Troubled Times-- In Pursuit of Truth

 I can’t recall being more worried about the state of our world and the state of our nation than I am right now. 

 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s response to it (the U.S. and NATO) continues to escalate, with not only no end in sight but, from my perspective, no credible exit in sight.  Putin is feeling increasingly “cornered”. There is no telling what he might do in order to avoid humbling defeat.The words we are employing aren’t helping.  Secretary of Defense Austin declaring it our ‘intent” to degrade Russia’s military and a thinly disguised commitment to regime change. In truth, I  believe this is the only path to a better future for Russia and a lasting peace for the world but our insisting on it  publicly isn’t going to help achieve that outcome; it plays into Putin's hands.

 

I wrack my brain for a “peace settlement” now that both Ukraine and Russia could sign on to.  I can’t imagine Ukraine agreeing to cede any new territory (apart from Crimea) to Russia, and it’s hard to imagine Russia agreeing to anything not involving some added territory.

In our own country, and in the world for that matter, I’m most troubled by the utter disrespect for truth.  The willingness to lie flagrantly and get away with it.  Kevin McCarthy, who aspires to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, denies making the statement that he felt Trump should resign after January 6, only to have a tape of his voice saying exactly that appear the next day.  With all of that, he appears before the Republican Caucus and gets a standing ovation. 

 

Putin tells lie after lie to the Russian public and, for still a majority, his words are believed. 

 

I’ve sometimes been asked:  “What is the most important thing you took away from college?”  My answer, starting over half century ago to this very day, is:  “The respect I gained for seeking truth and the importance of being open to new learning to determine what truth is.” 

 

When I’m asked what it is that led me to stay at Procter & Gamble rather than going to law school after my  first year, which is what I anticipated, the reasons I give always include, “It was my discovery that the search for truth in P&G was what I had experienced and loved at Yale.”  Yes, the search for truth.

 

Twenty-three years ago, I went to the Miami University campus to give a talk to the students.  Its title was:  “Does character count?”  When that topic had first been suggested to me, I dismissed it, saying the answer to this question was too obvious to merit a full-blown talk.   The faculty member I was talking to told me I was wrong.  It was a very live question in students’ minds.  He wanted me to address it.  And so I did. 

 

I began my talk with these four words:  ‘Without character, nothing counts.’”  

I continued:  “What is character?  I don’t know if there is a final answer,” I said.  “But for me character expresses integrity:  ‘Being as one.’ ‘Being as one’ in the sense of being faithful in action to your most important core values, to your promises, to your words.’ ‘Being as one’ in saying what you mean and meaning what you say and of being faithful to other people, especially when they are not present.”

 

I went on:  “Integrity manifests itself in a quality I’ve come to appreciate more and more:  ‘Authenticity.’  I love to hear it said of someone:  ‘What you see is what you get.’  No matter where this person is, no matter whom they are talking to, no matter whom they are talking with, they are the same, because they are just being themselves.”  

This kind of integrity, this commitment to truth as best we know it, this is the predicate for a functioning democracy, for a functioning company, for a functioning family, for a functioning relationship of any kind. 

I recall the chilling words of Goebbels during the Nazi era. In  so many words, "If you keep telling people a lie, again and again, many will come to believe it".

George Orwell in his all too prescient book, "Animal Farm", writes this: "Totalitarianism demands..the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run demands a disbelief in the very existence of truth".

 In times past, I believe there would have been broad, if not totally universal agreement to the commitment to truth even as we recognized our imperfection in carrying out this mandate.

 

What worries, indeed what scares me today, is that this commitment to integrity, to telling the truth, is up for grabs.  It has being flagrantly abused and the abusers are getting away with it.  This is true in our country; it’s true globally. 

 

What has happened to the aspiration for ideals we have held dear?  

With all this cause for deep concern, there are rays of hope and inspiration. We see Liz Cheney standing up to her Republican party's continued allegiance to Donald Trump and his outright lies. Above all, we see the Ukrainian people  and their President Volodymyr Zelensky pursue truth—freedom—at the risk and sacrifice of their lives. 

No matter which way the winds are blowing, we have only one choice. Do what we believe is right. Continue to pursue truth as we can best understand it. 

The Moral Responsibility of Business

 The current controversy involving the Walt Disney Company and the State of Florida led me back to this blog I posted over 6 years ago. My views have not changed. 

THE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS--WHAT IS IT AND WHAT IS IT NOT?

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

The Moral Responsibility of Business

Some time ago, we were presented with a real drama in the States of Indiana and Arkansas, as legislation was adopted and then quickly reversed which proposed to give license to business organizations to refuse service based on their religious principles to gays and lesbians.  A broad array of business and business leaders objected to this, including the nine leading businesses in Indiana, WalMart, Apple, and many others.  New legislation was quickly introduced (and that in Arkansas modified) to explicitly indicate that this “religious freedom” legislation could not be used to discriminate against marriage preference. 

This is a very tricky area.  To what extent do businesses have the right and indeed the obligation to voice their position on moral or ethical grounds to sway public policy?  How does business strike the right balance between its values and abiding with an existing social policy, imbedded in law and perhaps embraced by a large percentage of the population, including its employees or customers?

Getting down to cases, as CEO in 1995, I reached the position that Procter & Gamble should provide equal benefits to individuals who are in a codified same-sex partnership.  We did this at a time when the majority of Ohioans opposed same-sex marriage.  We were not taking a position that these individuals were wrong in their belief.  We were taking the position that the same-sex partnership as it was codified made it right in the name of fairness to accord our employees in such a partnership the same benefits as a married couple.  It proved fairly controversial, but I believed it was right to do.  We were not making a moral pronouncement on same-sex marriage at this time.  We were saying that in the name of fairness there was no reason to deny individuals in this relationship same-sex benefits.

A related issue being discussed here relates to the “personhood” of a corporation.  Is a corporation a “person” or not? 

Many, perhaps most, would say, no, a corporation is not a “person.”  As one columnist said, a corporation won’t be a “person” until it is capable of being executed in the State of Texas. 

Where do I stand on this issue?  It depends on what you mean by “person.”

I would say that business has a “responsibility” as part of society to advance positions that are consistent with what as a corporate body (leaders, board of directors, best understanding of shareholders) represent correct and moral values.  I say this because I believe corporations have a major role to play in forming the cultural and value-based character of a society.  I do believe that corporations need to be humble and circumspect in taking on an issue.  They have to recognize the practical need to balance the interests of those it serves -- its consumers, employees, shareholders and the community. 

In other words, if a corporation took on a value-based position that would destroy its business, it would end up serving no one in the future.  Would there ever be occasions where it would have to go this far, to almost literally have to go out of business?  Yes, if its being in business meant threatening the life of consumers or anyone else.

When I say a corporation must be circumspect and humble, I mean that it must avoid becoming sanctimonious or in any way believing that it has a role of being a priest or prophet in its times.  It must speak judicially, though sometimes bravely, and it must avoid failing to do the good it can do at a given point in time because it cannot achieve perfection. 

Take the situation of Procter & Gamble in Saudi Arabia many years ago.  There was a social mandate that men and women could not work together in the same office.  P&G might have, given its commitment to gender equality, said that it would not do business in Saudi Arabia at all.  Or, I guess it could have taken the position it would violate the laws, though that would not have lasted long.  What did we do?  We set up separate office locations where women would work and where men would work and they would communicate between the two offices.  We did this on market research work.  We also pushed to change the social norms and the laws.  We felt that was right to do, not only morally; we knew it would be better for the business to have people working together in that way.  We felt advancing gender equality was right for the business and right morally.  We kept advancing this goal.

This raises a question:  is the test for a company taking a position on a moral or social issue whether it is relevant to the success of the business itself in the long-term?  Put differently, should businesses only weigh in on social and moral issues that bear directly on having the right (and by “right” I include being morally correct) business and working environment long-term?  I think the answer is yes, but I’d underscore the importance of taking a long-term view.  For example, I believe the commitment to achieve a sustainable environment is one that businesses should advocate, even beyond the immediate benefit of that for the business itself.   Why?  Because I believe businesses should understand that having a world in which they or any other business could operate long-term requires a sustainable environment.

I believe that a business has social and moral obligations that go beyond simply making money in any short- or medium-term measurable sense.

At the same time, I believe its judgments and pronouncements must be measured and put in the context of a business’s doing what is right and fair for its employees, its shareholders and its consumers, recognizing there will always be different points of view on what is right and fair.  While always seeking to do the “right” thing.  It must avoid being self-righteous or over-extending its role in advocating for what it sees as the common good.

"This I Believe"

 I have often been asked to share my most important beliefs. Here is what I share:

“THIS I BELIEVE”

• Personal leadership makes things happen.

• No major accomplishment has been achieved without the combination of vision, hope, wise strategic choices, outstanding execution, continued learning and courageous determination to overcome adversity.

• People and values are the foundation of any great organization.

• Our trust is the greatest gift we can give one another … other than our love.  And without trust, love cannot long endure.

• No one can perform at their best if they don’t feel respected and able to influence how the work for which they are accountable is done.

• Appreciating the uniqueness, dignity and the value of every individual brings much to others and, often, even more to us.

• Never feel sorry for yourself.  Don’t be discouraged for long.  Remember your blessings.  Never give up.  Life, like history, is a story of ups and downs.

• Being effective and earning the respect of those we admire derives from three things above all others:  our competence, our character ... and how much we care.

• The foundation of character is integrity:

• “Try to do the right thing … always.”
• ”Tell me what you think; act on what you believe to be true.”
• “Always seek wisdom, courage and perseverance.”

• A good life grows from a process of continual learning on how to better fulfill a few deeply held commitments.  These are my commitments:

• Service         ]
• Leadership   ]   My three “North Stars”
• Growth        ]

• Family comes first