[Kip Currier: Another example of toxic organizational culture--at multiple levels--that's also a "teachable moment" case study on the need for ethical leadership.
It's also (another) call for action and responsibility by Board members in all kinds of organizations--for profit and non-profit:
If you see (or reasonably suspect) something illicit, illegal, or unethical is occurring within your organization, say something!
You have an ethical duty to act. Not to cover up, turn away your gaze, or enable.
Ask tough questions. Demand answers. Report concerns and observations to outside parties when you can't get answers or information from within.
Do your duty. Do the right thing.
Even if it's hard.]
"As a draft report prepared by CBS’s
outside lawyers now makes clear, many of the company’s employees,
including high-ranking executives and even members of its board, were
aware of the former chief executive Leslie Moonves’s alleged sexual
misconduct and subsequent efforts to conceal it.
Yet no one acted to stop him — and the repercussions for that failure are likely to reverberate at CBS for years.
“A
culture where this behavior could have gone unchecked for so long with
so much knowledge is really troubling,” said Charles M. Elson, an expert
on corporate governance at the University of Delaware. “This is a
disaster for CBS shareholders. There’s been no other #MeToo incident
with this kind of negative impact” on a major American company...
Members of corporate boards, senior executives and even rank-and-file
employees have a duty of loyalty — to the company, not its chief
executive. They’re required by corporate law, company policy and in many
cases their employment contracts to report misconduct to the board."
