Page 200 - The Bible On Leadership

186 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

exchanged the grain for their livestock. And when they ran out of live-
stock, he bought their land, but gave it back to them for their use, on
the condition that they keep four-fifths of the harvest for themselves
and give one-fifth to the Pharaoh.
Joseph could have bled his adopted countrymen dry. But his overall
scheme was just and fair—to ensure that they would have enough pro-
ductive capacity and consumable resources to be able to survive the
famine and prosper again once it was over. And, good politician that he
was, he remembered to give ‘‘the boss’’ his fair share as well.

RECTIFYING INJUSTICE

It is one thing for a leader to initially pursue just policies and actions
from the outset. But often, a leader must have the courage to confront
and reverse injustices, some of which may have been promulgated by
his own organization.
At Bear Stearns, Ace Greenberg, chairman of the executive commit-
tee, feels that the reversal of injustice must come ‘‘from the top’’ or it
won’t happen at all. Largely due to Greenberg’s leadership, the com-
pany has never had a major ethical scandal in an industry more famous
for its acquisitiveness than its fairness. Notes Greenberg, ‘‘Mark Twain
said, ‘Fish stink from the head,’ right? And it’s people up top who set
an example of how a business should be run. And if they’re sloppy, or
throw dollars around and have big expense accounts, I think it perme-
ates the whole firm.’’
Greenberg’s antidote is to officially encourage ‘‘whistleblowers’’ to
expose injustices and ‘‘errors.’’ ‘‘We pay them 5 percent of whatever
error they uncover, and we pay them on the spot in cash—I have writ-
ten checks as large as $50,000 and $60,000.’’ In an environment where
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‘‘money talks’’ (and often shouts), these payments are a strong advise-
ment to everyone in the firm that ‘‘justice will be served’’ and injustice
will be reversed.
Paul O’Neill, former chairman of ALCOA and now secretary of the
treasury, also acted promptly when confronted with an injustice. A reli-