Crisis Guru

CRISIS GURU #6

Real Time Answers to Real Time Questions

In his Crisis Guru Commentaries, Jim Lukaszewski provides real answers to real questions about your most critical communications problems and issues.

To submit a question, please direct it by e-mail to crisisguru@e911.com. Be sure to include your full name, affiliation, address, and telephone number. All published questions will be identified by title and industry only. Your confidentiality will be protected.

TODAY'S TOPIC: WHY WON’T MY COLLEAGUES TAKE ME SERIOUSLY WHEN I ACT AS THE CONSCIENCE OF THE COMPANY?

Question:

Dear Crisis Guru:

Why won’t my colleagues take me seriously when I act as the conscience of the company? While the CEO didn’t actually appoint me to this position, I know he appreciates what I’m trying to accomplish when I call people on their unethical or, frankly, rather stupid ideas.

Senior Communicator
Fortune Most Admired Company

Answer:

Dear Most Admired:

There are companies where someone, once in awhile a public relations person, is designated at the company’s corporate conscience. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine a PR person getting this position since ours is a profession that is rarely respected with such a task.

Let me make three important suggestions for your consideration:

Focus your energy and enthusiasm on the stuff that really truly matters. Someone once said that 95 percent of the things we do don’t matter, and that it’s really the five percent that is most important. This is also true in the field of ethics and good conduct. Look for those things that matter but are out of line, and focus on making certain that they are corrected precisely because they do matter.

Bad behavior in business settings, in fact most settings, follows an identifiable pattern. One thing we’re learning from all the criminal prosecution of companies and individual executives these days is that once these behaviors begin occurring, unethical behavior often can lead to criminal behavior.
While technically public relations practitioners in the role of “corporate conscience” tend to look for and are privy to rather minor infractions, let me suggest that you consider a more powerful role – that of working with or even becoming your organization’s integrity officer.

Integrity is about identifying those insidious, unethical behaviors that really do matter, that really can put an organization, individual, sometimes an entire industry at risk.

In the world of integrity the behaviors to be most concerned about are referred to in the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines of 1991 as prepredicate behavior, that is those that can lead to more serious matters even criminal behavior.
There are some excellent Web sites you can go to for lots of information. Here are several:

www.corporatecompliance.org
www.bizethics.org
www.ethicalcorp.com
www.josephsoninstitute.org
www.charactercounts.org

Insidious Unethical Behaviors

Besides the more obvious mistakes that lead to unethical behaviors, there are other, less apparent, more insidious kinds of unethical behaviors that can lead to problems. Sometimes these less obvious behaviors are the precursors to illegal behavior. When you can identify these behaviors in your vicinity, there is trouble ahead. Act promptly to correctly these situations.

Lax control: A manager’s careless enforcement, education about, and monitoring of ethical standards.
Lack of tough, appropriate centralized compliance within each area of the company.
No one charged with responsibility of teaching, enforcing, and disciplining in cases where ethical breaches occur.
Leadership that allows supervisors to overlook bad behavior.
Leadership that allows employees to experiment with methods and tactics outside established guidelines.
Emphasis on “doing whatever it takes” to achieve appropriate business and financial goals.
Managers and supervisors who minimize the importance of oversight and compliance processes.
Structuring incentives in such a way that they can compromise the ethical behavior of people, the quality of the products and services we deliver, and allow shortcuts to be taken for a variety of obviously questionable reasons.
Avoiding confrontation with managers who chronically misbehave or chronically overlook misbehavior.
The tendency to operate “on the edge,” always pushing for more than is appropriate.
Management that ignores the signs of and doesn’t question rogue behavior.
Management tolerating the inappropriate behavior or management by individuals who are “critical to the organization’s mission.” These are the folks who are the super sales people, the high achievers who are allowed to break the rules to maintain the altitude of their performance.
Belittling or humiliating those who suggest or seek ethical standards.
Dismissing or destroying the careers of employees who report bad or outright wrong behavior.
Demeaning the internal or external credibility of those who blow the whistle, those who report or bring management’s attention to lapses in ethics.

My message to you is that if you want to be engaged in ethics and be the conscience of the company, move toward integrity and deal in the issues and situations the really truly matter.

Cordially,

Jim Lukaszewski

The Lukaszewski Group Inc. . Ten Bank Street, Suite 530, White Plains, NY 10606-1966 U.S.A.
866.491.e911-Toll Free . 914.681.0000-Office . 914.681.0047-Facsimile . 203.948.7029-24/7

Copyright © 2007, James E. Lukaszewski. All rights reserved.
Permission to print one copy for personal use is hereby granted by the copyright holder.
Reproduction of additional copies without written permission of the copyright holder is strictly prohibited.




Back to Commentaries
CRISIS GURU #6 Real Time Answers to Real Time Questions In his Crisis Guru Commentaries, Jim Lukaszewski provides real answers to real questions about your most critical communications problems and issues. To submit a question, please direct it by e-mail to crisisguru@e911.com. Be sure to include your full name, affiliation, address, and telephone number. All published questions will be identified by title and industry only. Your confidentiality will be protected. TODAY'S TOPIC: WHY WON’T MY COLLEAGUES TAKE ME SERIOUSLY WHEN I ACT AS THE CONSCIENCE OF THE COMPANY? Question: Dear Crisis Guru: Why won’t my colleagues take me seriously when I act as the conscience of the company? While the CEO didn’t actually appoint me to this position, I know he appreciates what I’m trying to accomplish when I call people on their unethical or, frankly, rather stupid ideas. Senior Communicator Fortune Most Admired Company Answer: Dear Most Admired: There are companies where someone, once in awhile a public relations person, is designated at the company’s corporate conscience. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine a PR person getting this position since ours is a profession that is rarely respected with such a task. Let me make three important suggestions for your consideration: Focus your energy and enthusiasm on the stuff that really truly matters. Someone once said that 95 percent of the things we do don’t matter, and that it’s really the five percent that is most important. This is also true in the field of ethics and good conduct. Look for those things that matter but are out of line, and focus on making certain that they are corrected precisely because they do matter. Bad behavior in business settings, in fact most settings, follows an identifiable pattern. One thing we’re learning from all the criminal prosecution of companies and individual executives these days is that once these behaviors begin occurring, unethical behavior often can lead to criminal behavior. While technically public relations practitioners in the role of “corporate conscience” tend to look for and are privy to rather minor infractions, let me suggest that you consider a more powerful role – that of working with or even becoming your organization’s integrity officer. Integrity is about identifying those insidious, unethical behaviors that really do matter, that really can put an organization, individual, sometimes an entire industry at risk. In the world of integrity the behaviors to be most concerned about are referred to in the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines of 1991 as prepredicate behavior, that is those that can lead to more serious matters even criminal behavior. There are some excellent Web sites you can go to for lots of information. Here are several: www.corporatecompliance.org www.bizethics.org www.ethicalcorp.com www.josephsoninstitute.org www.charactercounts.org Insidious Unethical Behaviors Besides the more obvious mistakes that lead to unethical behaviors, there are other, less apparent, more insidious kinds of unethical behaviors that can lead to problems. Sometimes these less obvious behaviors are the precursors to illegal behavior. When you can identify these behaviors in your vicinity, there is trouble ahead. Act promptly to correctly these situations. Lax control: A manager’s careless enforcement, education about, and monitoring of ethical standards. Lack of tough, appropriate centralized compliance within each area of the company. No one charged with responsibility of teaching, enforcing, and disciplining in cases where ethical breaches occur. Leadership that allows supervisors to overlook bad behavior. Leadership that allows employees to experiment with methods and tactics outside established guidelines. Emphasis on “doing whatever it takes” to achieve appropriate business and financial goals. Managers and supervisors who minimize the importance of oversight and compliance processes. Structuring incentives in such a way that they can compromise the ethical behavior of people, the quality of the products and services we deliver, and allow shortcuts to be taken for a variety of obviously questionable reasons. Avoiding confrontation with managers who chronically misbehave or chronically overlook misbehavior. The tendency to operate “on the edge,” always pushing for more than is appropriate. Management that ignores the signs of and doesn’t question rogue behavior. Management tolerating the inappropriate behavior or management by individuals who are “critical to the organization’s mission.” These are the folks who are the super sales people, the high achievers who are allowed to break the rules to maintain the altitude of their performance. Belittling or humiliating those who suggest or seek ethical standards. Dismissing or destroying the careers of employees who report bad or outright wrong behavior. Demeaning the internal or external credibility of those who blow the whistle, those who report or bring management’s attention to lapses in ethics. My message to you is that if you want to be engaged in ethics and be the conscience of the company, move toward integrity and deal in the issues and situations the really truly matter. Cordially, Jim Lukaszewski
The Lukaszewski Group Inc. . Ten Bank Street, Suite 530, White Plains, NY 10606-1966 U.S.A. 866.491.e911-Toll Free . 914.681.0000-Office . 914.681.0047-Facsimile . 203.948.7029-24/7 Copyright © 2007, James E. Lukaszewski. All rights reserved. Permission to print one copy for personal use is hereby granted by the copyright holder. Reproduction of additional copies without written permission of the copyright holder is strictly prohibited.