A Matter Of Honour
The headline of Prime News in the Straits Times on Thursday March 26, 2009 caught my attention.
“Home of ex-bank chief attacked”
The report was of Mr. Goodwin, the former CEO of RBS who was said to have squandered millions while RBS ran up huge losses, and he had refused to give up his huge pension.
A Group calling itself “Bank Bosses are Criminals” claimed responsibility for vandalising Mr. Goodwin’s big detached home and his Mercedes S600 and added:
“We are angry that rich people like him are paying themselves a huge amount of money, and living a luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeless.”
Mr. Goodwin had refused to give up his £700,000 annual pension despite leading RBS into Britain’s biggest banking failure.
RBS had lost £24.1 billion in 2008 and necessitated a £20 billion bailout.
I do not support the action of the people vandalising Goodwin’s home, but understand their anger at his conduct. And Mr. Goodwin was not the only one who had held on to his legal rights while ignoring what could be called a matter of honour.
Many head honchos and senior staff in corporate America had similarly clung on to their bonuses and high salaries even though it came from the bailout funds.
“Honour” as used here refers to a “scrupulous sense of what is right; a high standard of moral behaviour or integrity”.
“Honourable” in this context means having high moral principles.
Larry Burkett drew attention to a few practices which are legal but are not honourable.
Examples
- Using bankruptcy as a way out of paying one’s debts
- Rewarding oneself at the expense of, or to the detriment of other stakeholders
- Taking advantage of monopolistic powers
- Huge income inequality
The Economist carried this sentence in the article “The rich under attack”:
“… Rising inequality – the top 0.1% of Americans earned 20 times the income of the bottom 90% in 1979 and 77 times in 2006 – and a sense that the greedy rich have cheated decent working people of their rightful share of the pie.”
What is an equitable income for CEOs or for that matter, political leaders like our ministers? And what is honourable for them to do when things are not going well like now?
The work of a CEO and definitely a leader of state is not easy and there should be fair compensation to ensure the right caliber of people are willing to do it. But there is the moral sense that perhaps a CEO getting 77 times the income of the average worker may be too high.
I have never had the opportunity to reward myself even 20 times the pay of the average worker in my firm and don’t know whether if given the opportunity, I will be a “monster” CEO. The questions that I think I have to answer first are:
- Have I paid the staff fair wages for their work based on their performance and the company’s performance?
- Have I retained sufficient reserves for the company to replace fixed assets and to keep up with technology and future staff training and other needful things?
- Have I been practising fair dealing towards my clients in giving them the best service and products, towards my suppliers in paying them on time, towards my competitors in not running any down unfairly etc.
My stint in the army and reading the biographies of military leaders remind me that soldiers will only be willing to give their lives for a good cause when they respect their generals. Invariably, these are the generals who are willing to be in battle and risk their lives as well as endure the same battle conditions and eat the same army food.
If CEOs take a leaf from famous military leaders, they would not defend their high and mighty position and perks.
I remember how a few great people were discussing how to start a new religion. One of them said it would be easy if he was willing to be crucified and to die and to rise from the dead. It takes this kind of sacrifice to win the hearts of people.
It was said to Jesus that “Though he was rich (the Son of God with all the privileges), yet for our sakes, he became poor (a servant and ultimately to die the death reserved for criminals), that we through his poverty might be made rich.”
It is true sacrifice which wins over the hearts of people, not riches, not power, not even empathy.
It is also honour and integrity which earn true respect and loyalty.
Our laws and institutions and capitalism have provided opportunities for the capable ones to prosper in good times and in bad, especially if they are too big to be allowed to fall.
But the people’s gut reaction is moral and ethical and not legal. Clearly, moral principle is higher than legal. We can be rich legally and corrupt morally.
Luke 16:19 – 31
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30” ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ “
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