September gives us a chance to change seasons and bid goodbye to a broiling summer, in more ways than one. It also gives us a chance to reflect on a hot topic, ethics. I believe it is a subject in need of major surgery.
As school starts again in Carlsbad around the nation moms and dads are buying backpacks for their kids and filling them with notebooks, pencils and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I wish Rick Warren, the author of "A Purpose Driven Life" would write a children's version of his popular book that would fit in the backpack too. How valuable it would be for mom and dad to read the book with their kids.
Over the summer I read account after account in the daily newspapers of one sports star after another who had been accused of cheating by using banned performance enhancing drugs. Ironic how cheaters attempt to win by being losers.
First, there were the professional baseball players, past and present (including a home run king wanna-be) who were the subject of investigations into their alleged use of steroids and other banned substances. It seems the Fall Classic may be a fall of a different sort altogether.
Second, came the track and field stars, world record holders mind you, who were accused, then investigated and then banned for using illegal performance enhancers. Now they may have a different form of record.
Then, the topper of the summer, in the most famous professional bicycle race in the world, a local boy, (with a bum hip for goodness sake!) makes a miraculous comeback, after a disastrous bonk the day before, and triumphs in the storied competition; surely a legendary win for the ages.
For the briefest of days, I joined thousands of Southern Californians in feeling the joy and pride of, 'local lad makes good' on the world stage. If his hip replacement surgery were to ruin his athletic career, at least he could bask in the warm afterglow of his yellow jersey as the sun set on his career. He went out on top.
Well, quicker than you can say "Bon Jour", not one, but two tests showed the hero of the summer was now the goat, and his win was tainted by drugs. His career is now French-fried.
As our kids go back to school, I shudder to think of the life lessons they learned this summer. Where does it end? Why does it start?
As business leaders, each of us face the same choice athletes do on ethics every day. For us, it's in the way we run our shops and keep our books. I wonder if there was a "super pill", "the juice" or "the cream" for business, how many of us would use it? I guess Enron may have. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and some defense contractors certainly look like they were using illegal performance enhancing products. They will all be legends of a different sort now, wearing a not so flattering set of pin stripes, mostly black and white.
When we do business with local government I dare say Mayor Bud Lewis, and all the other council members, would immediately show us the door (and their boot on our backsides) if there was even a hint of funny business in the process.
As parents and business owners or managers, what could be a more meaningful summer school project, and life lesson, than conducting ourselves in an ethical and above board manner with our daily commerce?
We all have to look in the mirror each morning and make a conscious decision that we will lead our business and personal lives in an ethical manner. I firmly believe it must be a lifestyle choice. Just like kicking a bad habit, you have to want to live your life and do everything you can to support your choice of integrity in all you do. Choosing character should give your life purpose and pride.
Rotary International, the service group with more than 31,000 clubs in 167 countries around the world, has a simple code that I could not be in more agreement with. It has stood the test of time and trial since 1943. It simply states:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”
When it comes to creating role models from business, it should be the easiest choice each of us makes each day. And when we make the ethically correct choice, then we can be the role models our kids need for all seasons.
As school starts again in Carlsbad around the nation moms and dads are buying backpacks for their kids and filling them with notebooks, pencils and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I wish Rick Warren, the author of "A Purpose Driven Life" would write a children's version of his popular book that would fit in the backpack too. How valuable it would be for mom and dad to read the book with their kids.
Over the summer I read account after account in the daily newspapers of one sports star after another who had been accused of cheating by using banned performance enhancing drugs. Ironic how cheaters attempt to win by being losers.
First, there were the professional baseball players, past and present (including a home run king wanna-be) who were the subject of investigations into their alleged use of steroids and other banned substances. It seems the Fall Classic may be a fall of a different sort altogether.
Second, came the track and field stars, world record holders mind you, who were accused, then investigated and then banned for using illegal performance enhancers. Now they may have a different form of record.
Then, the topper of the summer, in the most famous professional bicycle race in the world, a local boy, (with a bum hip for goodness sake!) makes a miraculous comeback, after a disastrous bonk the day before, and triumphs in the storied competition; surely a legendary win for the ages.
For the briefest of days, I joined thousands of Southern Californians in feeling the joy and pride of, 'local lad makes good' on the world stage. If his hip replacement surgery were to ruin his athletic career, at least he could bask in the warm afterglow of his yellow jersey as the sun set on his career. He went out on top.
Well, quicker than you can say "Bon Jour", not one, but two tests showed the hero of the summer was now the goat, and his win was tainted by drugs. His career is now French-fried.
As our kids go back to school, I shudder to think of the life lessons they learned this summer. Where does it end? Why does it start?
As business leaders, each of us face the same choice athletes do on ethics every day. For us, it's in the way we run our shops and keep our books. I wonder if there was a "super pill", "the juice" or "the cream" for business, how many of us would use it? I guess Enron may have. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and some defense contractors certainly look like they were using illegal performance enhancing products. They will all be legends of a different sort now, wearing a not so flattering set of pin stripes, mostly black and white.
When we do business with local government I dare say Mayor Bud Lewis, and all the other council members, would immediately show us the door (and their boot on our backsides) if there was even a hint of funny business in the process.
As parents and business owners or managers, what could be a more meaningful summer school project, and life lesson, than conducting ourselves in an ethical and above board manner with our daily commerce?
We all have to look in the mirror each morning and make a conscious decision that we will lead our business and personal lives in an ethical manner. I firmly believe it must be a lifestyle choice. Just like kicking a bad habit, you have to want to live your life and do everything you can to support your choice of integrity in all you do. Choosing character should give your life purpose and pride.
Rotary International, the service group with more than 31,000 clubs in 167 countries around the world, has a simple code that I could not be in more agreement with. It has stood the test of time and trial since 1943. It simply states:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”
When it comes to creating role models from business, it should be the easiest choice each of us makes each day. And when we make the ethically correct choice, then we can be the role models our kids need for all seasons.