Walk the Talk

In Attendance:

• Ben Hartings
• Jeremy Rambo
• Alex Percy
• Erich Wudke
• Rob Sills
• Joseph Drayer
• John Cole
• Al Pierce
• Laura McManamon
• Jack Lohbeck
• Christian Kiewitz
• Victor Forlani

Minutes:

• Brother Victor led us in prayer.
• Jack Lohbeck started us off by relating his experience of pressures in the workplace. He zeroed in on pressures from the press and the market to make quarterly targets. He also described ethical issues on the job site.
• John Cole and Al Pierce chimed in with some of their perceptions and questions:
  • Fact that it is often difficult to determine what is ethical in today’s economy.
  • Importance that chief executives and their direct reports set tone at the top.
  • Ambiguity arising from the customs in various cultures as we trade internationally.
  • Getting a fix on what MBA students and recent alumni sense they need would be helpful.
• We raised the issue of a difficult or toxic workplace and/or poor bosses. How can subordinates address these situations? What do they need to cope with them?
• Discussed the fact that often people resort to fight or flight in such situations, thereby often resolving nothing.
• Discussed the alternative of a middle ground, one of cooperation, discussion, collaboration, conversation, open dialogue. Creating a sense of common purpose, a “we” rather than the adversarial us versus them.
• Brother Victor stated that focusing on that type situation may be a worthwhile goal and an effective way to being our conversation over the next several months..
• Reflected on the fact that awareness of ethical issues is an on-going process. Some practices which are considered wrong today were not always so. Impact of effluents on the environment would be an example.
• Some consider the MBA an awakening process regarding such issues and, hopefully, ways to address them.

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