resultsthroughintegrity

WHISTLEBLOWERS ANONYMOUS

2010-02-10T14:45:45-05:00

Hi… My name is Doug. I am a whistleblower.

My story is irrelevant. It is the same everywhere. Good versus bad. The problem is that those with power see themselves as good and see me as bad.

The majority of employees are afraid of retribution for reporting a wrong doing- with good reason. I am proof. In spite of the disclosure of the incident to the federal watchdog agency, I was terminated.

This is real stuff! You are reading about it, I am living it.

Termination without cause is painful, especially when you report a wrong doing. The pain is like a cancer that sears your heart before proceeding to squeeze the life out of every thought in your mind. Eventually the malignancy spreads to your family and friends.

The reality of your work life ends. There is no upside to this downside. The paychecks stop. The financial stability of your home, your family, and your basic needs are threatened. The new baby is arriving in a couple of weeks (yes really-is there every a better time to be terminated).

Whistle blowing impacts you physically and emotionally. Inside and outside you are broken. Beliefs and values are defeated. Right is wrong and wrong is right.

Whistle blowing impacts everyone differently. Some go gently into the night. Others show up at their new jobs, embittered and frozen in time. Others, just move on.

I moved on. My belief in integrity helped me through the storm. Perhaps it can help others.

Integrity is wholeness, unfolding and objectivity. In simple terms it is doing the right thing, doing the next right thing and doing things right.

I took one step at a time. It was the right thing to do. When I finished, I did the next right thing and I did it the right way. It is therapeutic.

I never tolerated wrong doing well in this organization. Sometimes I objected. Sometimes I stayed quiet. I wish I would have learned to speak the truth that needed to be said in the little things before it became a big thing. My inability to find those words consistently robbed the organization of the truth while stealing my self- worth.

When I was finally faced with a situation I couldn’t ignore, I had the courage to stand up.

I stood for what I believed was right. I did not stand against the person who committed the wrong doing.

It is exhilarating to stand up for a principle. It is less than exhilarating when I was singled out for slaughter because of that principle.

The truth does indeed set you free; however, freedom is not won without a cost.

I was left alone. Isolation is part of their strategy.

I needed some sign posts. There are none.

I had to lead myself. I had duties and responsibilities. There are decisions to be made. There are places to places to go and things to do.

Doing the next right thing creates that path through the chaos. Each time I saw the next right thing, I did it the right way.

Doing the right thing, doing the next right thing and doing things right builds trust in yourself first and others second. I quickly learned that dealing with internal pain pays no dividends. As I became open within, I also became open to others.

The more I was open, the more I received and the better I did.

When you do the right thing, your consequences are no longer yours only. When you speak in public, the wrong doer becomes your enemy. The world is an unpredictable place. People are rewarded for not doing the right thing. I broke that covenant. My penalty was termination.

As the battle raged between myself and my new enemy, I learned new rules. Anything and everything goes. They say the devil is in the detail and the details are a cesspool of quicksand. Even when you are 90% right, the 10% that you are wrong can sink you.

I also learned a truth we know all too well. You never get into a battle where you have no chance of winning. I couldn’t fight their financial or legal loop-holes. They knew it. It is part of their arrogance.

The ferociousness of the battle is frightening. Wrong doing runs deep in people. I became the object of their scorn and slander. As the encounters increase in intensity, I began to feel that my enemy lashed out at me because of the way they felt about themselves.

I learned about friendship. Some people abandoned me immediately. Others trotted out war stories in an effort to make me feel better. There were some who really understand the difference between right and wrong. They touched me not with their stories but with their being.

I had to learn a new way to fight. Gandhi called this the way of non-violence.

It starts within and became a stronger force as I proceeded. I learned to stand for what was right without surrendering. I learned to fight back without attacking.

I learned the power of truth and why its scares people so.

I learned many different ways to confront wrong-doing. I now think this way holds potential for integrity and ethics movements in governments and organizations everywhere.

Ultimately the whistle blowing for me was a triumph. It was the opportunity to stand for something in life. I became my own personal hero in the story between good and evil. I took a hit but I lived to tell the story and go on.

I am stronger now. When I look myself in the eye, I can see the enemy within disappearing.

I have no regrets. I am eternally grateful.

Contact me at principledynamics@gmail.com or my cell at 706-267-0609.

I want to learn more about whistle blowing. Please write to me about your stories of whistle blowing and how they helped you and others.

Douglas Ross is an advocate for the promotion of integrity as a strategy for performance.

WORKPLACE MISCONDUCT

2010-01-04T16:43:59-05:00

Albert Camus said that integrity has no need of rules.

KPMG in their 2008-09 integrity survey conclude that there is a real need for integrity in the workplace.

The survey reports that 3700 out of 5000 employees say they have seen or know of wrong doing or misconduct in the workplace.

Wrong doing in this case refers to activities that break moral or civil law in any of the following ways:

Any wrongdoing for which an action for damages may be brought
Improper professional conduct
Willful negligence
Doing an proper act in a wrongful or injurious way
Wrongful conduct by a public official
Perverting something (turning it into a wrong use)
Improper or wicked or immoral behavior
An act that makes people cruel or lacking normal human qualities (Brutalization)
Or it could simply mean a wrongful action that could be attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention

Misconduct, on the other hand, is a more commonly understood legal term that means wrongful, improper, or unlawful conduct. Minor misconduct is unacceptable but not criminal (e.g. being late) while gross misconduct can lead to dismissal, (e.g. stealing).

The survey results are a stunning.There exists within the workplace a systemic problem.

The report continues by stating that 46% of the employees have observed conduct that could result in a significant loss of public trust. This public trust it can be assumed would translate into financial losses through the loss of market share through erosion of customer, shareholder, and employee or supplier confidence.

KPMG advances its investigation into work place integrity by seeking to reveal the cause of wrong doing and misconduct. The following are the root causes identified by survey respondents;

Pressures to do whatever it takes to meet business targets (59%)
Belief that they will be rewarded for results and not the means (52%)
Uncertainty over the rules (51%)
Lack of resources to get their job done (50%)
Fear of losing their jobs if targets not meant (49%)
Policies and procedures are easy to over ride or ignore (47%)
Bend rules for personal gain (32%)

To alleviate the problem for organizations, KPMG focuses its efforts on the top four areas: pressure to get results, rewards for results, uncertainty and lack of resources.

These four areas are in reality one- a results orientated culture that is supported by an ill defined, unenforced or ignored code of conduct.

KPMG then proposes a countermeasure strategy of detection, reporting and responding to misconduct. Integrity, within this approach, it can be concluded, is defined by the absence of misconduct and wrong doing. The path forward then is behavioral change through compliance.

This is noteworthy but limited. It fails to address two questions.

Is there a better definition of integrity?

What is the correlation between integrity and performance?

Camus defines integrity as having no need for rules. This is an ideal state that needs a practical application.

We define integrity as wholeness, unfolding and objectivity.

The practical application of this definition is: do the right thing, do the next right thing and do things right. It is the ethical based foundation that everyone can relate to on a very practical level.

This definition applies individually and collectively throughout the organization, including all processes and systems.

The definition is constant. Do the next right thing is the requisite outcome for each successive action in the organization. This requires the reinforcement of those actions over time that continuously improve the people and the performance of the organization, of the community and of the environment.

Objectivity is freedom from bias. It is the ultimate standard of all business activity. Objectivity promotes the elimination of wasteful and inefficient practices. Objectivity is the cornerstone of governance, transparency and responsibility with an outcome of sustainability.

Integrity, as KPMG indicates, is wanting in today’s organizations. The problem is not detecting and controlling organizational integrity but rather building an integrity based culture where doing the right thing and doing things right creates the pursuit of excellence culture needed for sustainability. The critical aspect of building an integrity based culture is based on the reality that integrity correlates with performance.

Integrity cannot be mandated or controlled. It is a personal choice of every employee. It is a cultural value that is embedded in every action. In the KPMG study virtually all employees knew the right thing to do but feel they exist within a culture that does not value integrity or doing the right thing. This is not a problem but an untapped opportunity for success.

Every organization has a degree of integrity. The correlation between the degree of integrity and performance is a not secret but a well understood phenomena. Every organization enjoys the rewards of its integrity. In the marketplace, integrity is a critical factor in customer attraction and retention. In the organization, integrity is a critical factor in employee engagement and optimization

Why then do leaders believe that a compliance approach based on detection and reporting is the answer? It is easy; they believe that integrity needs rules. They also do not believe that integrity and performance have a correlation.

This means that they believe that doing the right thing, doing the next right thing and doing things the right way doesn’t work in business.

I beg to differ.

Want to learn more? Contact me at 706-267-0609. I want to speak to you about integrity and how it can help you and all of us.

Douglas Ross is an advocate for the promotion of integrity as a strategy for performance.

THE WAY OF INTEGRITY

2009-08-16T20:16:08-04:00

It is easier now. It is what it is.

A day is a day. Moments unfold as they should. My response is requisite. When it is complete, it is done.

Shakespeare’s Polonius uttered these famous words about integrity

“To thine own self be true”

Isn’t it ironic that the man who authored this famous statement represented everything we dislike in our character? He was a pompous old windbag who loved expediency and superficiality.

It is not easy to trust those who speak of light from the darkness. No wonder he had to be killed off before the story could evolve.

When I started this journey, I spoke about integrity in darkness. I could not understand why no one listened.

In time, the journey became more than I and I learned about integrity in the light. Now I understand why no one listens.

The journey shapes you. Walking stirs health, harmony engenders peace, listening cultivates knowledge, wisdom develops discernment, humility brings joy and truth produces freedom.

The path is gentle.

The beginning of the path is right here, right now.

Do the right thing, do the next right thing and do things right. That, for me, was the mantra to get in touch with that which was right in front of me.

Integrity comes from the Sanskrit root word “tag” which means to touch. It is also the modern word for the game we all have played. So, I guess you could say, that integrity means touching that which is untouchable –the here and now.

This is simple but paradoxical. It is also another reason why we do not listen to those who speak about integrity.

Yet, integrity is one of the things we hold closest to our hearts. A challenge to our integrity in public evokes furious responses while well placed words about another said in secret cut deeply and cleanly.

In times of peace and prosperity, we hold our integrity out to ourselves and others as a personal shield that not only protects but also inspires.

Yet in the heat of battle or in times of trouble, the shield is quickly abandoned.

I really don’t know much about the way of integrity.

Most of the time, I feel like the Emperor in Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothing”. I want to be the one with the magical clothing that only those who see truth can see.

Sadly, I am transparent and naked to anyone who looks. Vulnerability is refreshing if not frightening.

But I persist! I know that the way of integrity is a well travelled path.

The TAO TE CHING by Lao TZU is one of the most widely translated books in the world. According to the Victor Maier translation of the recently discovered Ma-Wang –Tui manuscripts, “Tao” is the way,” te” is integrity and “ching” is the great book or classic.

Hence the translation is –The Classic Book of Integrity and The Way.

In the Rig Veda, the beliefs exists that there is a natural justice and a harmony that pervades the natural world. This is called rta and it later evolved into the dharma. This rta is both nature’s way and the order implicit in nature.

In western philosophy we have a similar concept of logos which means both the source and fundamental order of the cosmos.

The world’s most translated book –the bible reaffirms my path. In the NAB version of the Pledge to Live Righteously (Psalms 101) David says “I will follow the way of integrity” and later “those who follow the way of integrity, they alone can enter my service.”

Even though I cannot expect to understand all that is written about the way of integrity, I can expect to follow the way of integrity. It is right in front of me right now.

I have all that I need.

Want to learn more? Contact me at douglasross@principledynamics.com . I want to speak to you about integrity and how it can help you and all of us.

Douglas Ross is an advocate for the promotion of integrity as a strategy for performance.

THE ROLE OF ETHICS AND INTEGRITY IN ORGANIZATIONS

2009-07-13T05:50:59-04:00

When employees act unethically and/or without integrity, customers lose trust and confidence in organizational products and services.

When leaders act unethically and/or without integrity, employees lose trust and confidence in organizational processes, systems and products.

Both directly impact the bottom line and the return on investment.

What is the correlation between return on investment and unethical behavior and/or a lack of integrity?

Organizations are built on the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Working together creates results and outcomes for the whole that outweigh the results and outcomes of everyone working for themselves.

The secret to success is not the principle but the way synergy is created.

Synergy is defined as a dynamic state in which combined action is favored over the sum of individual component actions. Synergy is an emergent behavior that arises out a multitude of simple actions based in ethics and integrity.

Everyone in an organization is expected to do the right thing at the right time in order to create synergy. Doing the right thing at the right time creates positive safety, quality, productivity and cost results.

This is ethics-the determination of right and wrong in organizations. Ethics is learned through trial and error. When behaviors are wrong, they are corrected. When behaviors are right, they are reinforced.

These lessons learned and best practices are the moral code that defines the synergistic behaviors required for organizational performance.

Problems occur when individuals seek to maximize their personal ends through behaviors that violate the ethics of the organization and its moral code.

If one gets more, others get less. For example, employees who slow down during the week to ensure overtime pay reduce the return on investment for others.

To prevent violations of the moral code, leaders and managers in organizations are entrusted with a fiduciary responsibility (something that is held or founded in trust and confidence) to reinforce and enforce the requisite synergistic behaviors required for organizational sustainability.

Corruption occurs when there is an abuse of entrusted power for personal gain whether it is financial or political. Corruption sub-optimizes the performance and jeopardizes the sustainability of the whole.

Corruption often deceivingly masks itself as business reality. In order to ensure business targets are achieved and performance bonuses are distributed, an accepted practice called “do what it takes to get the job done” rears its ugly head. This may mean cutting corners, applying band-aid solutions, suppressing , ignoring or misrepresenting information in order that the problems or defects are knowingly or unknowingly passed on to another part of the process.

Since no one wants a product or service with built in defects, the second part of this practice is “don’t get caught.” This is corruption and it destroys synergy and undermines organizational principles.

Corruption spreads. Employees who do what it takes and don’t get caught are rewarded. This creates a culture of knowing where employees know that doing the wrong thing at the right time will be rewarded. In time, many embrace corruption simply because everyone is doing it.

Corruption ignores the fact that unethical actions involved in doing the wrong things create a chain of consequences that far outweighs the cost of doing the right thing. For example, organizations that ship product with quality defects to meet production targets lose in product returns and warranty repairs that reduce profitability.

It is a short term gain for a few, and a long term pain for the many.

Government, through its regulatory agencies, intervenes to control corruption in financial, safety, human rights, and environmental areas.

Unfortunately, regulators cannot legislate compliance to the law. They can only enforce consequences to violations. This is where the “don’t get caught” behavior invokes ingenuity that defies the legal system.

The principle of protecting the whole and the right way to do things then falls to the integrity of the participating individuals. The commitment to comply is an integrity based decision.

Integrity is defined as wholeness, unfolding and objectivity. If the ethical foundation and the moral code are sound, then individuals have trust and confidence in the organization.

Wholeness is completed by doing the right thing. The unfolding is defined by doing the next right things and objectivity is enhanced by doing things the right way. Performance and sustainability are the outcome of individual commitment to compliance and collective synergies arising out of an ethical moral code.

If the ethical foundation and moral code is corrupt-benefiting the few at the expense of the many, then individuals lack trust and confidence in the organization and its products.

Doing the wrong thing fragments the whole. Not doing the next right thing creates chaos and objectivity is compromised when people don’t do things correctly. Performance is at risk in the short term and long term sustainability is undermined.

Ethics and integrity are the cornerstones of performance and sustainability.

Want to learn more? Contact me at douglasross@principledynamics.com . I want to speak to you about integrity and how it can help you and all of us.

Douglas Ross is an advocate for the promotion of integrity as a strategy for performance.

Equanimity - serenity within the chaos

2009-06-19T10:07:52-04:00

by Peter Vajda

"So nothing is ever good or bad unless you think it so, and vice versa. All luck is good luck to the man who bears it with equanimity." - Boethius (Anicius Manlius Severinus), Consolation of Philosophy

It seems most everyone I know is experiencing life these days caught up in some flavor of crisis or conflict either at work, at home, at play or in relationship. They're experiencing a form of conflict and stress around issues, for example, like leading and managing, or processes, deadlines, budgets and job security, or personal relationships and unresolved conflicts, or how to resolve health and education challenges, or whether what they are doing is what they really want to be doing with their life.

Stress is the wrapper surrounding their lives - consistently experiencing racing heartbeats, shortness of breath, tight jaws, facial frowns, rigid postures, negative emotions and feelings, critical and judgmental inner dialogue, illness and dis-ease. A life defined by automated, robotic reactivity to conflict and crisis. But, it doesn't have to be this way.

What is equanimity?

"Philosophy teaches us to bear with equanimity the misfortunes of others." - Oscar Wilde

Merriam-Webster defines equanimity as an evenness of mind under stress - a habit of mind that is rarely disturbed under great strain; a controlling of emotional or mental agitation through will and habit; a steadiness when facing strain.

Equanimity is a practice, most often discussed in Buddhist and Sufi traditions. Equanimity is the foundation for wisdom and freedom and for compassion and love. Equanimity is not, as some have mistaken, a "dryness," coolness, indifference or aloofness, suppression/repression of feelings, apathy or inexpressiveness. The Buddha described equanimity as a mind that is abundant, immeasurable, and without hostility or ill-will.

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

What does equanimity look like?

Equanimity is the capacity to remain neutral, to observe from a distance, and be at peace without getting caught up in what we observe. It's the capacity to see the big picture with understanding and without reacting, for example, to another's words, ideology, perspective, position, premise, or philosophy. In essence, we take nothing personally; refuse to get caught up in the drama our own or others'.

Equanimity allows us to "stand in the midst," of conflict or crisis in a way where we are balanced, grounded and centered. Equanimity has the qualities of inner peace, well be-ing, vitality, strength, and steadfastness. Equanimity allows us to remain upright in the face of the strong winds of conflict and crisis, such as: blame, failure, pain, or disrepute - the winds that set us up for suffering when they begin to blow. Equanimity protects us from being "blown over" and helps us stay on an "even keel."

How do we develop equanimity?

There are several mind/body qualities that support the development of equanimity. One is integrity. Do-ing and be-ing in integrity supports our feeling confident when we speak and act. Being in integrity fosters an equanimity that results in "blamelessness," feeling comfortable in any setting or with any group without the need to find fault or blame. Another quality that supports equanimity is faith (not necessarily a religious or theological faith) - a faith based on wisdom, conviction or confidence. This type of faith allows us to meet challenge, crisis or conflict head on with confidence, with equanimity. A third quality is that of a well-developed mind a mind that reflects stability, balance and strength. We develop such a mind through a conscious and consistent practice of focus, concentration, attention and mindfulness. A well-developed, calm mind keeps us from being blown about by winds of conflict and crisis.

A fourth quality is a heightened, cultivated sense of well-be-ing which we develop by engaging in practices or activities that take us out of our robotic ego-driven life and focus on a higher or deeper sense of consciousness, such as meditation, martial arts, self-reflection, the arts, and right-brain focused actions and activities. A fifth quality that supports equanimity is understanding or wisdom which allows us to accept, be present and aware to our experience without our mind or heart resisting or contracting. In this place we separate people from their actions; we agree or disagree while being in balance with them. We take nothing personally. Another quality is knowing that others create their own reality so we are able to exhibit equanimity in the face of others' pain or suffering and not feel we need to take responsibility for their well be-ing in the face of their conflict or crisis.

A sixth quality that supports equanimity is seeing reality for what it is, for example, that change and impermanence are a fact of life. We become detached and less clingy to our attachments. This means letting go of negative judgments about our experience and replacing them with an attitude of loving kindness or acceptance and a compassionate matter-of-factness. The more we become detached, the deeper we experience equanimity. The final quality is freedom letting go of our need to be reactive so we can witness, watch and observe without needing to get caught up in the fray, the winds - maintaining a consistent relaxed state within our body as sensations (e.g., strong, subtle, pleasant, unpleasant, physiological, or emotional) move through.

Equanimity, thus, has two aspects: the power of observation and an inner balance, both of which support one to be mindful, awake, aware and conscious. The greater the degree we are mindful, the greater our capacity for equanimity. The greater our equanimity, the greater our ability to remain steady and balanced as we navigate through the rough waters and gusty winds of change, challenge and conflict.

What happens when we're out of balance lacking equanimity?

In our everyday physical world, when we lose our balance, we fall. In our emotional world, we stuff our feelings and emotions, deny them or contract around them. Or we identify with a particular thought, feeling or emotion, hold on to it rather than allow it to flow through us or pass like a cloud in the sky. The middle ground is equanimity - the state of non-interference.

Equanimity allows for a deeper, more fulfilling experience.

"When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it." - Marcus Aurelius

As we develop our capacity for equanimity, we can begin to notice when we drop into a "state of equanimity." Being aware of our experience, we can explore the state and this practice will lead to more frequent and deeper states of equanimity. What we find with such practice is that people, events, and circumstances that once caused us to be reactive no longer have any "charge" and we are more and more able to let go and feel less "bothered." We suffer less.

Equanimity allows for a safe harbor in the center of the storm - when we are caught up in the stresses of life at work, at home, at play and in relationship. In this place, we are more capable of meeting life with inner aplomb, without giving in to the underlying currents of tension and turmoil, and more able to respond effectively instead of reactively. Our responses take place in the conscious context of acceptance and equanimity.

Equanimity allows us to live a life of true and real achievement free from the trap of ego-based likes and dislikes, and emotional reactivity. The beauty of equanimity is that it supports us to live our life at work, at home, at play and in relationship - in such a way that we can experience a heightened sense of well-be-ing regardless of our external events or circumstances, crises or conflicts, in a way that we experience clarity, alertness and ease in the moment.

Equanimity allows us to feel relaxed, make clearer, more honest, sincere and self-responsible choices and decisions, engage in more effective communication with others, speak the truth, be genuinely interested in listening to others, and be more trusting and trustworthy.

So, some questions for self-reflection are:

To what extent do I experience quiet confidence, equanimity and calmness in my life at work, at home, at play and in relationship?
Am I generally free from stress, worry, fear, hate, anger, irritation, or confusion?
What keeps me from experiencing equanimity?
What attachments do I have that cause me constant anxiety, fear, or stress?
Would my close friends, family, spouse/partner describe me as calm?
Do you feel you are living a life of real achievement? Why, why not?
Do you engage in a practice that brings you inner peace, or a sense of calm, balance, harmony and well-be-ing? If not, what "story" do you tell yourself or others to justify or rationalize your not doing so?
Who in your life exhibits equanimity on a consistent basis?
What was your experience of (your own or others') equanimity like when you were growing up?
Can you visualize a world where you can experience equanimity on a regular basis. What would be necessary for that to happen?

"For want of self-restraint many men are engaged all their lives in fighting with difficulties of their own making, and rendering success impossible by their own cross-grained ungentleness; whilst others, it may be much less gifted, make their way and achieve success by simple patience, equanimity, and self-control." - Smiles

SpiritHeart – Coaching for Essential Well-BE-ing

- at the intersection of body, mind, emotion and spirit
Values-Based Coaching, Counseling and Training
Phone: 770.804.9125 (Atlanta, GA, USA)
E-mail: pvajda@spiritheart.net
www.spiritheart.net and www.ahchiyo.com
"What makes you think work and meditation are two different things?"
— Buddha at Work

WHAT IS INTEGRITY IN PRACTICE?

2009-06-04T14:15:10-04:00

“Integrity is the cornerstone, if not the bedrock, upon which all financial markets are based.”

(Hank Paulson, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs Group June 2002)

Whilst we have described a number of values and vices, this list is not exhaustive and should not imply that integrity can be learned by heart like the “The Ten Commandments”.

We do not propose that it is right that people should merely read a code of ethics or a list of values and then sign a declaration to that effect.

In the early 1970s, Harvard Professor Lawrence Kohlberg proposed a model of Moral Development which demonstrated that people shaped their sense of morality through the following stages9:

1. “Obedience and Punishment” – We are children and we behave acceptably because we are told what to do by an authority figure such as a parent or teacher. This obedience is enforced by the threat or application of punishment.

2. “Individualism, Instrumentalism and Exchange” – This is when we recognize that it is in our best interests to be moral.

3. “Good boy/girl” – We do the right thing because it will gain the approval of others.

4. “Law and order” – We abide by the law and have a sense of duty.

5. “Social contract” – We have a strong sense of social responsibility and the welfare of others.

6. “Principled Conscience” – We accept universal principles of morality and the demands of individual conscience.

Kohlberg believed and demonstrated that we evolve our sense of integrity step-by-step, through moral discussion. If we accept this model + the challenge for everyone in Financial Services is to assess honestly their personal and collective stage of moral development!

The action we therefore propose is that every stakeholder within the financial services industry has a duty to seek a personal understanding of integrity – an understanding of where they are in this journey of moral reasoning.

Whilst the aim is challenging, the process is simple and does not require significant resources. The process will involve bringing together values in a personal synthesis, through coaching or mentoring for example; and then collectively, in a shared affirmation of ethical behavior, through seminars or workshops.

In turn, we believe that each member firm has both the right and duty to contribute to an on-going industry-wide debate.

In DP18, Sir Howard Davies, FSA Chairman, wrote that “… our high level standards are based on ethical values. But it is not clear that this ethos is fully understood or applied consistently by everyone working in the industry”.

We believe that this process must be led by the personal commitment of Chairmen and CEOs of member firms.

But we go further than Sir Howard by contending that this process must also include every employee and stakeholder in the business, including shareholders, customers and even suppliers. It’s about doing the right thing by all stakeholders.

Integrity in practice is not about rules, tick-boxes or codes.
Integrity in practice is not just about exploring moral values.
Integrity in practice is about the affirmation of shared moral values.

This is how we can rebuild trust and reputation in Financial Services.

Editor's note: This is the 4th of 4 articles from a paper called "Integrity in Practice" for the British Financial Services Association. I want to thank both Father Christopher and Roger Steare for permission to print their article. You can retrieve the complete copy of the article from Roger or you can contact me at principledynamics@gmail.com and I will send you a copy

About the Authors

CHRISTOPHER JAMISON Worth Abbey

Father Christopher is Abbot of Worth, a Benedictine monastery in Sussex. The Abbey runs a School and a Centre for Spirituality. He has recently co-founded The Soul Gym with Roger Steare, to help business people ‘work out what’s right’. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1951, Father Christopher holds an MA from Oxford in French and Spanish and a BA from London in philosophy and theology. He is co-author of “To Live is to Change” describing the process of change that the Catholic Church has gone through in the last thirty years. He was appointed headmaster of Worth School in January 1994, and has managed two major Development Plans, while participating in “Action Learning for Chief Executives” at Ashridge College. He was elected Abbot of Worth in July 2002.

ROGER STEARE Ethicablity

Roger Steare is an Executive Coach and Business Ethics Consultant with a practice in the City. He studied History of Philosophy at London University with Lord Russell, son of the philosopher Bertrand Russell. With Christopher, he participated in “Action Learning for Chief Executives” at Ashridge and established Roger Steare Consulting in 1998. Roger is a Fellow of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and an Advisor to the Talent Foundation. He has been a frequent media commentator on workplace issues.

Background:

In October 2002, the FSA published Discussion Paper 18 “An Ethical Framework for Financial Services". In his introduction to this paper, Professor David Jackman stated that the FSA wants “to establish a clear and explicit, shared understanding about what integrity means in practice." Integrity in Practice was commissioned by the FSA in order to explain the foundations of ethical behaviour and the implications for Financial Services in practice. The FSA’s business ethics portfolio has now moved to the newly-formed Skills Council for Financial Services and this paper is published as a contribution to the Ethics Forum established by the Skills Council.

AN ETHICAL FOUNDATION FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES

2009-06-04T13:57:21-04:00

Integrity and fairness thus emerge as core business principles. We contend that firms and individuals must always place these principles above profit if they are to be ethical.

If this statement seems challenging, then simply consider in what situations you are prepared to compromise these principles?

Are you happy to share these instances with your customers, employees and investors?

Fairness in practice

Financial Services can only build an ethical foundation if, in the same way as a profession, the members complete a journey that leads to a personal understanding of fairness and integrity.

Only when understanding becomes an assumption shared throughout the organization, then they are able to uphold the rights, duties and values that define fairness and integrity within Financial Services.

The rights of all Financial Services stakeholders are described in the law, particularly the FSMA, and in FSA regulations. All Financial Services practitioners should be aware of these and an understanding of them is an essential part of professional training.

These laws and regulations state the minimum expectations of standards and compliance.

Yet it is the contention of this paper that fairness may require more than this. Practitioners have a duty to uphold not only defined rights but also other basic needs. For example, employers have not only a duty to treat employees fairly but also a duty to deal fairly with competitors.

Similarly, Corporate Social Responsibility is another way of companies discharging their duty to the wider community. Such duties go beyond regulation and compliance.

Integrity in practice

Integrity is often difficult to grasp in itself because it is a synthesis of values but if we look at some core values, the reality of integrity becomes clearer. We can explore these values in a very simple but powerful way, using the traditional concept of “virtues and vices".

According to Classical philosophers, there are four virtues: Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance and Justice. In contemporary business, Prudence and Justice are still widely used and understood. Fortitude and Temperance are more commonly called Courage and Patience.

To these, Christian philosophers added Faith, Hope and Charity, Charity in this sense a synonym for

“Care”. These may seem unusual in a business context but they are still very relevant. For example, do people have faith in the meaning of their work? Are service industries supposed to provide “customer care”? Do employees view their career with cynicism or hope?5

To this list of traditional virtues, we wish to add three core values that frequently appear in corporate mission statements. These are Excellence, Honesty and Trust. (There are many other values which can be added to this list, for example Creativity, Humility or Tolerance. If integrity is about understanding shared moral values, then we believe that people have the freedom to add other values if that helps them to define integrity in their own personal and working lives.)6

Some examples of values and vices in practice

Courage: It sometimes takes great courage to “blow the whistle”, when we see someone doing wrong. We struggle against the cultural perception of being a “grass” or “telling tales”. It also requires real courage to place principle above profit, especially if a bonus or even your job might be at stake.8

Justice: (or Fairness): When making a mistake, companies should not hesitate in admitting the error, should apologize and then make recompense. It should not have taken politicians and the regulator to identify and rectify the pensions mis-selling scandal. In this respect, for example, even the automotive industry seems to act with higher ethical standards when they “recall” cars to rectify faults.

Care: Customer Care, Health & Safety, and Corporate Social Responsibility are contemporary areas where the importance of this value is obvious. Less palatable for financial services is to recognize and address the vices of greed and envy. For example, regulation does not address the issue of greed.“Fat cats”, speculative investors, commission-driven salesmen and even consumers can become connected in a vicious circle of greed.

Prudence: informs us that if we sell or are sold the prospect of exceptional rewards, then we must assume that the risk is equally exceptional. This requires not only the salesman to communicate this in “big print”, but also the consumer to recognize when a proposition is reckless.

Excellence: is a value which reminds us that “if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well”. If we can apply our talents to our work with a passion, then the quality of our work will delight our customers. In this respect, this principle always comes before sustainable profits.

Honesty and Trust: are values which are obviously vital to financial services. Yet, recent and continuing scandals have seriously eroded the reputation of financial services. One way of reversing this erosion, is for society to witness a serious and convincing commitment to integrity by everyone in the industry.

Editor's note: This is the 3rd of 4 articles from a paper called "Integrity in Practice" for the British Financial Services Association. I want to thank both Father Christopher and Roger Steare for permission to print their article. You can retrieve the complete copy of the article from Roger or you can contact me at principledynamics@gmail.com and I will send you a copy

About the Authors

CHRISTOPHER JAMISON Worth Abbey

ROGER STEARE Ethicability

Background

IF IT’S LEGAL THEN SURELY IT’S ETHICAL?

2009-06-01T10:24:54-04:00

The economist Milton Friedman argues that “there is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud”(1).

These “rules of the game” are to be understood as a particular society's laws. In a nutshell, Friedman is arguing that business people are ethical if and only if they struggle to increase their profits and that they are entitled as part of that struggle to do whatever the law permits.

As long as a person's profit-maximizing actions conform to the law and professional rules, he is, in Friedman's view, acting ethically.

Ethics is not rules.

The activities of businesses under the Nazi regime should be sufficient to show that morality (2) and law are distinct. Helping to build extermination camps was legal and good for profits but it was not ethical. Even in a more just society, laws often state only a minimum requirement, usually what is enforceable in practice, rather than what is right.

Yet Friedman’s answer is the most common one in business today.

Friedman’s approach to ethics is limited because rules cannot cover every situation. An ethical code that simply gives detailed rules and nothing else will sink under pressure either from clever people who find ways round the rules or from new situations the rules don’t cover.

Another very real problem for investors who take law as their professional moral guide is the different laws that operate in the different countries where they do business. While the sale of the pesticide DDT is illegal in the EU, it is legal in many less developed countries. Does that make it morally acceptable to invest in factories producing DDT in poor countries?

What distinguishes ethics from rules is that rules tell you how to act while ethics tells you how to think before acting.

If rules are the bricks with which we build the house that shelters us from greed and selfishness, then the foundations of that house are ethics. Without ethical foundations, the house of rules will collapse under the growing weight of regulations and the pressure of financial storms.

So what is ethics?

Put simply, ethics is the way we resolve conflicts of desire.

If I earn a thousand dollars, I want to keep it all to buy a TV. The government wants to build a hospital and so wants to take my money. My neighbor also wants to take my money because he is out of work and wants to feed his family. There are three conflicting desires surrounding my thousand dollars.

The ethics of our culture has devised a way of resolving this conflict: the government is entitled to say, 25% of my money (called income tax) and I am entitled to the 75%.My neighbor is entitled to none of my 75% but is entitled to some of the 25% in the form of unemployment benefit given to him by the government. Taxation and social benefits are not considered theft in our culture; they are considered right and proper.

Ethics has resolved the conflict of desires and provided a basis upon which people can then write rules to govern taxation and social benefits.

What is Business Ethics?

Now the way that people resolve conflicts of desire has gone through many different phases in history. Within religious traditions there are moral rules revealed by God; these are ultimate but they no longer command general support within western culture.

So from the 18th century onwards, European and North American society devised codes of ethics based on rational rather than revealed values. Two such systems carried all before them.

Utilitarianism was devised in England, firstly by Bentham, who set out a simple principle: always acts so as to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. This was later modified by Mill to read: always act so as to maximize happiness for the maximum number.

The German philosopher Kant said Utilitarianism was the morality of pigs, simply pursuing pleasure. He proposed instead that people should always act in accordance with that principle or maxim by which you want everybody to act; this universalisation principle is the rational way to know your moral duty.

Customers are often unwittingly Kantian in their approach to providers: they insist that a company has a duty to care for them, even though the company will lose out by doing so.

These two ethical systems have dominated Western culture for the last hundred years (omitting the Marxist ethic that was so influential in Eastern Europe, Russia and China). Ends or goals drive the first, while the second is based on duty. Most recent social, political and economic decisions in Western culture have been derived from one of these two principles.

Yet both are fraught not only with theoretical but also with practical problems. For example, are governments morally justified in fostering a high level of unemployment if it enables the majority to prosper? When is a minority so large that its unhappiness cannot be ignored, whatever the majority may wish? Does the maximum number include foreigners or just my own countrymen? And who defines duty?

If I am a condemned man on death row, I want to universalize the principle of no capital punishment; if I am the father of the victim, I universalize the principle of an eye for an eye.

Weak rule utilitarianism

In Financial Services, utilitarianism tends to dominate and this throws up particular variants of the problems already highlighted. Here, as in most areas, the utilitarian approach is not applied to individual instances; it is applied to the creation of rules. So, for example, rather than deciding if each instance of insider trading is immoral by utilitarian standards, utilitarian ethics concludes that the maximum happiness is generated by a rule against all insider trading.

This Rule Utilitarian approach can be applied strictly (e.g. lying is always wrong) or weakly (e.g. lying is usually wrong but is acceptable to save life, as when soldiers are interrogated by an enemy).This Weak Rule Utilitarian Approach characterizes the attitude of Western ethical culture today.

This approach is practical and easy to understand, yet it seems to encourage an attitude of reckless risk taking. For example, somebody agrees with the rules but knows that if he cheats a little at work no noticeable harm will be done. So if he gains $10,000 from a bank that has billions, $10,000 is a lot to my family and nothing to the bank; therefore the sum total of happiness is increased by utilitarian standards. Therefore, somebody might argue, this is not really immoral, even though it may be against the rules. So the clever cheat becomes a hero.

This attitude may be becoming more common in society and in Financial Services. Moreover, the perceived growth of this attitude makes clients suspicious of those who work in Financial Services. This paper therefore contends that we need a new approach to ethics if the infrastructure of Financial Services is to withstand the attacks upon it by the professionals who should be safeguarding it.4

Virtue ethics

‘Virtue ethics’ is an approach which is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy and which has experienced a revival among contemporary philosophers. This requires virtuous people to act virtuously in a virtuous environment.

This, of course, begs the question: what is virtue? According to one contemporary philosopher, a virtue is an acquired human quality that enables us to achieve those goods which are internal to the practices that we value. This means that we do not look outside the activity in order to maximize happiness or universalize duty, instead we state those human qualities needed to do the job well within the terms of the job itself.

This principle is well recognized in the medical world: I will give my patient the best treatment available no matter what the circumstances e.g. I may be shunned for treating a dying terrorist by those claiming the world is better off if he dies. In this instance the medical profession’s own standards are what prevail, not external considerations.

We believe a similar approach is needed in Financial Services.

Integrity: virtues and values

Many business codes of ethics insist that employees must work with integrity without defining this quality.

We define integrity as the synthesis of the virtues. In practice, companies speak of values and we will use the word ‘value’ instead of the word ‘virtue’.

The core principle of integrity is thus defined as a synthesis of values, comprising an integrated balance of sometimes-contradictory demands. As has already been stated, ethics is the resolution of conflicting desires or interests and integrity is the value that integrates all the other values.

We need, then, to list some of those values which we wish to promote and then describe some practical examples. This will include not only values for the individual but also for companies and wider communities. People need to be an integral part of something larger than themselves, which must in itself have integrity – a virtuous environment within which to work.

Fairness: rights and duties

A core value in contemporary society is justice or fairness. The popular insistence on rights is an expression of an ordinary person’s sense of fairness.

Yet to be truly fair, we believe there must be an equal insistence on duties.

For example, a consumer’s right to have an insurance claim paid quickly needs to be balanced by the consumer’s duty to tell the truth about the real value of items damaged. Fairness is a core feature of integrity, derived from people’s sense of dependency, and the insight that all human beings are inter-dependent.

A word of caution is needed about the way people use the language of rights. To assert that there are natural rights can lead to a belief that rights describe some previous human condition where all was harmony and that we all have a right to this Garden of Eden that has been taken from us. Such is not the meaning of rights being used here. Instead of rights as descriptive, the meaning in Financial Services will be prescriptive. That is to say, the sector prescribes what its employees and consumers have a right to expect when doing business.

This will draw on a natural sense of the need for honesty, competence and so on, but in the end, the rights will be prescribed by the sector both through industry regulations and through firms’ own rules.

While there is a natural, descriptive ‘right to life’, is there a social, prescriptive ‘right to a pension’?

The answer to the question “what is business ethics” is now clear. Business ethics will usually include as a necessary ingredient the laws of the country where the company operates, the exception being laws that are in themselves unjust. But in order to be complete, business ethics also requires a prescribed list of values, rights and duties which are to be understood and affirmed in the particular business under consideration. The next section addresses how such a prescribed list might evolve within Financial Services.5

1 Friedman, M,“The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits." In T. L. Beauchamp and N. E. Bowie (Eds.), Ethical theory and business (pp. 55-60). Englewood Cliff Financial Services, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1993

2 For the purposes of this paper, we use the terms ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’ interchangeably, whilst we accept that philosophical distinctions can be made regarding their usage. 3

3 “After Virtue” by Alasdair Macintyre

4 The 2002 Reith Lectures “Towards Justice and Virtue” by Onora O’Neill contain an analysis of the contemporary insistence on rights and rules, and the need for this to be counterbalanced by duty and virtue.

Editor's note: This is the 2nd of 4 articles from a paper called "Integrity in Practice" for the British Financial Services Association. I want to thank both Father Christopher and Roger Steare for permission to print their article. You can retrieve the complete copy of the article from Roger or you can contact me at principledynamics@gmail.com and I will send you a copy

About the Authors

CHRISTOPHER JAMISON Worth Abbey

ROGER STEARE Ethicability

Integrity In Practice

2009-05-28T18:11:29-04:00

What is Integrity? What is business Ethics?

We begin by answering head-on the questions “What is Integrity?" and “What is Business Ethics?"

We do this in a way that is analytic but which we hope is easily understood by the majority of our audience.

Whilst we believe that most people have an intuitive sense of right and wrong, it is clear that an analytic understanding of integrity is no longer a significant part of our educational or cultural curriculum.

This makes integrity difficult to implement in practice as people try to resolve issues of principle and profit in their working lives.

Indeed, some people even fail to recognize that they are facing an ethical decision.

We also believe that the conflict between people’s intuitive sense of doing the right thing and the practical demands of their job generates a lot of the stress felt by many.

Regulation is not the whole answer to people’s work place dilemmas. In some respects, financial regulation has created an atmosphere of fear that a mistake will be fatal; and this can develop into a hatred of compliance, which is perceived by many as a “necessary evil".

Employees are sometimes bullied into collusion and coerced into finding profitable “work-arounds” of regulations. Feelings of shame are far too common, with many employees in financial services coming to work only to hang up their personal values next to their coats.

This condition can be described as “workplace schizophrenia", in which people feel they cannot bring their whole self to work. This disjunction can in itself be described as a lack of integrity in their lives.

So there may be a paradox in the present situation, namely, that the time and energy devoted to compliance may detract from a broader awareness of “workplace integrity".

We describe integrity in terms of its component virtues, or “values” as we call them today. We identify the excesses and vices which are often so apparent in financial services. But we remember that the client too must have integrity. Investor or consumer greed is as corrosive as the behavior of those who pander to it.

We believe that integrity is a journey, not a rulebook. Rules and regulations cannot cover every possible ethical dilemma and there is always something new to discover about how to approach conflicts of interest.

Furthermore, we believe that personal integrity cannot flourish outside a context of corporate integrity. Only when every individual completes a personal journey of moral and ethical reflection, can we collectively complete the virtuous circle of integrity.

1. What is Integrity?

Imagine you are walking down Threadneedle Street in the City and you find an envelope lying on the pavement. You pick it up and find it contains $10million in bearer bonds, which anybody can cash in. Do you hand them in to the police or take them to a dubious offshore bank and retire? The only reason for not keeping the bonds is because handing them in is the right thing to do, and doing the right thing means you will lose out.

Some people in Financial Services want to understand morality better because they have seen in recent financial scandals how bad behavior was clearly bad for business. They know that good behavior is good for business, so they want good behavior; this is called the business case for ethics.

Others, however, want good behavior simply because it is good and because it is right, even if such behavior might be seen to be bad for business in the short term.

Now you may think that the outcome is the same, both groups want to act fairly and morally, so never mind their different motivations. Think of our opening example, however; does the business case for ethics lead you to hand in the bonds?

The approach of this paper can be characterized by the words we use to describe Financial Services. The Financial Services sector is usually referred to as an industry; this paper will suggest that a more helpful way to describe Financial Services is that it should have the attributes of a profession. A professional not only gets paid for his expertise but also for his integrity.

Integrity is a word widely used in business today but its meaning is rarely defined, even in Annual Reports or corporate Codes of Ethics. In this paper, we define integrity as those shared values, attitudes and behaviors that help us to act correctly in our lives at home, at work and in society.

Editor's note: This is the 1st of 4 articles from a paper called "Integrity in Practice" for the British Financial Services Association. I want to thank both Father Christopher and Roger Steare for permission to print their article. You can retrieve the complete copy of the article from Roger or you can contact me at principledynamics@gmail.com and I will send you a copy

About the Authors

CHRISTOPHER JAMISON Worth Abbey

ROGER STEARE Ethicability

Background

This is the first of a 4 part article written in response to the FSA published Discussion Paper 18 “An Ethical Framework for Financial Services". In his introduction to this paper, Professor David Jackman stated that the FSA wants “to establish a clear and explicit, shared understanding about what integrity means in practice." Integrity in Practice was commissioned by the FSA in order to explain the foundations of ethical behaviour and the implications for Financial Services in practice. The FSA’s business ethics portfolio has now moved to the newly-formed Skills Council for Financial Services and this paper is published as a contribution to the Ethics Forum established by the Skills Council.

The Integrity Covenant

2009-05-15T00:30:50-04:00

Are you working through things or are things working through you?

It is easy to perform when everything is going well. Rules tell us what is right and wrong.

Rules require duty and obedience. These are duly rewarded when the whole is progressing as it should in an orderly fashion. Life is predictable. It is all good.

But everything doesn’t always go well. Rules no longer work.

Duty and obedience are rewarded with injustice. Chaos and confusion rule. Life is no longer predictable. It is not so good.

What to do?

Winston Churchill offered this advice

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;
it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

Most of us choose to achieve. Most of us are willing to work hard for our destiny. Yet hard work is not enough.

We need to know how to find the path through the chaos and confusion that will eventually arrive at our door.

In order to understand the future of our choice, we must first understand those who made the right choice in not so pleasant past times.

Many great men and women have spoken to us about integrity. It is a well worn and time proven path to success.

Integrity is defined as wholeness, unfolding and objectivity. It is doing the right thing, doing the next right thing and doing things right.

It makes sense in theory but what about practice?

When viewed as an integrated whole, there are at least 4 types of integrity (personal, process, system, structure) that impact the bottom line.

Integrity within this classification system can then be seen as a definable and measurable standard. By accident or design integrity also comes with established principles and methodologies that require hard work and prudence.

The wholeness element of integrity refers to the way the whole is working.

Is your organization undivided, integrated, intact and uncorrupted? Is your organization taking responsibility for its circumstances, good and bad and controlling what can be controlled?

Your results are predictable. Every organization is perfectly aligned to get the results it current gets.

The unfolding element of integrity is the dynamic nature of integrity.

Heraclitus said “You cannot step into the same river twice, for fresh waters are every flowing in upon you.”

This means everything changes.

As such, any act of personal integrity is a function of habit and reflection.
As such, any act of organizational integrity is a function of standard operating procedures (SOP) and evaluation.

The habit or the SOP of doing the right thing, doing the next right thing and doing things right is, of course, performance enhancing. It provides power, strength, and consistency even when things are not good.

Sound personal reflection or organizational performance evaluation discerns significant results from natural variation or pretense. The resulting requisite strategy and tactics then continually modifies personal and organizational actions in order to achieve the desired state,

Integrity then is the optimum concept for personal/organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

Integrity is objective. In its ultimate state, it has no corruption, no defects, and no waste.

Remember the motto of Lexus “The relentless pursuit of perfection”.

This is still evident today in the Lexus covenant today that states:

“Lexus will win the race …….

Lexus will do it right from the start….

If you think you can’t, you won’t.

If you think you can, you will.

We can, we will. “

They get it.

Want to learn more? Contact me at douglasross@principledynamics.com . I want to speak to you about integrity and how it can help you and all of us.

Douglas Ross is an advocate for the promotion of integrity as a strategy for performance.