Breaking your Ethical Code

Can you give us an example of an instance where you were asked to do something that you felt was perhaps wrong or unethical, and how did you handle it? What are some of the most critical factors to keep in mind for ethical leadership?

I can say with confidence, I think that I've never been asked to do something that's wrong and unethical from the two companies, from the bigger two companies that I worked for, which is part of why I chose them in the first place. Both Clorox and P&G are deeply ethical companies, where I've never experienced that, but I have experienced it from either existing or prospective business partners, you know, where they wanted something mostly about preferential treatment, that we go against our policies, a special deal on something or special favor. And I can say with good conscience that I've always declined that because it's -- I talked earlier about how important it is to have zero tolerance for unethical behavior and how it's toxic. And that is, you know, it's easy to say but people look at me first as the leader in the organization, how do I behave in situations, where I'm asked something that could maybe give my company a short-term benefit? Am I relenting or do I have the courage to say no? That's maybe why I like courage as a leadership trait so much because sometimes it's difficult to say no, and we have walked away from the business because we have said no to customers and we have lost business that way, and our financial performance and in this particular case also the stock price temporarily has suffered. But I think in leadership roles we owe it to our employees, to our investors to take a long-term view and always think that relenting to questions or unethical behavior will always lead to disaster in the long run. It's easy to give a little and relent a little, and then the next time you give a little bit more and a little bit more, and then there's a very fine line between what's right and wrong, and it's easy to slip into behavior that's not good.