Is the concept of being honorable a thing of the past? Recent situations like the current scandals of fraternities, continual corporate financial wrongdoing, consistent sectarian dissention in politics, etc., leaves people asking who do we trust if anyone?
There was a time when a person’s word was their bond! I remember my father getting a mortgage on a handshake with a friend who was a banker. If you told someone that you were going to do something,, you did it. Trust was the modus operandi and a non negotiable. How did we learn not to trust?
Even the phrase, “trust me” has taken on a skeptical tone. Being honorable is the essence of reputation, respect, and integrity, and yet, generally, it is not valued or revered. When being honorable becomes obvious, sadly, it is in the case of a whistleblower and there is retaliation and/or punishment.
Honor can’t be taught only modeled. One can’t demand it, does need to recognize when one experiences it and sees the value of it.
The “ consequence” for being honorable is trustworthiness, admiration and a sense of peace. A peace in knowing that one did the right thing for the right reason.
When was the last time you were treated honorably? Does that honorable experience outnumber the times when you weren’t treated honorably or is it the other way around?
What does your answer tell you about honor?
fbucaro
Like you, business ethics and ethical leadership expert, Frank Bucaro has seen the challenges and problems of corporate leadership, particularly over the past few years in regards to poor decision-making, SEC violations, and record breaking financial settlements in a number of different industries.
With over two decades of executive training, speaking, writing and with real life experiences, his view and approach to ethics in the workplace is uniquely different. He emphasizes that ethics is a moment-to-moment choice and has little to do with position, titles, personalities or education. Ethics is everybody’s responsibility from the top down.
His goal is to help organizations to:
a. Strengthen their ethics training initiatives in order to significantly decrease the odds of an ethical/compliance violation.
b. Energize, train and motivate employees to understand the value of consistent “high road” behavior as a business advantage.
c. Support individuals and thereby the organization by contributing to its success by quality, ongoing values based leadership development.
Frank is known for his very practical, slightly irreverent, yet somewhat humorous approach to ethics and leadership development. His conversational style and real life stories connect with his audience in a personal, intense and practical level.
Companies such as Bayer Healthcare, BP, ReMax International, EnMax Energy, Danone, etc. have partnered with Frank when they want to proactively stress the message, tools, insights and practical applications that good ethics IS good for business!
