How Honesty Pays Restoring Integrity to the Workplace

Subjects:

• Business » Management
• Business » Organizational Behavior
• Business » Business (General)

Reviews:

• Watson provides a unique perspective on business and professional ethics. For him there is no gray area; accountability, an inner self, and positive thinking constitute a philosophy of life that is intrinsic to personal and organizational success. What is right is the only acceptable leadership path. To that end, Watson utilizes a series of short vignettes of various companies (e.g., Caterpillar Tractor, UPS, and Toys "R" Us) to examine contemporary organizational leadership. Covering a range of topics, from avarice to employee welfare and product quality control, Watson illustrates his moral and ethical guidelines: "choose the best things over good things," "listen to your inner voice," "cultivate the right dominating desires," "guide your actions by civilization's highest standards, not by your immediate desires," and "do things because they are praiseworthy not because they are popular." The author eloquently argues that today's leaders do not have to compromise their moral and ethical principles to achieve personal and professional success. Even those who disagree with Watson's philosophy will find his well-written and timely book interesting. Recommended. General readers, all levels of undergraduate students, and practitioners.
  —Choice May 2006
• Watson offers practical ideas that others have used to achieve greater levels of honesty and integrity, particularly in the workplace, but in other areas of their lives as well. Step-by-step, he discusses 15 key principles about honesty in business, demonstrating the powerful, positive impact honesty and integrity can have on the workplace. Numerous examples of exemplary leaders, such as Jim Casey of UPS, George Schaefer of Caterpillar Tractor, Charles Lazarus of Toys 'R' Us, and Gertrude Boyle of Columbia Sportswear, are incorporated throughout the text. Academic but accessible to the general reader.
  —Reference & Research Book News February 2006

• Endorsement From Richard T. Farmer
  Chairman and Founder, Cintas Corporation: How Honesty Pays is a great read for anyone interested in business. Charles Watson's writing on this important subject is both highly interesting and extremely valuable.
• Endorsement From William J. Byron
  Research Professor, Sellinger School of Business and Management, Loyola College in Maryland: This is a wise and wonderful book by a seasoned professor of management. Charles Watson measures success with an integrity yardstick. In this book, he explains 'how integrity pays' without bothering to say how much. Not that he doesn't care. He knows that managing with integrity produces honest, even handsome, monetary rewards. He also knows that his chapter titles (and the content they deliver) can put the reader on the road to genuine success in business.
• Endorsement From William G. McGagh
  Former Senior VP-Finance and CFO, NorthropGrumman Corporation: We can only imagine how different corporate behavior would have been if this book had been available five or ten years ago, and its principles followed. Many of the scandals that have ruined the lives of so many executives and companies would have been avoided. We hope that the book will lead to more integrity in business in place of the greed-inspired 'the end justifies the means' behavior of the recent past.
• Endorsement From Dave Phillips
  Co-Founder, Cincinnati Works, Inc.
  Retired Arthur Andersen & Co Partner: In How Honesty Pays, Charles Watson illustrates a clear understanding, using simple stories, of how honesty and integrity pay off in business. It is certainly time for the story to be told, so young people entering the business world understand that over the long term 'greed' does not pay.
• Endorsement From Waldo Burnside
  Retired COO, Carter Hawley Hale Corporation: Mr. Watson deals with a subject of great importance in this day and age. His examples clearly show the value of pursuing these fundamentals, not only in the workplace, but also in everyday life.
• Endorsement From Michael Armstrong
  Retired Chairman, Comcast Corp.-AT&T-Hughes: How Honesty Pays is much more than a business book. Charles Watson expresses a philosophy of life rooted in positive thinking, guided by an inner self and accountable for the best outcome by commitment to what is right. This book effectively deals not only with what makes for success, but maybe even more important, what makes for happiness.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Value Honesty
• Develop Inner Strength
• Respect Deep-Seated Feelings
• Put People First
• Pass the Utmost Test
• Become a First-Rate Person
• Stand Tall
• Act Boldly on Your Convictions
• Be Your Own Person
• Use Good Judgment
• Face Difficulties Head-On
• Make the Most of Your Uniqueness
• Earn Trust
• Defeat What Destroys
• Improve Your Ability to Perform
• Additional Reading
• Index