There is a shift happening in the business world with conversations around the importance of living the values and abiding by an ethical framework around which a company’s culture is built. It’s one thing to have values in place yet another to live them everyday and lead by example. Adding more human-ness to the organization by creating a strong sense of belongingness, reinforcing trust, leading by compassion and an ethical code of conduct are some of ways to build ownership, engagement and sustainability so that businesses thrive and not just survive. Global humanitarian and spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, “What you don’t want your vendors to do to you, you shouldn’t do it to your customers. You don’t want your vendors to cheat you, hence you shouldn’t cheat your customers.”
The upcoming World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB) conference debuting in the United States on April 12, 2018 will convene leading CEOs, entrepreneurs and NGO leaders to integrate ethical values and social responsibility into the DNA of innovation. With a mandate to providing a platform for promotion of ethical approaches to business enterprise and corporate governance, facilitating dialogue among various stakeholders, the conference will have global leaders uncover the importance of ethics in a rapidly evolving innovative environment. In this backdrop, I spoke to Louis Gagnon, chief executive officer at MyBrainSolutions, the leading provider of software-based brain assessments and brain training who is a speaker at this conference. MyBrainSolutions (parent company Brain Resource Limited) secured a funding of $20 million last month and is set to grow rapidly.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
Q. What has been the role of ethics in your life?
A. As part of my upbringing, it has been drilled deep down in my psyche that being bad is not an option - and that there were standards I needed to meet as a person. I left my home with the conviction that I needed to meet those standards. However, when exposed to the world around, one realizes that everybody around you is taking shortcuts and everybody is shortchanging someone at one point or another. And so the realization comes, “I could do it too.” And that forces you to exercise your freedom.
What is freedom? Freedom is the luxury of being able to choose not to take those short cuts everyday. And that’s what I have done all my life. Everyday, I am choosing again and again to do the right thing because not only is it driven deep down into my heart but also because I have realized that it is the best economic choice. It is the only way to create sustainability. You cannot sustain a business, an initiative or an effort unless it is embedded in ethical choices. Unethical choices always end up being uncovered and in the long run turn out to be bad choices. I have made that choice everyday and I have to tell you that the temptation is always there to take the shortcut. Yet it is no surprise that those who are unethical, from time to time, always end up paying a big price for it. I wish that I continue to have the strength of my conviction and continue to build for the long range.
Q. Have you invested in a culture that is driven by human values and an ethical framework?
A. I have been in positions where I could be that example of an ethical leader and I have led by example influencing many people overtime. However, there is one leader that matters more than all others in an organization and that is the Chief Executive Officer. The CEO needs to incarnate those values that he wants his organization to have. Values are not just a piece of paper framed on the wall in a corporate office - if the CEO does not represent those values everywhere, all the time, then his people are not so effective as they could be.
Q. How can leaders balance the goals of capitalism with morals? How can they meet their financial goals, increase shareholder value yet not compromise on ethics?
A. In my mind, it’s about the horizon you take in your business. Is it short term or long term? If it is long term, you need to align all the stakeholders because there is only one way to exist over time and that is to do the right thing. I am deeply convinced that ethics drives sustainability. Unethical choices are not sustainable. When one takes shortcuts, one is actually destroying shareholder value in the long term. You may show a better quarter, and the next quarter too could be a superstar quarter, yet in two years from now when there are law suits, you can easily see that the future of the company is destroyed. There are several examples of companies who have come down crashing because unethical choices. I believe it’s important to explain to the shareholders the idea of long term sustainability — and that's what they want too. They don’t want the company to disappear! The company can be managed in the long run by making ethical decisions and value alignment across shareholders is key to it. In the absence of this, I could kill my market — and if I want an impeccable reputation, healthy customers, vendors and employees, I have to align the interest of all these stakeholders in the long term.
Q. How are you integrating ethics in innovation in context of what MyBrainSolutions does?
A. One of the big issues in our field is the proper usage of data. If I have the brain profile of millions of human beings, it is extremely sensitive information and we as a company take this very seriously. We always ensure that all the data is anonymous and nobody knows the brain profile strengths and weaknesses of a particular employee. We will continue to do our best to respect the privacy of the individual and make the best choices to serve shareholder value. MyBrainSolutions is bringing the best of what neuroscience has to offer together with the best of what technology has to offer. It’s at the cutting edge of these fields and addresses the global brain health imperative. We will deliver unprecedented benefits of creating well being and preventing mental illness.
This is a series of articles that will capture perspectives from senior leadership on the topic of ethics in AI, investment, media, growth and social impact. To learn more about the conference, visit here.