aUTHORED BY dR. tOM gROOMS
“Whisper Intelligence” Part V of V
Ethics is a word that applies to every
successful man and woman. We live in a world of manipulation that knows no
bounds and has been presented on the accounting books and in the media as
reality. Businesses, politics, market reports, intelligence reports, war,
science, and talk are all subject to spin-directed interpretations before being
presented for consumption. The danger lies in the masters of deceit believing
and causing to believe their own lies. For one to rely on a strategy of
deception to rescue one’s career is unnecessary. Acts of desperation is not an
opportunity. Success has not returned to organizations that have lost its
character. As a professor, I am seeing this become more evident in the
classroom where students have difficulty accepting wisdom of past learning
unless they have viewed it first. Otherwise, students think it is just another
opinion and the real truth lies in their perceived interpretation of reality.
Questionable learning does not produce ethical leadership of a business,
organization, or country.
This do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do attitude creates a
blind side for those CEOs, senior executives, and the organization. It requires
firms to take a careful look at the ethical considerations of how they want to
operate and what they want to be known as. For example, your intelligence operations
may be bringing in information, but it also may be giving away secrets. Of
course, any employee – including past employees – may inadvertently leak
information. Ethics is the guardian of positions that have access to sensitive
information. It is not enough when placing new employees to screen all
candidates for honesty and motivation to handle confidential information. The
answer lies within the person’s character. No organizational policy on secrets
and confidential materials, nondisclosure covenant, or security classification
is a substitute for character. It is not just someone else’s job. Each person
must accept responsibility - responsibility for one’s own character.
Business intelligence or economic espionage is
the illegal obtaining of information from a business or government to aid
governance or policymakers. The outright theft of private information takes on
many forms. The world is facing a fundamental dilemma, which is becoming more
acute with time. The imbalances in performance can only rightly be solved while
maintaining some type of ethical standards. And directly on the cusp of
expected performance plus signals of execution, the action taken and operation
of the organization becomes defined as integrity. Artificially induced integrity
will fail and with it the reputation of the organization. Signs of desperation
from a failure of performance compromises one’s integrity and character.
What causes the type of greed seen in the
headlines in the first place? Those that are captured by the allure to rise to
upper class pay a heavy price. At this time, a little more than half of the
labor force have college degrees, about thirty-five
percent have master degrees, and less than one percent with doctorial
degrees. They may have a degree, but
this is not the same as being educated. Those in the upper middle-class of
society may seek to move into the elite upper-class, which is where the
temptation lies. The bottom line is that if you take care of your family, obey
the laws, and keep your nose clean, you will make a greater contribution to
society than any politician. The greatest contribution one can make to society
is to own their own business – successful business with an ethical and healthy
environment that is pleasant and fun for all – and create well paying jobs for
others and their families. This is truly the elite upper-class that does not
have to buy respect from others, but gives to others. What goes around comes
around.
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