“Everybody does it.”  “I hardly ever lie.” I collect ‘em, like baseball cards. “You don’t understand, Jim,” the owner of a large company once told me, “it’s just industry practice. We don’t want to do these things, but if we want to operate from a level playing field, sometimes we have to [be unethical].” Last October, Lehman Brothers Chief Dick Fuld told...

Stanley Sheinbaum is the epitome of a world citizen. He spoke out forcefully against the Vietnam War and was the defense strategist for Daniel Ellsberg during the Pentagon Papers trial. When a coup in Greece imprisoned his friend, Andreas Papandreou, Sheinbaum took great personal risk to save Papandreou’s life. In a bold move, Stanley led a group of American Jews...

While researching an organization, in preparation for a talk, I discovered that the group had a very strong ethics component in place.  In fact, a recent situation proved that ethics was not only taken seriously, but critical to the credibility of the organization. This caused me to ask a very basic question:  “Why hire me to give a talk?” Their...

I don’t think Rush Limbaugh really likes being called an entertainer. What’s wrong with being an entertainer, Rush?  Jay Leno’s an entertainer.  He entertains millions and makes a lot of money doing it, too.  Jerry Seinfeld’s an entertainer and makes a lotmore money doing it! The problem is that Rush thinks he’s something else.  He thinks he’s Big Daddy from Cat on a Hot...

“We are committed to: “Integrity – We will conduct ourselves with integrity in our dealings with and on behalf of the [organization]. “Excellence – We will conscientiously strive for excellence in our work. “Accountability – We will be accountable as individuals and as members of this community for our ethical conduct and for compliance with applicable laws and [organizational] policies and directives.  » Read more about: Here’s...

A college friend looked at the Web site for the first time and concluded, “I like your site, but it takes too long to get to the meat and potatoes.” How about this:  “Do Good!” Clear, concise and took just thirty-three words to get there. The only problem is that like the previous commentary touting “Ethix” as a quick fix,...

“If you’ve ever been faced with an uncomfortable challenge, sticky situation, or ethical dilemma, you know how frustrating that can be. “Well, not anymore! Introducing: ETHIX! “With ETHIX, you can fix any situation in 15-minutes or less! That’s right, ethical conundrums are now a thing of the past when you use ETHIX. Simply insert the patented, moral device into any tricky,  » Read more about: As Seen...

News stories regarding a lack of integrity appear far too often. But what does it mean to have integrity? One of the best commentaries on the subject comes from former Commandant of the Marine Corps and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Krulak in an inspiring speech he presented to the Joint Services Conference on Professional Ethics in 2000. “We...

Last weekend’s Wall Street Journal ran an essay entitled, In Praise of Transgressions by Joe Queenan. Without condoning the very public offenses of Tom Daschle, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Phelps and others, Mr. Queenan posits the notion that rather than look upon the destructive actions of high-profile individuals as bad behavior, we should instead, embrace these events as a kind of psychotherapy: “…we...

“You’re Roland Burris.  You used to be in the Senate.  You used to be big.” “I AM big.  It’s the Senate that got small.” First, he’s in:  Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, arrested on corruption charges stemming from trying to “sell” Barack Obama’s Senate seat, appoints Roland Burris. Then, he’s out:  Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid says the Senate won’t seat anyone appointed...