Most people will tell you that “business ethics” is a contradiction in terms. “Impossible!” they say. “You have to do everything you can to give customers what they want and increase shareholder value. No one can put ethics before the bottom line and be successful in today’s business climate.
What can we do when it seems like the bad guys always win? How can we compete in a world where customers ask for incentives that walk the fine line between good service and illegal bribes, where unscrupulous salespeople close the deal because they lie, where boardrooms and shareholders alike ask screaming ever-increasing profits while customers demand the lowest price possible, where every bad corporate citizen subject to a fine knows there are thirty other companies doing the exact same thing?
There it is an elevated path to success, where people live and work according to a set of values, ethics and principles that can make them feel good about themselves and the work they do. More and more companies are learning the power of the good road: they are creating standards for themselves and their employees; they are doing business ethically; and they are acting as good corporate citizens in their communities. As a result, people are proud to work for these companies, customers are proud to buy from them, and shareholders are proud to invest in them.
The royal road can actually create greater than long-term wealth and success. Material wealth can come in the form of customer and employee loyalty, community support, and steady, sustained growth. But the less tangible wealth of goodwill and inner certainty are far more important in the long run. We each have to live with ourselves, and our ethics will determine how good that life is, inside our heads and hearts, as well as inside our companies.
Taking the right path in today’s climate of compromise is not easy. After all, while the low road is paved with easy decisions and immediate rewards, the high road is bumpy with hard decisions and delayed gratification. The right path requires commitment: the will to decide what you stand for and how you want your company to be seen. It requires each of us to make daily decisions between the easy way and the right way, between getting the sale unethically and not getting the sale at all, between “going with the flow” and standing like a rock against the prevailing tide of ethical compromise. . .
Ultimately, the benefits of taking the right path are enormous. The right path may not lead to quick and easy success, but it will allow you to look in the mirror every night and appreciate the people you see there. It will allow you to look into the faces of your clients, your bosses and your colleagues knowing that you have done everything possible for them, for yourself and for the greater good. And it will allow you to present yourself to your children as an example rather than a warning.
