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Businessman:
Business is about… well, business. A company, agency, or
educational institution hires us to perform a particular function,
something we’re good at that adds value for the firm, and then
compensates us for our efforts. In certain occupations such as sales
they likely pay us for results, but more often than not we are
remunerated simply for trying hard. Done right this is a reciprocal
relationship, one where both parties benefit. The company gets good
work that designs, builds, or supports products and services that
customers are willing to pay for, while we get a nice salary and
benefits for devoting our time and energies to the job. And, we
usually learn something in the process; maybe even earn some
acclaim or an occasional bonus too.
Sometimes, however, it’s tempting to lose sight of the professional
relationship we’re supposed to be engaged in, to let personal desires
override our fiduciary responsibility to our conscience and our
company. This could be due to some real or perceived sleight, a
promotion deserved but not earned, due respect not given, or even
out of a sense that the folks in charge are egocentric Gordon Gekko
wannabes, so why shouldn’t we get our piece of the action too.
[7]
As
tempting as it may be to stick it to the man, so to speak, such actions
are beneath us. We all know that two wrongs do not make a right, so
we also know that such thinking is misguided. If we are unhappy in a
particular job it is far better to find a new one and leave rather than it
is to stoop to unethical or illegal actions that can have serious
consequences for our both our lives and our careers later on. Even if
we never get caught, however, acting out inappropriately diminishes
us human beings.
So, what does all this have to do with seeking pleasure for
pleasure’s sake? Quite a lot actually… There are many opportunities
to take advantage of our companies, everything from accepting
inadvisable gratuities from prospective suppliers that bear the
appearance of impropriety, to booking boondoggle trips that could
just as easily have been done via videoconference so that we can
earn frequent flyer miles, to pilfering office supplies, to sexually
harassing subordinates or coworkers, to other forms of theft, graft, or
corruption. Unprincipled, self-serving behaviors are foolhardy. This
holds true both for everyday life as well as for business.
Many organizations try to reign in these types of behaviors through
ethics programs, policies, training, and the like, but while a company
can enforce certain rules they cannot change the hearts and minds
of those who work from them. That must come from within. For
example, The Boeing Company’s president and chief executive
officer Harry Stonecipher was forced to resign on March 6, 2005
after getting caught having an affair with a female executive who
reported to him.
[8]
The company’s board determined that his actions
were inconsistent with the aerospace giant’s code of conduct, a set
of policies that he himself had put in place.
Stonecipher isn’t by any means the only chief executive who has had
widely-publicized ethical lapses. On August 6, 2010 HP CEO Mark
Hurd was forced to resign because of, “The conflict between his
actions and the corporate code of conduct which he publicly
championed in 2006 following a boardroom scandal.” Mercedes-
Benz USA CEO Ernst Lieb was fired on October 18, 2011 for,
“Serious and repeated violations of the company’s internal finance
compliance rules.” Lockheed-Martin’s CEO Christopher Kubasik
resigned on November 9, 2012 after admitting to an improper
relationship with a subordinate. As you can see by these and
hundreds of other headline-making examples, no matter what
policies or procedures are promulgated by the folks in charge,
thoughts and behaviors come from within, from either embracing or
rejecting a personal code of ethics and morals that overrides the
self-serving pleasures we are tempted with every day, actions that if
we give in to them make us act more like animals than human
beings.
Cleary everyone wants, and needs, a little pleasure in their life. We
only live once, so we might as well enjoy it, right? But, we all know
that there is a time for work and a time for play. That doesn’t mean
that work cannot be enjoyable but rather that it must be taken
seriously even when we’re having a good time at the office. It is
necessary to prioritize and segment the things we do, acting
responsibly in all our endeavors. In other words, it’s vital to deliver
results on the job, our careers depend on it, but it’s equally
imperative to do our jobs in a proper and ethical way. When faced
with a moral dilemma I pause for a moment and ask myself the
question, “Would I feel comfortable reading about this on the front
page of
The Wall Street Journal
?” Even off the job our actions and
interactions with others should be above board and beyond
reproach.
A hedonistic lifestyle might feel good, but most of us are capable of
greater things. To be successful in business we must focus on the
job while we are at work.
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