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When Co-Workers Do Wrong

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It's easy to conclude as Lord Acton did that, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Yet eschewing power is hardly the answer. Powerlessness also corrupts. How else can you explain why all those junior partners who worked for Myerson were so willing to risk disbarment rather than activate some kind of personal moral compass.

Obviously, they were more scared of losing their jobs than their licenses to practice law. So they caved in to the pressure to "do the wrong thing." But were there no other alternatives available to them?

Others have found strength and courage by banding together. When a high-ranking human resources executive ordered his benefits and compensation staff to "fudge their numbers" for the year-end audit, they collectively marched into his boss's office to register a protest. This team power play effectively put an end to his unethical demands.



Sadly, not every ethical professional can find power in numbers. A quality-control inspector for an outdoor-equipment manufacturer in California was upset by the lax standards her colleagues and supervisor were exhibiting toward certain products. This placed her in a practical and ethical quandary. She was uncomfortable with what she saw happening around her. Yet if she went over her co-workers' heads and complained, she feared reprisals. And since her supervisor was one of the offending parties, she felt it would be futile to register a complaint with him.

Finally, she decided to rely on her sense of what's right to do, as well as her firsthand impression of the CEO as a fair-minded and responsive leader. Her instincts were good. The CEO took her complaint seriously and, without revealing the source of his information or jeopardizing her position, investigated and rectified the problem.

Doing an end run around the person you directly report to isn't always advisable. Before attempting it, you should evaluate your boss's boss realistically. If it seems unlikely that the executive will handle the problem discreetly, you may want to look for another, more direct solution.

An administrative assistant knew a member of her department was fudging expense reports, and it made her uncomfortable. Rather than ignore (and process) those reports, she pointed out to him that she thought he'd "inadvertently" made a mistake on his report. The word inadvertently was carefully chosen. It was her way of giving him the benefit of the doubt, as well as a way to correct the problem without having to admit that he'd been dishonest. It also sent a message that someone was watching. This encouraged him to keep more accurate expense reports in the future.

Fight Subtle Pressures

Unethical behavior doesn't always involve conscious fraud. Un-conscious self-deception can fuel the fire, too. For example, many executives tend to view unethical behavior as "someone else's problem" rather than their own, says Oak Park, Illinois, psychologist Laurie Anderson. If they behave in a shady manner, they justify it as a necessary reaction to others' misconduct.

"Nobody ever owns up to being an unethical person," Anderson says. "It's everybody else who's unethical."

Rationalizing ethical slips isn't hard for people who must reconcile competing professional pressures. A prominent healthcare attorney with a major Chicago law firm cites the situation in fee-for-service medicine, where overzealous physicians may rack up legitimate (but unnecessary) charges in the name of conscientiousness.

"Never mind what the client really needs," says the attorney, "doctors and lawyers make those decisions for them. And sometimes those decisions are costly."

Excessive demands from higher-ups can also be a factor. For example, consider the timekeeping wars that go on in the legal world. One professional spent five years of his career as office manager for a medium-size general corporate law firm, and was responsible for collecting and monitoring attorneys' time sheets there. During his tenure, there was an ongoing push for associates to generate more billable hours, which in turn generated a silent feud among several of the associates.

All the firm's associates worked similarly long hours. However, one associate with some particularly "creative" timekeeping strategies made it look as if he was putting in more hours than his colleagues. One very meticulous, hard-working associate (who put in 10-hour days every single day) resented his colleague's timekeeping strategies, the partners' tacit agreement to look the other way and the subsequent pressure it placed on him to work harder and bill more hours, too.

His personal integrity created a double bind. He didn't feel it was his place to blow the whistle on his colleague, nor did he wish to put in more hours than he already was. He certainly wasn't interested in padding his time sheets. But he worried that the partners would think he wasn't productive enough.

He need not have worried. Working in the same office with him every day, it was impossible not to notice how diligently he worked.

As it turns out, both men became partners in the firm at the same time. Despite the conflict over billable hours, they were competent attorneys who achieved good results for the firm. But one was honest and capable, while the other was devious and manipulative.

It would be comforting to believe that, monetarily speaking, "crime doesn't pay." But it isn't always true. Sometimes, crime can be very lucrative. And just because the two Beech-Nut executives got caught doesn't mean that the next group of corporate thieves will suffer a similar fate. Besides, people who don't get caught don't make the six o'clock news.

The executives weren't even true bad guys (although they did show very poor judgment, for which they paid dearly). Their intention was to keep their company solvent and profitable. In their own minds, they probably genuinely believed that the "financial bottom line" of their company was more important than the law, fair business practices or their own personal reputation. What they needed was a lesson in "Business Ethics 101," with special emphasis on personal integrity and social responsibility.
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