How You Play The Game: When I was a boy, I learned that we play to win, but how we play the game is more important than winning. If I was caught cheating I was out of the game. I learned a similar lesson when negotiating with other people. The lesson was to negotiate the best deal I could, but …
More Pain: Finally. But who’s going to jail? According to the 2/2/18 article in the Los Angeles Times, the Federal Reserved ordered Wells Fargo & Co. to “cap its growth and improve its corporate governance.” This is supposed to be punishment for “widespread consumer abuses and other compliance breakdowns.” But who’s going to jail? And who, really, went to jail …
Accountability I’m often asked about the difference between accountability and responsibility. The distinction I make (perhaps a bit oversimplified?) is that responsibility can be and often is shared with others. However, one cannot share accountability. Another distinction I’ve heard in our leadership circles is that one takes responsibility, but one is held accountable (by oneself and/or others). In the recent …
Leadership Owns This Scandal And just where was (is) the leadership at Wells Fargo in this ethical failure? What kind of culture would lead an employee even to consider falsifying emails, establishing unauthorized accounts, issuing unauthorized credit/debit cards, collecting fraudulent fees, and impacting customers’ credit scores? How can customers ever trust Wells Fargo again? Full disclosure: I am a Wells …