Shortly after the year 2000 millennium celebration, our
society experienced an unprecedented series of ethical
failures in business, government, the media, athletics, and
even in the church. Government and private organizations
rushed to respond to these failures with legislative,
regulatory, educational, and other institutional reforms.
These were exemplified by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which
mandated extensive business and professional reforms. The
efficacy and unintended consequences of these reforms
are still being debated, but no matter how well intended or
how well conceived these institutional reforms may be, the
ethical performance of our institutions will ultimately be no
better than the ethical performance of the individuals who
comprise them.
It is not enough, then, to wish for an ethical society or to pass
laws and rules for others to follow. We must accept personal
responsibility for creating the kind of society we want.
Our
ethical scandals were not institutional failures, but the ethical
failures of individuals within those institutions. Likewise, the
kind of ethical excellence we desire within our institutions
must begin with the people in them – you and me.
Having an impact on the ethical behavior of our society is an
intimidating task. We expect only great leaders to have a
profound impact on our institutions. We’ve all heard of the
ethical imperative for leaders to set the proper “tone at the
top” of their organizations. But unless that “tone at the top”
also becomes the “tone at the bottom” of the organization,
its leadership is ineffective.
In truth, we all have an ethical leadership role to play,
wherever we are in our respective organizations. We fulfill
our leadership role when we “walk the talk,” when our
behavior is consistent with the ethical behavior we expect
from our organization and society. After all, what right do we
have to expect better behavior from those we follow than
the behavior seen by those who look up to us?
After we set the right example, we can then create a positive
expectation of ethical behavior from those around us.
Communicating high expectations for positive ethical behavior
has a constructive influence on those around us, but only if
we are willing to live up to those expectations ourselves.
The institutional ethical reforms of the last few years are
valuable because they provide a framework for the people
to collectively express our desire for a better, more ethical
world. But our dreams of an ethical and just society will
be realized only to the extent that we are committed to
personally live those dreams.
Jim Copeland is a graduate of the Robinson College and the retired CEO of
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He also serves on the faculty of the College as a
Robinson Global Scholar.
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