of such indulgences eliminated or reduced the time necessary for their souls to be cleansed in purgatory before entry into heaven. Popes and especially professional pardoners loved serial sinners as they could become a reliable source of sales and relatively easy money.

Today’s more ecumenical indulgences are bought and sold by those who think that the emissions of high levels of greenhouse gases or a lifestyle based on a big carbon footprint can be simply atoned for by paying into some sort of a fund that will look to reduce the high emissions from some other source. As in the church version, the presumption that buyers of these carbon credits operate under is that by simply paying into a fund they will have absolved themselves from responsibility and guilt resulting from their corporate and lifestyle choices.

Rather than biting the proverbial bullet and eliminating their sinning ways, these high emitters continue to harm the environment, exacerbate climate change and set bad examples for the rest of us. Instead of personal carbon credits and corporate carbon credit markets, we need leaders that understand that making the personal and corporate changes necessary to reduce long-term greenhouse gases and emissions is not only the right thing to do but it is also better and cheaper in the long run.

Tania Sole – Ms. Sole has been an environmentalist and travel enthusiast since she was a young girl growing up in Europe, the Middle East and Central America. For over ten years, she has worked at Greenslip Inc. Visit our website and get more information about what you can do to reduce your transportation carbon footprint.

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Tags: social, responsibility, ethics, corporate, business