Rebuild trust through leadership: Business success demands honesty and decency National Edition

Adapted from a speech delivered by Carol Stephenson in Hamilton, Ont., on March 11, 2003, as part of McMaster University's John W. Hodgins Memorial Lecture Series.; Ms. Stephenson is the incoming dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, in London. She is a cor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNational post (Toronto)
Main Author Stephenson, Carol M
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Don Mills, Ont Postmedia Network Inc 14.04.2003
Subjects
Employees
Ethics
Executives
Honesty
Investments
Leadership
Profitability
Stephenson, Carol
Telecommunications industry
Values
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Summary:Adapted from a speech delivered by Carol Stephenson in Hamilton, Ont., on March 11, 2003, as part of McMaster University's John W. Hodgins Memorial Lecture Series.; Ms. Stephenson is the incoming dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, in London. She is a corporate director and the former president and chief executive of Lucent Technologies Canada Corp. The first truth is that leaders need a strong vision -- a purpose that considers both the economic and the social impact of business. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, recently interviewed nearly 1,000 chief executives from 43 countries. Despite their concerns about investor confidence and economic uncertainty, almost 80% agreed that sustainability -- or adding economic, environmental and social value -- is vital to corporate profitability. And more than two-thirds would sacrifice short-term profitability in exchange for long-term shareholder value when implementing a sustainability program. Lucent's inherent respect for people and their ideas has not wavered. Sure, some of the perks are gone. The dividends are not as generous as they once were. But Lucent's culture continues to be characterized by openness, trust and honesty. I believe that is critical and it starts from the top.
ISSN:1486-8008