In August, I spoke to the UT Dallas Cohort MBA students for the twelfth year in a row. I have been speaking annually on the last day of their beginning two-week LEAD camp since Lisa Shatz, Assistant Dean, MBA Programs, saw me speak at a conference 2013 and invited me to share my experience with students on campus.
Although I still also speak to conferences and other non-university gatherings, I have always felt a very special calling to speak to universities, because I want these students to have truly thought about ethics before they start their careers and go into corporate settings. Speaking to students is my way of ensuring they have a chance to start out on a good path.
Too many times, a new employee is subjected to subtle pressure from other employees and managers to bend the rules “slightly” or look the other way because it’s “OK” and it’s “just the way we do things.” And if that employee has never really thought about ethics prior to this, it is too easy to rationalize and accept unethical behavior as common corporate practice.
In my talks I specifically challenge them, telling them that there will come a time when they will be asked to do something or not do something which will make them uncomfortable. And I tell them to think about it and tell them it’s OK to ask questions, because that gives management an opportunity to have a dialogue with them. But if they are still uncomfortable and do not want to pursue the questions, then it’s OK to slowly lower your hand … and start looking for another job.
Too many times that employee will not have the courage to speak up or leave the company and I tell them about specific true examples of people who stayed with a company, even though they were uncomfortable with what was going on and the dire consequences which that employee ultimately faced.
The question-and-answer session following my Cohort MBA talk was very lively, and it looked to me like the students will remember. One of the students later wrote in his evaluation of my talk “Richard Bowen’s talk at LEAD Camp really stuck with me. Hearing his story about being a whistleblower at Citi made me realize how important it is to stand up for what’s right, even when it’s hard. It was eye-opening and made me think differently about what ethical leadership really means.”
Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.
