Topical Juice

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?