The Ethical Executive

Hardly a month goes by – or so it seems – without yet another headline about apparent unethical behavior in the executive suite: from criminal misrepresentation, to tax evasion, manipulation of accounts, and a whole smorgasbord of fraud. Not surprisingly, as investors, employees, legislators, or simply bemused observers of human behavior, we all want the answer to one question, “Are today’s corporate leaders unusually corrupt?” The disconcerting answer is that these leaders are no different than you or us. Even if we have good ethical values to begin with, given certain situational or internal pressures, every one of us can become unethical.

[wcm_restrict]When I was in graduate school, my professor of social psychology, Dr. Dalenberg, told my class that early in her career, she had considered walking up and down the isles of the classroom during exams to catch students cheating. She ultimately decided not to do this. Why? She knew that after awhile, her behavior would shape her attitudes – she would probably become – to some degree – more suspicious of her students.

Eric Storch at Columbia University administered a questionnaire to 244 students. Answering the questionnaire anonymously, the college students were asked how often they had copied other student’s work, plagiarized, and cheated on exams. The questionnaire also asked the students to rate their approval on a scale of 1 to 5 (“strongly disapprove” to “strongly approve”) of these three transgressions.

Results indicated that students who reported more academic dishonesty gave significantly higher approval ratings of their dishonesty! When we act unethically, we automatically begin to view our transgressions in a less negative way.

In 2001, Enron deceived California customers during the energy crisis. The federal government had ordered power plants to maintain full output capacity. Enron created false electrical shortages by shutting down plants and in so doing ran up prices. The company made billions of dollars from the illegal scam. The main players in the scam were the West Coast energy traders who bought and sold electricity and scheduled its delivery. “The attitude was, ‘play by your own rules,’ says a former trader. We all did it. We talked about it openly . . . We took pride in getting around the rules.” [Italics added.] Notice in this example that unethical behavior became so frequent that traders were proud of their actions. It’s possible that one of the reasons why they “took pride in getting around the rules” is that they became trapped in Doing is Believing.

How can executives protect their organizations and themselves from these traps? First, it’s essential that executives have a firm knowledge of the 45 traps. Voyagers who know the location of quicksand navigate around it. When we clearly identify danger, we can prepare for it and avoid it. Second, “the most important thing an executive can do is hire a psychologist to be part of their ethics and compliance team.” Many of the traps incite powerful emotions that in turn pull victims toward wrongdoing. In general, emotions provoked by traps are: fear, anxiety, distress, shame, anger and sadness. Emotions this strong can bring us all to our knees. It’s important to know that we all have the capacity to shut down our emotions. If we don’t feel anything, it doesn’t always mean our emotions are gone. A psychologist can assist executives deal with their intense emotions.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

Robert Hoyk is a Clinical Psychologist and has conducted research in several institutions. He has taught communication skills to executives, physicians, and couples. Robert lives in Laguna Beach, California with his wife, author, Julie Brickman.