I just read an interesting column in Business Ethics, a magazine about corporate responsibility. It's the winter edition and in her column called "Musings", editor Marjorie Kelly makes a common sense suggestion. Let's use the power of language to help make the case for ethics in business.
Selling ethics to top management in companies should not be difficult, but recent events would suggest otherwise. She suggests several words that all of us as communicators need to begin to spout a new vocabulary in all of our conversations with top management.
Words like "short-termism, character, reputational risk, stakeholders and human capital" all need to find their way in to every day use. We need to shift the conversation of ROI to be not just about stock price and profits. We have to keep hammering home that there is a "reputational risk" if we do not help all of our "stakeholders" understand the dangers of "short-termism" and ignoring the impact of all decisions on an organization's "human capital."
It's difficult to put that onto a bumper sticker, but these are all part of an organization's ROI today along with the usual financial considerations. Marjorie Kelly made an interesting analogy in her column. She likened what needs to happen with business and ethics to what women had to go through in the 1970's. The feminist movement changed the language and today those changes are permanent. A woman's relationship with a man used to be identified as "Miss" or "Mrs." The new term put forth in the 70's - "Ms." - signaled independence. "Mankind" became "Humankind." The term "He" today only refers to the male species, not both genders as it once did.
Language is powerful and can be used to change the dynamics of any situation. Let's get to work making sure we are using these and other new words and bring ethics to the center of all business activities. It's a good place to start.
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