Overview of March 8th c-level symposium
On March 8th a group of Upstate corporate level executives came together for an
invitation only symposium titled “Influential Voices for Economic Development,
Ethics and Education.”
The program, skillfully facilitated by Dean Hybl, was a conversation with a purpose,
namely, revealing and exploring the connections between economic development,
ethics and education. Four common themes emerged:
1. Training in “soft skills” that focus attention on organizational culture, ethical
treatment of others —within an organization as well as external
constituencies, e.g., clients or customers— and ethically informed decisionmaking, is common in large corporations and professions such as medicine,
engineering or architecture, which require licenses and typically include a
code of professional ethics. Such training is, however, less common in small
companies or organizations and, it seems, especially in “start ups.”
2. Training in soft skills is useful for all employees, but especially important
with newer employees who, it seems, lack these skills. Perhaps this “skills
deficit” exists because, at present, preparing young people to avoid, or
address and solve problems that have a values dimension is seen by parents
as a responsibility of the schools and by schools as a parental responsibility.
3. “Ownership” of and commitment to organizational values —embracing the
“culture” of a business— is important at all levels of an organization, not least
because future leaders can come from any level, and thus needs to be
continually and consistently promoted. This is not a one-off sort of thing.
4. Success in business depends on the people within the business being on the
same page. For example, managers ought not be surprised by the ways in
which sales representatives interact with customers. This is important for
several reasons but one stands out: Employees are seen as representatives of
the business and, thus, the reputation of the business is largely in their
hands. They can enhance it. They can also jeopardize or damage it. The
stakes are high. Risks/dangers for the reputation of a business are lessened
when employees understand that the stakes are high for them as well,
largely, though not exclusively, because they are part of the organization.
All agreed that sustained success in this arena requires consistency and that these
themes must be reinforced by the organization’s behavior from top to bottom.
These common themes suggest that an opportunity may exist to create a Values
Based Leadership Working Group that would meet on a regular basis (perhaps
quarterly) to continue the discussion and do a bit of brainstorming with an eye to
constructive action in areas of shared interest and concern.
The initial goal of the group might be helping to identify the “soft pieces” that
employers want and expect from new employees. Subsequently, the group might
turn its attention to identifying the critical components of organizations that are
“ethically sustainable.” That would be enormously helpful as the Rutland Institute
for Ethics works to develop tools and a strategy for the creation and maintenance of
ethically sustainable organizations, as well as an ESO certification process. There
are, of course, many other things the group could take up.
We are hopeful that there will soon be reason to update this information and that a
VBL Working Group will be come a significant force for economic development in
South Carolina.
March 8 symposium participants included:
David Bereskin, CEO, Greenville Water
David Cordeau, President, Spartanburg Regional Chamber of Commerce
Sharon Day, President, Sales Activation Group
Julie Ducworth, Connectivity Manager, Liberty Fellowship
Thornwell Dunlap, President & CEO, Countybank
Earle Harding, Executive VP, Palmetto Bank (event host)
Dean Hybl, Executive Director, Ten at the Top (facilitator)
Anna Locke, President, A. T. Locke
Erwin Maddrey, President, Maddrey & Associates
Jeff Quinley, Fiber Sales Manager, Charter Business
Jim Shew, Regional Director, BluCross BlueShield of South Carolina
Toby Stansell, President and COO, Acumen I.T.
Ann Wright, Regional CEO, American Red Cross of the Western Carolinas
Daniel Wueste, Director, Rutland Institute for Ethics
We are very grateful to Sam Erwin and Palmetto Bank for providing the venue for
the symposium..
To view some photos taken during the symposium  (have this as a hotlink)