might have been, in other times, the church, education, the
family, the greatest impact now is business. Everywhere one
looks, it seems to me that short-term thinking in business is the
greatest impact on our culture. And that’s leadership, because
it’s certainly educating kids to believe there’s nothing between
winning and losing.... Short-term thinking is the societal dis-
ease of our time.”
Other leaders agreed with Lear, noting that if companies
devoted as much time and attention to product quality as they
do to trying to skirt laws and buy officials, their bottom lines
would probably improve.
While studies of the relationship between corporate ethics
and corporate bottom lines have been inconclusive (most show
there is no relationship), Jim Burke pointed out that ethical
corporations can be consistently profitable, as Johnson & John-
son was on his watch. He said, “It’s possible to create a culture
that attracts the qualities that you value in people. You can call
that leadership, or you can call it creating a positive culture and
articulating a vision.”
Former Lucky Stores CEO Don Ritchey agreed. “I start out
with the presumption that most people want to be ethical. It’s
sort of a Golden Rule philosophy. So if you set up a climate
where you not only say it, but where people see that you mean
it, and it works, then nobody has to make expedient choices be-
cause somebody was leaning on him, telling him on the one
hand to be ethical and on the other hand to make the number
even if he has to be cute about it. The fact that you are very
hard-nosed about weeding out unethical behavior helps. If we
caught somebody cheating on the gross profit, for instance,
we’d tell him to get there the right way, or we’d rather he was
short. And the next time it happens, he’s out.... Ethics is not
Getting People on Your Side