Honor amongst CEOs
This morning I read this news item about the CEO of a Chinese Toy manufacturing company who committed suicide because of an enormous mistake his company made that resulted in a wide scale recall of some toys produced by his company.
My heart just aches for his family and friends who are no doubt grieving deeply. I also understand how difficult it can sometimes be for a company to recover from the loss of its leader, especially in a situation like this, where the company now also has to contend with a black mark on its reputation. My deepest sympathies go out to everyone impacted by this sad turn of events.
But to be honest, I also have to admit that I am feeling a profound sense of respect for this man’s commitment to his own sense of honor and responsibility. I imagine he must have believed that by taking all the responsibility for what happened upon his own shoulders, and making the most ultimate of sacrifices, that he would somehow be absolving everyone else from any blame or shame. How sad that he actually took his own life, but how admirable that he didn’t try to pass the blame onto anyone else.
Why doe it seem that so few of our own American CEOs have such integrity? Is it just that we only hear from the media about the “bad ones” when there’s a corporate scandal? Is it that a CEO who steps up and takes all the heat (along with taking immediate steps to fully rectify a problem) just isn’t newsworthy? Or is the problem that we somehow failing to hold them accountable?
I’m not suggesting that Ken Lay or Bernie Ebbers should have committed suicide, but when the top leaders of corporate America aren’t held accountable for the actions of their companies, and instead get quietly put out to pasture with their golden parachute clauses intact, aren’t we just training the next generation of CEOs to do the same or worse?
Am I wrong? What do you think?
August 13th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Somehow we’ve lost a collective sense of pride and responsibility, and shame when we drop the ball - oh I know, plenty of individuals still have those wonderful qualities, even a good number of industrial and political leaders. But it seems to me that American corporations are all about the almighty dollar, with little to no concern about what’s good for the country or the citizens too. Oil companies are gouging the public with overly high fuel prices, Pharmaceutical companies are gouging the public with overly high drug prices (while providing the same drugs at a fraction of the cost to other countries), health insurance premiums are getting higher while providing less coverage, …..the list goes on.
Don’t you think this trend seems to have been getting steadily worse since the Bush Administration has been in power?
August 13th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Hi Katy - thanks for commenting! I can’t disagree that things seem to have been steadily getting worse, but I think the problem really goes back several decades. I think what’s been lost is the sense of community that evolved from the sixties and early seventies that didn’t seem to survive what was often called the “Me” generation - folks that came of age during the eighties. It’s just been such a slow decline that it’s gone largely unnoticed. But yes, it does seem like it’s taken a rapid turn for the worse in the past six years. There seems to be no honor in corporate America these days.
I DO believe in capitalism and every company’s right to make a profit, but what I don’t understand is why we’re not hearing from America’s CEOs about the plight caused by some of them - the struggles of many because of lost retirement funds, skyrocketing costs for basic commodities like fuel, prescription medications, health care coverage, etc. If it’s a national problem (and I believe it is) then why is it only our current crop of political candidates who are talking about solutions? Do our corporations really want our government fixing their problems?