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April 18, 2006
Lessons from Enron: Who Do You Trust?
The Enron trial has entered the main event phase. One of Enron's top Smartest Guys in the Room, former president Jeffrey Skilling, has been on the witness stand for a week. Last week, he was testifying in his own defense; this week, he faces cross-examination by prosecutor Sean Berkowitz.
According to the excellent coverage of the trial on the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog, Skilling appears to have made a good impression on the jury and courtroom observers during the defense portion of his testimony last week. So far this week, the prosecution hasn't landed a knockout blow.
The defense team contends that what Skilling and his codefendant, former CEO Kenneth Lay, did at Enron was, in fact, not illegal. But in all the testimony so far, one thing seems clear to me and to other observers: So many people -- customers, employees, bankers, investment analysts and stockholders -- trusted these executives and the company they created to fulfill their obligations. As it turns out, they did not deserve that trust.
Trust is something most of us take for granted in our work relationships. We have to -- it makes business possible. Without it, we'd be conducting cash-only commerce among entities no larger than what one person could supervise.
But this trust cannot be taken for granted. We should make sure everyone knows just how central it is to business and personal success. And it starts at the top.
Here are just a few of Monster's career advice resources on the importance of building and maintaining trust and ethical relationships at work:
- "The Art of Virtual Communication"
- "Conduct Ethical Job Searches"
- "Creating a Telecommuting Strategy"
- "Do Your Clients Trust You?"
- "How Are Your Ethics?"
- "In Management They Trust. Or Do They?"
- "A Kinder, More Ethical MBA?"
- "The Quick-Impact List to Gain Trust"
Exciting news: Monster Career Advice has been nominated for a Webby Award! Don't forget to vote for Monster Career Advice in the Employment category before May 5.
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Posted by Ryck on April 18, 2006 at 01:31 PM in Current Events | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments
Trust no one.... Fox Mulder.
Posted by: Charlie on the Pennsylvania Turnpike | Apr 20, 2006 8:57:06 AM
Agree, trust noone. As soon as the fecal matter hits the turbine-like device, you will see how safe you are.
Posted by: Duncan | Apr 24, 2006 4:56:41 PM
I disagree with the defense team. These two characters lied to analysts and investors regarding financial reporting - and I believe they call that fraud. Some people believe that if you keep repeating false statements (as if they were true)people will eventually believe them - which may be the case here for a jury which may not have much of a financial background.
We have some of the laziest financial analysts I have ever seen. How could they miss the math on this one tells me they took the models Enron gave them - rathern than responsibly doing their own due diligence by making their own assumptions and creating their own models. I believe one independent analyst did get this right!! AIMR needs to write a few new guidelines for these characters.
The Enron crimes could not have taken place without legal professionals helping them to scheme and cheat. I'd like to know when are the lawyers who created all of these complicated, unethical entities are going to trial????
Posted by: Barb | May 9, 2006 2:38:18 PM
Trust- I work for a major airline I have no trust in this company and am finding the idea of working for some other "BIG" company (out side the airlines)makes me ill. I read about all the emron type of companies and can not afford to loose any more of my earned benefits down the road. As a employee I do not trust the company I work for to treat me "Fairly" this may be a thing of the past. I don't know how we can have a strong company when the employies are always looking over there shoulder for a knife coming from the company.
Posted by: Todd | May 9, 2006 4:26:17 PM
This can be any company which will cheat the public or it's own. I just left a company that is full of medical people. They work for insurance companies and their employer groups for disease improvement and prevention. This former employer is "on the rise", and made promices to it's hard working nurses of yearly bonuses(that was a hiring draw). This didn't happen due to "not meeting the "Pool percentage". Interestingly, extreme increase in clientel and such, numbers looked good (those which were made public. But some how the ones making the money for the company (Nurses), missed out on the benefits of THEIR good work. When informed of the "sad facts" they didn't realize that nurses are becoming more business savey. We read the business news and crunched the numbers our selves. We nurses network very well; thus this employer is now loosing staff but also not able to replace or increase staff.
This is one "point of trust" the employer botched. There are others. DON'T ASSUME that the employee is as dumb as you (the employer) are.
Posted by: Dinah | May 9, 2006 5:22:05 PM
Remember the difference between blogging and flogging,
flogging leaves a lasting impression!
Posted by: rampsara | May 9, 2006 10:27:46 PM
Trust is a key component in leadership. Without it, an organization will not function properly. The military is a prime example of trust in action. When your life depends on the people with whom you are serving and their lives depend on you, there is no room for deception. Troops follow orders because they trust in their leadership and leaders trust that the orders will be carried out. The same is true in other organizations in government and the private sector. Your livelihood depends on the people that you are working for and with. If that trust is broken, it damages working relationships, diminishes productivity, and erodes credibility for the organization as a whole.
Posted by: Jeff | May 13, 2006 10:42:58 PM
Trust no one. I agree this company could not have done this with out the oversight or rather ignoring of the financial analyst. They should be held acountable. I feel for the employees who lost their hard earned money. While the cows were getting fat. This is scary and remember HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF....
Posted by: yolany | Jul 28, 2006 5:29:25 PM
