Page 29 - The Bible On Leadership

16 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

a company gets a reputation for ‘‘dirty dealing,’’ even the most honest
of its employees get tarred with the same brush. Perhaps Isaiah had
nowhere else to go, or perhaps he had a supreme dedication to his
people, but he decided to stay and reform the organization, despite the
fact that he was preaching his message as forcefully as he could while
no one seemed to be listening or responding.
Every organization has at least one Isaiah, someone who reminds the
organization of its original mission and principles each time it strays
from them. The wise and courageous leader permits the existence of
‘‘Isaiahs’’ as a safety valve and a warning sign. The wisest leaders protect
their Isaiahs from harm or even become Isaiahs themselves. Some orga-
nizations even have a position called ‘‘corporate ombudsman,’’ a person
whose role is to challenge the wisdom and integrity of the status quo,
which is supported by those in power but may not always be of long-
term benefit to the organization.
Over 90 percent of the Fortune 500 have a statement of ethics. But
to many, these statements are just writing on the wall. How many oper-
ationalize them like Northrup Grumman, which has an ethics depart-
ment with a full-time staff that trains and counsels employees on the
complex and daunting issues often faced in the aerospace industry? 13
Or consider a CEO who takes it upon himself to be his own
‘‘Isaiah.’’ Bill Hewlett of Hewlett-Packard once found the door to a
supply room locked. He didn’t like what that said about the honesty of
the company’s employees, so he snapped the lock open with a bolt
cutter and left a note that said, ‘‘Don’t ever lock this door again.’’ 14
That act probably communicated more about company integrity than a
hundred speeches at corporate gatherings.
Sir Adrian Cadbury, CEO of a company whose name is associated
with sweetness, not toughness, stands firm in his belief that actions, not
words, are the key measures of integrity. ‘‘The ethical standards of a
company are judged by its actions, not by pious statements of intent put
out in its name.’’ This is probably a direct criticism of companies that
actually hire outside consultants to ‘‘design’’ an ‘‘ethics statement,’’
which has little or nothing to do with the way business is actually con-
ducted. A company’s true ethics are reflected by ‘‘where we stand as