Those who do public speaking are always unnerved when somone in the audience gets up and walks out whilst you are offering your thoughts. Sometimes the rebel simply needs a restroom. Sometimes the rebel has a ringing cell phone. But, this January, the Barometer was speaking to a group that included a member of Congress. He lasted about five minutes in a speech on ethics. He just left — returning only in time for the next speaker. That congressman has emerged in the news as a beneficiary of a deal for his state.
The Barometer has struggled mightily to give the congressman the benefit of the doubt. What member of Congress in his/her right mind walks out of a speech on ethics at a trade organization? His departure during the speech was the subject of much jesting among the other participants. Perhaps, the Barometer reasoned, he had important business.  Nay, it was a federal holiday — no House sessions that day. The restroom did not take one hour.Â
Sadly, this member of Congress was akin to the CEO who makes ethics trainting for the management team and/or employees mandatory and then leaves the room after the introduction with its obligatory, “This ethics stuff is really important.” Ethics training there can’t really do much good because the CEO’s attitude trumps. Employees take their cues from leaders’ conduct and attitude.  When we deem ourselves above instruction in ethics, we probably have or probably will cross a few ethical lines. Whether by arrogance or ethical callousness, the fancied immunity is dangerous. Â
The Barometer also notes another category of walk-out:  those who actually stay in the room but Blackberry their little thumbs off as a way to avoid being subjected to ethics. On two occasions, these Blackberry fiends have made later contact with the Barometer. They called because their organizations had lapsed into ethical and, sadly, legal difficulties. In both cases, if they had not multi-tasked during the ethics discussion, they might have taken away the information they needed to avoid the problems that arose following their dismissive attendance at ethics training.  Preaching to the choir does come to mind.Â
And so we come full circle to the congressman. He really missed out by ducking out before the discussion of public trust. He also could have benefited from understanding the importance of a credo and living by it. A little patience in listening to some thoughts on ethics might have saved him from the heat he now feels for a sweetheart deal.
