Dec

What Does Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Have To Teach Us About Ethics?

By Emily

By now, we’ve all heard about the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, trying to auction of President-elect Obama’s vacated senate seat. This type of unethical behavior in pursuit of profits is particularly abominable when we see it practiced in politics and by people in a fiduciary position of trust and power. What’s happened to our country that we have elected officials who think this is OK, and a number of people in the media willing to just say "Oh, that’s Illinois politics for you," and kind of laugh it off?

It’s troubling to see this type of corruption in our politics. But I don’t believe Blagojevich’s case is isolated, or that this is just a problem in politics. I am afraid unethical behavior in pursuit of personal gain is more common than I previously realized.

Other Investors and Business People Have Noticed The Sliding Ethical Scales…

I went for a walk yesterday with a former student, now a friend, who is a fellow entrepreneur and stay-at-home Dad here in Seattle. Michael told me about some of his recent investments and some private lending he’s been doing. Passive investments like these are a great way to generate income once you have built your wealth to a level of "critical mass" where you can live off the INCOME from your savings, and not have to eat into the principle.

He’s having some trouble with one of his partners though, so we eventually ended up talking a bit about business ethics and the prevalent lack thereof in many cases. Sometimes we stay awake at night wondering if what people are telling us is real or whether it’s just what they feel needs to be said to "get the deal done."

We’ve seen examples of this type of honesty in sales, in brokerage, in investment opportunities, and it’s frustrating at upsetting. My inner-Pollyanna tends to be very trusting, and I’m coming to realize that I need to be a little more cynical and self-protective when it comes to working with people I don’t know well.

How Far Over The Line Will People Go In Search Of Profits?

I got upset on Tuesday night when I was reading a marketing course that taught out-and-out deceptive practices in the name of sales. The author promoted a tactic of "fabricating" first-hand-accounts and personal testimonials on a sales page in order to sell a product he or his students had little-to-no experience with. The author justified this approach saying he was using a pen name and he had a disclaimer page which mentioned that the story might not be 100% accurate.

In my book, there’s a difference between a dramatization and an outright lie, and this approach crosses the line.

When queried about the approach on his discussion board, the author replied by saying that the people who write TV commercials are just writing a script, they’re not actually sharing their first-hand knowledge with the product. Then actors, who have also not used the product, also deliver the lines. Are they lying? His case was that he was just "doing marketing" and that’s the way it’s done.

I can see the parallel, but ethically, I have some major concerns with following that approach. Does anyone else think it’s weird that a 40-something guy is writing sales pages on the Internet using the voice of a teenage girl? Something about that just seems a little creepy to me.

At The End of The Day, You Have To Be Able to Look Yourself In The Mirror

I think the lesson Governor Blagojevich teaches us is that it’s not wise to do or say things that you wouldn’t want made public. If your actions are not in line with your core beliefs, you have to re-evaluate what you’re doing. Some people are willing to do *almost anything* for the money. I’ve certainly felt that pressure before, myself, and it’s a lot easier to take the high moral ground when you have the financial resources to meet your daily needs.

To avoid getting caught up in the moment, I often think of folks who have been a moral compass to me – my parents, my grandparents, business partners and ask, "If so-and-so found out about this, would I be embarrassed? What would he/she think of me or say to me about this?"

Now that I’m a parent, I can also use the example of my son, Blake – "Would I want Blake doing this behavior?" "How would I justify this to my child if he caught me at it?"

Let’s Each Commit to High Ethical Standards and Change The Country One Person At A Time

There’s a lot of shady stuff on there, especially on the Internet, I think, where it’s so easy to be anonymous, it seems like we can re-invent ourselves time and time again.

Plus, the habit of dishonesty is catching. It’s a slippery slope to go from embellishing a story to make a point, to starting to make up parts of stories, and then just completely lying. If we see others engaging in this type of behavior, we can start to justify to ourselves that "that’s how things get done" and it makes it a little easier the next time we want to bend the rules ourselves.

I would like to put a notice out to marketers and business people everywhere, that this type of behavior is no longer acceptable. Lead the field in your circle of influence by maintaining the high moral ground and privately discussing your concerns with others if you see them stretching their ethical boundaries.

This type of accountability is the only way to uphold the American values that have made our country strong, our businesses prosper and our society thrive. I hope to see business ethics become stronger than ever in the face of the public scandal surrounding Governor Blagojevich.

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