Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Ethics beats at heart of every decision

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 14:59:34 -0500

October 31, 2003

Ethics beats at heart of every decision

by Martha Thorn

Trident Feature Editor

Academy Superintendent Vice Adm.
Rodney Rempt encouraged the
approximately 150 business leaders,
educators, alumni and midshipmen
who attended the Ethics in Business
and the Military: Building Better
Organizations Conference Monday to
get down to the "brass tacks
application of ethics."

For Rempt, ethics is what you fall
back on when confronted by intense
situations when the rules don't exactly
apply. When all the rules have changed as in a prisoner of war camp, you
fall back on ethics, the established values you believe in.
Kevin Sharer, chief executive officer of Amgen, said CEOs have to take
responsibility in the same manner that the captain of a ship takes
responsibility. Companies need people in the top jobs with a strong
sense of right and wrong. They need processes in place that will ensure
jobs are done correctly.
Retired Adm. James Watkins, former chief of naval operations and former
secretary of energy, talked about the "power of positive action."
Commanders, CEOs and their senior leadership teams must practice the
values they advocate, Watkins said.
Watkins talked about leadership from the top down and bottom up. Like
Sharer, he maintained leaders must stay in touch with every aspect of
their organization.
The speakers maintained that those who pointed out weaknesses within the
organization should be considered friends, not enemies. Much as in the
case of the story "The Emperor and His New Clothes," this feedback
maintains the ethical structure of an organization by making sure things
are being done right.
Professor Amitai Etzioni of George Washington University said people are
tempted to violate the rules when standards are set too high. That's
when changes are needed within the organization, he said.
U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes talked about events leading to the collapse of
Enron and World Com and about the legislation he co-sponsored to prevent
something like this from occurring again.
"Doing the right thing should lie at the heart of every decision made,"
Sarbanes said. To build better organizations, he recommended
deliberating the issues to determine the consequences over time.
He urged his audience to look into the future and anticipate the results
of their actions.
The afternoon speakers built upon the morning discussions by focusing on
the issue of "Ethics as a Decision-Making Tool."

Dan Akerson, former chief executive officer of Nextel Communications and
XO Communications and currently of the Carlyle Group, addressed an
institution's ability to teach ethics (which he lacks). He concluded
that "ethics can't be taught, but individuals can learn through
observation of the actions of others." He said that "personal and work
ethics must be aligned" (Which he has be unable to do).

Retired Adm. Charles R. Larson, former commander-in-chief of the U.S.
Pacific Command and two-time academy superintendent, defined ethics as,
"honest, open and straightforward actions regardless of the
consequences."

He urged the attendees to see ethics as more than what is merely legal.
Just because the law does not prohibit an action doesn't mean it would
be ethical to do it.

Dr. Stuart Gilman, president of the Ethics Resource Center, said that
ethical leaders need to talk about the importance of ethics, key
promises and commitments, model ethical behavior, and discipline those
that violate ethical stardards.

Other conference participants included Dr. Ron Sugar, chief executive
officer and president of Northrop-Grumman, Dr. Stuart Gilman president
of the Ethics Resource Center, and John Schulz, dean of the College of
Communication, Boston University.

http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/trident/8_39/features/26047-1.html

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