Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word!

We've all heard about the importance of ethical decision-making in corporate America. What's a completely different story is how many of our head honchos practice that gut feeling telling them right from wrong. Our finance execs have now enjoyed the limelight for over a year over their risky decision-making that led to our still double digit unemployment rate. Today as they face the newly-formed Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, will they finally say the unthinkable?

The New York Times today discusses the ethical argument behind the executive suite hardly ever offering apologies. At least in corporate America."Another reason it is so hard for chief executives to apologize is that they simply tend to have big egos that are not used to admitting mistakes," Robert F. Bruner, dean of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia is quoted saying. Bruner goes on to add "You don't get to the top of a large and highly competitive organization by debasement and humility."

Well. If a simple apology is this hard, how can we expect our corporate heads to tackle issues like taking on corporate and social responsibility in the boardroom and including it in their long term strategy? And forget about explaining the triple bottom line. Because inculcating CSR principles within your corporate goals begins after you acknowledge the harm done by our unsustainable practices.