Ethics is in the bedrock of business education. As college professors, we teach courses on ethics, use case studies on ethics, and discuss ethical dilemmas.  None of these have the impact of hearing business leaders discussing what ethics means to their organizations in daily business operations.

Recently our college sponsored a forum with 2013 Torch Award recipients, an award from the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau that “recognizes those businesses that have made a commitment to and exemplify ethics and integrity in the marketplace.” Here are criteria for the Torch Award as stated by the BBB:

• High ethical standards of behavior toward customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees, and communities in which they do business:
  
• Demonstrated ethical practices surrounding their buyer/seller relationships;
  
• Longstanding history/reputation of ethical practices in the marketplace;
  
• Marketing, advertising, communications, and sales practices which reflect a true representation of what is being offered in the marketplace;
  
• Acknowledgement of ethical marketplace practices by industry peers and in the communities where they do business;
  
• Management practices and policies that give long term value to shareholders, customers, employees, vendors, and surrounding communities;
  
• Training programs that assist employees in carrying our established ethics policies.

This year I took notes. Here are some insights from the Torch Award recipients:

• The leader has to set the standard, be the example. If a leader cuts a corner, fails to exhibit ethical behavior, how can the leader expect others in the organizations to be ethical in their conduct? It starts at the top. 
• The leader must guide the culture, make an ethical culture happen. The leader cannot sit back and just hope an ethical culture will emerge. 
• An ethical culture is a system. Engineer an ethical system into the fabric of your organization just as you would engineer any other system.
• Training in ethical conduct needs to be integral to the organization. Best is small group training led by organizational leaders, training where there is much discussion and give and take about real ethical issues in the workplace. 
• Build an ethical culture through your hiring practices. Make questions about ethical situations part of interviews.
• Ethics is about trust and honesty. What bar do we want to set for ourselves? For what do we want to be known?
• Ethics has to be more than words on the back of a business card.     

Image. From left to right: Jim Salters, CEO, The Business Backer; Valerie Landell, President & CEO, The Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky; Pam Green, President & CEO, Easter Seals TriState; John Lindberg, President, Dial One Security, Inc. Image by J. Ballard. Permission granted to use image by participants.

Bill Cohen’s article on heroic leadership diffuses several criticisms of the post-heroic age. As he noted, heroic leadership can be collaborative and socially responsible.

Interestingly there is a table in Cohen’s article without discussion. The table lists situational conditions where heroic leadership is not required but more importantly conditions where heroic leadership is required. In my opinion, each of the situational factors in the table can be thought of as a continuum. (Any misinterpretations of this table are mine.)

How much pressure is brought to bear in the situation? In a very high pressure packed situation, heroic leadership may be required. What are the consequences if there is failure?  If the consequences are severe, heroic leadership is needed. If the task is “difficult to impossible,” again heroic leadership is needed.

It would seem that these situations do not describe the typical workplace. However we can probably all imagine situations were there is great pressure, severe consequences, and what is needed looks impossible. What do we call those who lead, and lead successfully, in those situations? Heroes.

Cohen, W. A. (2013). Peter Drucker wants you to be a heroic leader. Organizational Dynamics, 42, 70-80.    

A friend and I were discussing the variety of leadership theories. In textbooks we find most coverage is given to understanding leadership through traits, behaviors (Ohio State and Michigan studies of leadership from the 1950’s), and situations (Fiedler, Path-Goal Theory). In the most recent decades we find leader-member exchange (Graen) and transactional/transformation leadership. In my opinion all but transformational leadership are more management style. Transformational, authentic leadership and servant leadership come closer to my idea of real leadership.

Missing from our discussion was heroic leadership. In a 2013 article in Organizational Dynamics, Bill Cohen reviewed criticisms of heroic leadership, discussed his research, and concluded with principles of heroic leadership. I found his article to be thought-provoking.

Cohen argues heroic leadership is transformational leadership, “not transactional leadership.” It may involve followers participating in decision-making or not. It can be found across organizational structures from hierarchies to organic. The degree of “direct control” will vary with the situation. In what some may perceive as an anti-heroic age, there is still a need for heroic leaders.

What are heroic leaders? Here in his words are Cohen’s principles that mark heroic leaders:

• Maintain absolute integrity.
  
• Know your stuff.
  
• Declare your expectations.
  
• Show uncommon commitment.
  
• Expect positive results.
  
• Take care of your people.
  
• Put duty before self.
  
• Get out in front. 

Looks like great principles for leaders regardless of what leadership is called.

Cohen, W. A. (2013). Peter Drucker wants you to be a heroic leader. Organizational Dynamics, 42, 70-80.

Image of statue of Washington by Peter Kaminski. Used with permission. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

I start the new year with a question (and a modified 1/26/13 blog) What are you reading now?  What book are you reading? Charlie Rose in his nightly program of interviews sometimes poses a similar question to his famous guests, most of whom are national or international leaders in their professions. They always seem to have a book they are reading about which they have opinions, insights, comments. 

Lifelong learning is essential to grow as a leader. A  habit of reading books is important to that growth. In a blog written over five years ago, Wayne Hulbert made that argument. He suggested that you start with books from your area of business and branch out from there. To quote Hulbert, “Let a book be your ship as you sail that wonderful journey to the land of lifelong learning.”

But how do you nurture book reading in those who do not enjoy reading. There is some evidence that younger people read more if you count the Internet but read less if you count book reading. The Harry Potter series engaged many young minds. How will that translate into other books as they age? I found this debate about “how important is reading to today’s teenager” insightful. 

For those of us in education, we lead by example.  We share our stories, the role books have played in our lives. As parents, we read to our children. I had an aunt who read to me in my very early formative years. She nurtured my love of books.

What role do books play in your life? In your learning? My guess is that for many, we just don’t have enough time. Is reading books a habit for you? If not, is reading books something you would want to be a habit? 

So what am I reading? On my Kindle, I just finished Wool, a science fiction novel by Hugh Howey, life in a future Earth where humanity exist is an underground silo. Next up is An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Chris Hadfield. Sitting on my desk awaiting me is a hard copy of Tom Stoppard's play, Travesties, that I plan to see performed later this year. 

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them”, Mark Twain. 

Or as the comedian Groucho Marx said, “Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.  Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”   

What are you reading?