Soap Box II

If you are like me and have done a lot of talking about corporate corruption, start putting your words into action (advice for myself, too). The ongoing problem with unethical corporations and disenfranchised employees rests in the fact that no one takes ownership of the problems. It is always someone's else's fault, "the way of the world."

If I am marketing a paper company that's destroying old growth forests, I can dismiss my part in it as minimal - "I have to make a living." If I work for an employer who neglects workplace safety or is inappropriate to staff, I can shrug and say, "What difference does it make, I hate this job anyway." As a CEO I might say, "If I am keeping investors happy, that's all I have to worry about, right?"

These attitudes are contributing to problems we attribute solely to "big business." But big business is you and me and the choices we make as employers, employees, and consumers.

I challenge you, in whatever you do, to start taking your work personally. Start caring. Make choices for yourself and others. Be accountable. As Mark said, "It's not business, it's personal."