Written by Emily Border, Career Track MBA Student
Finding courage is not your typical conversation piece at breakfast, but on Friday September 25, this is exactly what Cynthia Cooper would speak about.
To a sea of business professionals, Cooper described her experience as a whistleblower at WorldCom. Immediately clear is that this is a women who takes great pride in persistence and transparency. As an auditor, she led her team through a tenuous and intimidating investigation of suspicious accounting activity at WorldCom until she uncovered the truth in corporate scandal.
“When I didn’t receive answers, I went door-to-door up the chain of command.” Cooper finally received the honesty she was looking for from a controller who was privy to their collusion. Regretful, the controller admitted, “Once we made one entry it was hard to stop.” At this point in the morning, Cynthia related my favorite observation: when we go against our values, even once, our lives tend to implode.
As a student, Cooper’s convincing piece of advice to me was to find my courage and apply the same code of ethics in school and work. At all times, be loyal to my principles.
If it were up to Cooper, ethics would be a required curriculum piece at every university, and thanks to advocates such as herself, it seems that the academic and business community in Boise are in agreement. Schools need to introduce an ethical code that remains at the forefront of students’ thoughts.
What I like best about Cooper’s story is the fact that she never intended to be some icon of ethics in business. It was her mother that even pushed her to write her book–a four-year process from a self-proclaimed “non-writer.” That is the reality of strong core values in action. They are there when you need guidance and direction.
To current and future business leaders, have you asked recently: what do you want your life to stand for? Define your idea of success, your beliefs, and core values today. We will all surely need such a compass in the future.