Great principles are those that have produced successful companies over the years.  Former Vistage speaker Mac McNair highlights ten basic principles to utilize when faced with making ethical decisions:

1. A proper respect for the authority in your company. Authority goes three ways: up, down and lateral. “Unfortunately, we tend to work it only in one dimension,” says McNair. “Recognizing who the authority is in any situation and applying this principle in ethical decisions is more effective in the long haul.”
2. Singleness of purpose. Have a corporate purpose statement against which you can measure a particular alternative. “By definition, a business provides a product or service to someone, so include that in your corporate statement,” says McNair. “Profit is important, but it isn’t the main purpose of the business. The five recipients of any purpose statement are employees, management, customers, investors and community.”
3. Effective communication in word and deed. “Have good job descriptions for your people. Most conflict comes because people don’t understand each other, and they don’t understand each other because they don’t understand what the job is,” says McNair. Put things in writing.
4. Proper work, rest and recreation for your people. People need vacations and downtime to be with their families and recharge their energy and enthusiasm. “These times of rest should be clearly defined by the employer,” explains McNair.



5. Respect for elders. A study in Fortune magazine shows that the ancient concept of counsel with elders is highly effective. “One of the problems of business today,” laments McNair, “is downsizing by laying off all the ‘elders’.”
6. Respect for human life, dignity and rights. The personnel policies and procedures you have in place should address this issue. “Apply the ‘Golden Rule’ as the fundamental criterion for hiring and firing,” says McNair. “Satisfy customers’ needs with the best possible products and services and protect the health and safety of employees.”
7. Stability of the sexes and the family. “That is tough today because the definition of the family is so fluid,” McNair points out. “Every individual has the fundamental priority and responsibility for a strong family life. Offer equal opportunity for men and women and respect the dignity of each individual, single or married.”
8. Proper allocation of resources. “This has to do with effective asset management and organizational economy,” says McNair. “Pay your bills on time according to vendor agreements. Some of the aging we allow to happen today is questionable.”
9. Honesty and integrity in business dealings. Produce truthful company reports and have full disclosure in business dealings. “Honor commitments and show respect for others’ time by being on time yourself,” he says.
10. Maintain the right of ownership of property. “Manage company resources and assets toward promoting and protecting the free enterprise system, self-regulation and voluntary compliance,” he concludes.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Crystal Ball of Growth

Managing growth would be a lot easier if you could peer into the future and see exactly what would happen to your company if you doubled or tripled in size. Unfortunately, magic crystal balls only exist in science fiction and fairly tales, right?

Not so, says Vistage speaker and organizational development expert Ian MacDougall .

He asserts that you can know about many organizational problems in advance, and therefore plan ahead to minimize their impact on your company. All it takes is an understanding of organizational life cycle principles and the ability to identify in your company the characteristic traits of each growth phase.

“As organizations grow, they move through a series of distinct phases that make up the organizational life cycle,” explains MacDougall. “Some phases involve growth, others involve decline, but each has a unique set of identifying characteristics and problems that befall all companies who enter it. More important, these problems are unchanging and highly predictable. Every growing company — regardless of size, industry, or age — sooner or later runs head-on into these inevitable challenges.

“The good news is that by knowing where your business stands in the life cycle, you can identify these major barriers to growth before they occur. You can’t eliminate them because they are direct results of the previous stage’s growth. But you can do a much better job of managing them and thereby facilitate your company’s evolution to the next growth phase.”

The five growth stages in the organizational life cycle are courtship, infancy, go-go, adolescence and prime….

Read more on every stage in the organizational life cycle at http://www.vistage.com.my/experience/tools-and-resources/content-library/managing-the-predictable-problems-of-growth/