The Ethics Recession

Do you believe the current recession that we’re in has something to do with the lack of values in corporate America? I sure do. In fact, I think that we’re in an ethical recession that’s resulted in a financial recession.

I truly believe if more corporations did something more with their values than wrote them on a piece of paper and tucked them away, we’d have better decision making in corporate America, decisions that are the right decisions for the right reasons versus for greedy reasons.

I don’t think it stops at corporate America either. We actually have an ethical recession at the consumer level as well. Consumers have made some pretty bad decisions. They have not made prudent decisions because they have used fast credit and easy loans to get in way over their heads and now they can’t afford it. Now they’re stuck with debt, now they can’t pay the banks, and it just becomes this vicious cycle that has turned into a financial recession for all of us.

Here’s the solution. In franchising we create systems that entrepreneurs can implement to build a successful business. We need to systematize values in business the same way we systematize finance, marketing and operations. But it starts with leadership. You have to have good strong leadership. You have to believe in values and believe in doing the right thing for the right reasons. Then you have to stand up for what you believe. Do you believe? If you do, stand with me.