Doing What Is Right

"I consider the most enviable of titles the character of an honest man."
-George Washington

You hear it time and time again. Integrity is so important.

The problem with this is, it also seems like every day you hear of some executive doing something illegal or unethical. It runs the gamut. Just today, an Apple executive "settled" with the SEC for options backdating.

As a finance major and business owner, I find all these ethical lapses horrible. Honestly, I don't see how people could be so dumb. Admittedly, I'm almost violating Rule 2 and Rule 3 of "What is Da Free Life" but this is extremely important.

From a business perspective, every time you cheat someone or do something unethical you burn a bridge. Imagine everyone being on an island for a moment. You have many bridges to other "islands" (other people). Every time you burn a bridge, you limit who's island you can go to. Eventually, you are stranded on your own island.

Getting out of the analogies and other things, these lapses make business look bad. I really believe in a quote from Ben Cohen (Ben of Ben and Jerry) that said "Business is the greatest force in society." That could be taken as both a force for good (Kiva and Grameen with micro loans) or a force for bad (Enron, Worldcom, ad infinitum).

To be fair, as a businessman, I am proud to say I gravitate to the side of Kiva and Grameen. I also believe a super super majority of businessmen have extremely high integrity. They realize the golden rule applies and, when implemented, allows everyone to win.

"A Scout is Trustworthy" is important to remember (who ever thought Boy Scouts did more than camping :)