
It’s Never Wrong To Do The Right Thing
The fire that caused the Malden Mills factory to burn down on December 11, 1995, was the largest seen in the State of Massachusetts in a century. While the factory burned down, all that the CEO Aaron Feuerstein could think of was how he could possibly recreate it. Mr. Feuerstein decided to continue paying the salaries of all the now-unemployed workers while the factory was being rebuilt. By going against common CEO business practices, especially at a time when most companies were downsizing and moving overseas, he achieved recognition for doing the right thing.
When Morley Safer of CBS’ 60 Minutes interviewed Aaron Feuerstein part of the interview went like this:
Morley Safer: “The mill was in ruins, you continued to pay your workers. That may be a great moral gesture, but is it a wise business decision?
Aaron Feuerstein: “I think it was a wise business decision, but that is not why I did it. I did it because it was the right thing to do.”
The real interesting aspect of this story is that doing the right thing capitalism is so unique. As Mr. Feuerstein further stated: “At the time of America’s greatest prosperity, the God of Money has taken over to an extreme.”
In the airline industry, employee performance is based on their ability to “meet a schedule”. The focus on this particular metric does not guarantee that you are succeeding on what drives customer loyalty and retention. United Airlines received a lot of bad press for delivering a man’s guitar on-time, according to the schedule, but the guitar was in “pieces”. Too many industries and companies do not focus on creating a great customer experience and measuring that as core to operational excellence. A positive example of United Airlines employees doing the right thing is of a flight that was delayed so that a son could catch a flight which enabled him to make it home before his mother passed away.

STANDARD OF TRUST LEADERSHIP
In a world of intense competition and rapid product commoditization, doing the right thing makes a leader, organization, and product/service very unique and trusted. Someday, maybe in the not-too-distant future, that will not be the case. Generally, doing the right thing is not practiced in order to maximize revenues and profits. However, doing the right thing principles, practices, and measurement integrates financial performance with guiding principles which earns trust and that is really the only sustainable business model in a hyper-connected and transparent world.
Organizational Cultures Flourish by Doing The Right Thing
Collaboration and employee empowerment have become overused buzzwords today. We all understand in this fast-based world of information and competition, we need highly flexible, and creative teams. The challenge is that not all collaboration is the same. Individuals’ motivations and capabilities can be very different from team to team and from organization and organization. Most individuals want to Do-The-Right-Thing for their customers, teams, and partners. Not just for meeting job performance expectations, but because it inspires and motivates them with a higher purpose.

The challenge is so many organizations demonstrate that the employee is not trusted with lengthy operating rules. The organization demonstrates how it values the employee by cutting training budgets, and downsizing when economic times are tough. The people left standing after another wave of layoffs have their motivation drained away. Purpose-driven behavior becomes the exception rather than the norm. Many individuals take a transactional mindset to their jobs. Do enough to keep their job, but not enough to be emotionally committed to the mission of the business.
In this knowledge-based economy, the latest research shows that many people feel they are not utilizing their gifts or capabilities in the performance of their jobs. And when you are not emotionally committed to your company, you are not going to behave with a greater purpose and you are not going to do what it takes to master new skills to become a star performer. Many existing organizational cultures do not reward breakthrough thinking and risk-taking leadership behavior. A cycle of mediocrity becomes the norm with a constant flow of onboarding and offboarding employees.
“Integrate purpose into your for-profit business model through a long-term commitment to a cause that is aligned with your core values and those of your community.” − SIMON MAINWARING
Conclusion
Many professionals do not believe that they are consistently using their capabilities or gifts on a daily basis in their jobs. The speed of change affecting industries due to new technologies and globalization are impacting companies and their functional business units. Whether it is sales, marketing, finance, or human resources, the people in these roles are being challenged to align their capabilities in a world of hyper-connected communication and transparency. Standard of Trust leadership principles can be learned and practiced by any leader at any level of an organization. Leveraging the moral advantage by having a do the right thing purpose and utilizing the PE-ER platform by earning relationship capital is a more thoughtful way of transcending the traditional carrots & sticks motivators of business performance. It’s never wrong to do the right thing.
