As we watch the sentencing of Madoff, it is easy to overlook an important lesson. Is he guilty? Absolutely. Will he be put away for a long time? Definitely. Are the rest of us different from him? In our inner thoughts we reply, "Of course, well, sort of - I didn't steal millions and millions of dollars from anyone. I didn't hurt people the way that Madoff did." Obviously,we would all agree with one another.
However, the question to ponder is at what point does a little theft become a large theft?
The Ethics Research Center published their National Business Ethics Survey (2007). One of the unfortunate highlights was that ethical behavior had returned to the same level as during the Enron fiasco. From their survey:
More than five years after Enron and other corporate ethics debacles, businesses of all size,type, and ownership show little — if any — meaningful reduction in their enterprise-wide
risk of unethical behavior. The situation is ripe for another major corporate scandal.
The survey also shared that "more than half (56 percent) of employees personally observed conduct that violated company ethics standards, policy, or the law."
The observed conduct was further described as:
- Conflicts of interest: putting one’s own interests above the
organization (observed by 23 percent of employees);
- Abusive or intimidating behavior (observed by 21 percent of employees); and
- Lying to employees (observed by 20 percent of employees).
Madoff is guilty, but as you pick up your favorite stones to cast, consider the last time that you did any of the following: took a "mental health day" from work, listed inaccurate times on your timesheet, billed a client for an extra hour or two, brought office supplies home. Yes - these are all small in comparison. However, there are very few fraud cases that do not start off as "small thefts" - many times with the intent to repay.
Jim Lindell is a National Speaker, Author, and Vistage Chair. He is motivated by helping others improve their lives and businesses.
He is President of Thorsten Consulting Group, Inc.
Order Jim's book - "Controller as Business Manager".
controller as business manager - jim lindell - thorsten consulting group
Controller as Business Manager
