Ethics should be at the core of human activity

Q: When you think about ethics and the trust deficit, what gives you the most angst?

A: When I hear the word ethics, I usually think of its meaning in a very broad sense – that is, the difference between right and wrong, moral issues, and so forth. The greed and dishonesty we see in the world is so unnecessary.
Today, most of the less fortunate live better than the wealthiest of only a few generations ago. We see around us very intelligent, highly educated and successful people at the pinnacle of their careers. They have amassed wealth, fame, and ample opportunities for pleasure, yet many of these same people are obsessed with an insatiable desire for more. Because they don’t appreciate what they already have, some of these people are willing to exploit others and violate laws to get what they want, even to the extent that they ultimately get to spend a fair amount of time in jail. What a way to live!

CEO oin the steel industry speaking about environmental issuesIs it possible for a steel company to be sustainable in terms of the environmental issue

Q:Is it possible for a steel company to be sustainable in terms of the environmental issues?
R:I think now steel and aluminum are probably the two most recyclable elements or products in the world. We do not get credit for being one of the most sustainable industries. Because we have to be competitive worldwide, we already are seeking and have been for years, lower-cost ways of doing business – a lot of that is reducing energy, trying to reduce the packaging, the throwaway. We try to do a lot more reusable, recyclable packaging, that sort of thing.
“Sustainable” is a word I am not sure I understand. There are still going to be costs associated, but our environmental impact is already greater than most industries and will get better and better, greater in terms of improving.

I was so relieved to know the truth about the steam versus what some other I know were saying about the metal industry!

CEO Speaks, Sage Advice During Turbulent Times

This holiday I have been busy preparing topics for CD's, DVD's, MP3 download from the CEO Speaks. Always determined to have something accomplished in too short a time frame I will forever be diluted by my own ambition. It will get done it may just take a tad bit longer then two weeks; in fact, the range of topics are those all people of higher education are interested in regarding our current business and ecomonic situations. Ethics, entrepreneurial spirit, vision, passion, leadership, best business practices, etc., to name a few. One of the interview in the fall of 2009 was with Bill Mullins, CEO of Mullins Rubber Products in Dayton, Ohio. I especially enjoyed a story Bill shared regarding his youth:

What is your biggest challenge?
I worry about our becoming a socialist state and I worry about government interference. This is not the same coun¬try it was when I was a kid. Here’s an example I like to tell. When I was a Boy Scout, the Parent-Teacher Association at the local school asked my troop to put on a demonstra¬tion. We were supposed to do a program about Indians. We decided we needed some drums, so I got on the bus and went downtown to the Natural History Museum. When I got there I asked to see the curator. I introduced myself and told him I was representing Boy Scout Troop 101 and the PTA had asked us to do a program for them about Indians. I asked him if the museum had any authentic Indian drums we might use in our program. The curator took me into one of the rooms and gave me three Indian drums and told me to just bring them back after the program. So, we put on our program and afterwards I got back on the bus and took the three drums back to the museum. That is something you could not do today.

CEO Speaks, Sage Advice During Turbulent Times

Emotional intelligence, that’s a huge practice out there right now.The Dan Goldman stuff is great. Goldman’s Emotional Intelligence started the ball rolling. There is also some work being done in spiritual intelligence and some other sort of concepts along those lines. There is definitely a popular consciousness around some of these concepts. People are kind of hoping that the world economic crisis will take people’s eye off just dollars and cents, and the bottom line, and the me generation and will maybe give people another focus instead of what’s in their pocketbook. That could be values, it could be connection, or it could be family.

This was part of the conversation/interview with Trae Williamson, Williamson Auto Group, Miami, Florida

Trae was one of my favorite people to interview and his candid responses were so intelligent. I guess we all have our favorites.

CEO Speaks, Sage Advice During Turbulent Times

When ethics is not part of the vision, mission and purpose something is amiss. We need to concentrate on the positive and with renewed hope the economy is turning again for the better.

Corporate America is not always an example of efficiency and ethics in action. In fact, a corporation can be a travesty if the wrong person is at the helm. Examples of greed and guilt have manifested to the breaking point on the economic front. If the word derivative is ever uttered again, many executives, as well as the inventors of charades should go to jail. No more mortgages maneuvers.

These words are part of the summary for the book. My total disgust in 2008 when so much surfaced about the ponzi scheme, the mortgage derivatives, and others causing human suffering. Together people can make a positive difference.

Things I learned...still making a list.

Writing, compiling CEO interviews in 2009 some of the points that came out are below:

CEO’s are willing but they need to be asked.
People concentrate on their passions, including CEO’s.
Regarding ethics: everyone takes a hit, the more humble the bigger the hit.
Benefits are the last thing that should be cut from the payroll.
People are important, little ones and big ones alike.
Education is critical. The more education the more you add value as a person.
Doing what is right when no one is looking is important. In Exodus when Moses thought no one was watching he killed a man. But someone was watching.
If you are the CEO the Board of Directors are should be watching.
Matrixes are critical to safety, sales, quality control, product quality, revenue and expenses, budgets, payroll, taxes…all aspects of business need monitoring.

CEO Speaks, Sage Advice During Turbulent Times

During the past year writing, compiling, being creative about format, collecting bio's, pictures there was little time to think about the implications. Having been released in June 2010 I now have time to analyze information, as well as, absorb information from the interviews. Now compiling DVD's on topics from the book and I am recalling other happenstances that were shared, confidences that were shared, a so on.

This book is a treasure to have done and the format is delightful. Never has a book had the intrigue of this one.

CEO Speaks, Sage Advice During Turbulent Times

Trae Williamson, President of the Williamson Auto Group in Miami, Florida

During our interview I asked Trae to talk with me about communication. This was part of his reply after setting the scene as a hospice chaplain, a friend..."at the end, everyone pretty much asks the same question: Did I make other people's lives a little bit better by being here, or did I make a little bit of a mark on the world?"

Leaving this world better is what most people would want to achieve. Hopefully most of us can accomplish that goal.

CEO Speaks, Sage Advice During Turbulent Times quotes

The Kaboom Company supports a national initiative to build playgrounds in low-income
communities. Out of the clear blue one day we got a call from them and they became one of our national funders becuase another partnership of theirs had fallen apart.

Suzanne Durham, CEO of YWCA in Birmingham, AL. Supporting those women in need with housing and jobs.