eBook High-Performance Ethics: 10 Timeless Principles for Next-Generation Leadership download

Wonder words of wisdom from a man who seeks God's plan in all that he does.

Excellent topic and well written!

Two features differentiate this book on business ethics from rest of this genre, the author and the message. The author, Wes Cantrell, started at the bottom of Lanier, the company that he eventually ran as Chief Executive and Chairman, overseeing its growth, listing as a separate entity, and finally, its sale to Ricoh. The message is very practical: you can do well financially by deliberately and consistently living to high ethical standards because ethical leadership creates high performance. This is in contrast to: You can do well and live to high ethical standards.
Cantrellcites ten principles required for what he calls “High Performance Ethics.” They mirror the Ten Commandments, but not simplistically, and while the book is faith based, rooted in Christianity, it provides keen insights to business and ethics that will inform beyond this faith community.
The opening chapter (echoing the first commandment,) is ‘First things only.’ This is as strong call to get priorities in order and then to address them. The chapter deals with the common idea of vision – where are we going, and missions – what will we do to get there? However, it goes further with a strong call to get everyone involved in the formulation of the inherent values that will underpin the mission and vision. All too often this is left to an executive subcommittee rather than, as Cantrell recommends, calling for company-wide discussion of the value and its implications. Without this discussion there will be no shared values, merely an executive note with the impact of an inconsequential policy change.
The discussion in necessary, he explains, because as common a term as ‘loyalty’ can be variously interpreted. It can be understood as ‘don’t rock the boat,’ or as ‘love the boat so much you will rock it if there is a problem.’
Following on the first principle is the second – ‘Ditch the Distractions.’ When all members of staff are informed of the company’s strategy and the critical success factors that can get them there, they are able to perform. Excluding anyone from the requirement to understand the strategy scores lowly on both ethics and performance. The former because it devalues people’s “need to know” and their ability to contribute intelligently, and the latter because it allows people to work on low-value work through management induced ignorance.
The fourth principle, echoing the call to Sabbath observance, is titled “Find Symmetry.” Taking issues with the idea of “work-life balance” Cantrell talks of a symmetrical life where no part is larger or smaller than it should be. The contrast of work and life denigrates work as the enemy of living so we get through the work to make it to life at the end of the day or the end of the week.
The idea of prioritizing one’s life in a fixed order, for example, family, work, community, and self, is “phony and misleading.” To be ethical and effective we have to shift these priorities around, probably on a daily basis. The key question is not what one’s priority list should look like; rather what should I be doing right now.
Under this principle Cantrell also addresses the need for a “pit stop” each week, a time to ensure that the wheals don’t come off when the car is back on the track. This is not time without structure in contrast to the structure of work, and using the racing analogy, the time off the track is planned, organized and effective even though the car isn’t running. The best life, he asserts, is one lived hard, worked hard, played hard, rested hard and shared hard and the pit stop is the time for all but ‘work hard.’
Burnout, he contends is not usually a function of working too hard, rather it is a function of playing a role that robs us of our spiritual connection to work. His father, he explains, was called to serve God as a preacher and teacher; he was called to serve as a businessman.
There are many ways to “kill” people – we can kill their minds, their passion for work and life, their ideas, their careers and their sense of worth. This is the topic of the fifth principle. High performance, ethical leaders refuse to kill others to get ahead, on the contrary, they value others and infuse their organizations with an “others first” humility.
He sees a manifestation of this approach in the need to start at the bottom. Too many people today want to start at the top, because they are oblivious to the value of starting at the bottom. There is a humility one learns in the bowls of an organization that is extremely valuable, especially as one rises to the top. Additionally, he points out, if you are not able to handle working at the bottom, in attitude or performance, you will never be able to handle it at the top.
The foundational principle of Cantrell’s approach is that high performance ethical leaders are willing to take short term losses because they want to avoid the biggest loss of all – themselves.
Sticking to principles has a cost not just a payoff. As Samuel Goldwyn of MGM said, “I don’t want any ‘yes’ men… I want people to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs.
With the deluge of news about corrupt bankers, corrupt officials and the rest, it is easy to become inured to life as the survival of the fittest. If a species becomes extinct or a careless organization destroys an ecosystem or twenty-five thousand careers, why should we mourn? Isn’t this the way the world works? To this question, Cantrell has provided a compelling answers – it doesn’t a have to be this way. You can do well by doing good. Very well.
Readability Light --+-- Serious
Insights High --+-- Low
Practical High ---+- Low

Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy

"Sticking by principles has a cost, not just a payoff." This line was the hook that caught me and I'm so happy that it did! What a well-written, timely book. I will be referring to this book and be recommending it to people from now until eternity!

On a day of June 2007, I flipped through as many business management books as possible -- on 8 fully loaded 6-foot Barnes & Noble bookshelves - because I was desperately in need of professional books to help me with my job. 60 minutes passed by, I couldn't find a book that I felt worth my money and my time commitment to study at home. I murmured to myself, "God, tell me which book I should buy.... my eyes are getting blurred and my legs are tired." a newly published High Performance Ethics suddenly stood out right in front of me. I slothfully opened to the middle of the book because I was too tired to start from the beginning. I was immediately engaged with Cantrell's perspectives on how to deal with various types of leaders, wise and especially unwise, when we have to submit to their authorities due to the hierarchy. I paid for the book at the cashier literally seconds after I first saw it on the shelves.

The layout of the book presents an interesting juxtaposition of coherent and convincing theories with Cantrell's real life experiences during his time as a CEO of an international business organization. Cantrell and Lucas are not only great writers but fantastic teachers. I enjoy so much gaining solid knowledge through reader-friendly writing style. I am well related to Cantrell's insisting on the importance of having both competence and characters as a High Performance Ethics (HPE) Leader. I couldn't agree with him enough because I have witnessed at many workplaces the negative impacts by people having either competence or characters but not both.

Through reading, by surprise, I realized that Cantrell is actually a Christian and a son of a local minister. I myself am a 3rd-generation Christian and a lay music minister for many years. However, the older I am, the more dissatisfied I become towards the church culture. In my observation, many Christians have been drawing an extremely bright-color line between Faith and Profession. On one side of the spectrum, many Christians are with little or no professional trainings (or intentionally avoiding high-level professional trainings). They quoted that it is harder for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God than a camel going through the eye of a needle. On the other side, many houses of worship are polluted by skilled Christians with undesirable characters.

Cantrell's life experience shows me that long term success is birthed by in-depth understanding of true prosperity and it is attainable and can be expected. He said "Prosperity, for those who haven't been given everything from the beginning, is a by-product of passion, commitment, and good thinking - and a willingness to limit desires. "The leader who basically focuses on himself or herself is going to mislead, "warns Peter Drucker. (p.208)" I personally was very encouraged by the book and therefore strongly recommend it to any potential readers.

There's a lot of books out there talking about ethics, and most of it is surrealistic. You couldn't apply it in real organizations - you couldn't even apply it in the ivory towers where they're writing this stuff. There's also a lot out there on performance. Some of it even gives a nod to "being ethical." But this book is totally different. It's a book about ethics that will actually help you perform at higher levels. It has insights for individuals and for leaders of organizations. I really like the approach the authors take in going back and forth, one laying out the concepts and the other illustrating it with stories from his career. An enjoyable and profitable read.

This book is a difference maker and is the one book that I would recommend to any professional, young or old. Everyone will face ethical dilemmas in his or her professional career. High-Performance Ethics is a roadmap through those difficult times, as well as a reassurance to leaders that it does pay to do the right thing - always. This book made such a difference in my life that, as Predident-elect of the South Carolina Public Relations Society of America, an organization that lives by a strict code of ethics, I immediately invited Mr. Cantrell to come speak to our members. A must read.

Wes Cantrell brings "old fashion ethics" back into the work place. He shows that doing the right things will eventually win over the shallow political correctness