Ethics and Leadership: An Executive's Perspective

Mike Riordan, President & CEO
Greenville Hospital System

On October 28^th, Mike Riordan, President and CEO of Greenville Hospital System graciously spent a piece of his day speaking with me, answering a series of questions I had about ethics and leadership. The following is a summary of the discussion.  

I&P      In the past few years, we have seen a few scandals with business leaders in the US (Enron, Nortel, Phar-Mor, Parmalat, etc…). How important is ethics for a business leader and a corporation?

M. Riordan     Ethics is one of the fundamental pillars for the success of leadership management and a company. In the recent past years, a few business leaders and their corporations have forgotten it. The result has been a flowering of scandals published in the press...

Business ethics for leadership management is based on two foundations: managers’ egos and their management style. The CEOs involved in recent ethical scandals had unchecked egos. They all contributed to the success of their company. However, they attributed all this success to themselves and felt entitled to receive extra benefits. They lost touch with their core values.  They also managed their team and company with the wrong tone. Their management style did not promote a working environment based on trust and transparency, where everybody feels confident and has the opportunity to talk. To succeed and reach its goals, a company as well as its leaders must lead ethically and therefore manage carefully this combination of checked egos and management style.

-          Leadership development > training

-          Ego > feel better and more important than you really are > lose touch with core values

-          Unchecked egos > good things they did > reason to go over what should be done

-          Setting the tone: transparency, trust > auditors > ask them what sense of tone they feel

-          Good tone + checked ego > integrate both > safe environment to talk

I&P     Do you think managers and corporations are now more conscientious in making ethical decisions after those scandals?

M. Riordan     After the recent scandals, ethics has become a focus for companies and governments.

On the corporate side, there is now more supervision and control on potential ethical issues and regular audits – whether internal or external – are performed. On the government side, regulations have been introduced to provide safeguards for companies.  It is important to recognize that only the combination of those changes – from corporations and governments—together is efficient and provides strong support to companies and their leadership.

-          Companies > more control and audits

-          Government > rules and safeguards > only ½ of the battle

I&P     How critical is it for top executives to model values when creating or sustaining a corporate culture?

M. Riordan     To maintain core values that define the corporate culture is a big challenge for a corporate leadership team. In order to reach this goal, the management team needs tools that measure accomplishments.

The GHS management team uses a variety of survey tools to get feedback from all employees about leadership management regarding the implementation and maintenance of the corporate culture’s core values.  These include an annual Employee Opinion Survey as well as “pulse”surveys administered at quarterly Town Hall Meetings. Every employee also has the opportunity to contribute to the company by access to the ‘CEO Corner website’ online. Any issue can be addressed directly to the leadership management team.  It provides a continuous improvement process to which every employee of GHS can contribute.

-          How to measure it > survey tools on annual basis > what employees think > trust of senior leadership management

-          Every 90 days > talk about employees’ suggestions, about what is going on > feedback and questions

-          Responsiveness to employees > CEO corner website for employees > address problems

I&P     What are some of the traditional ethical issues faced in the healthcare sector?

M. Riordan     There are many different ethical issues faced in the healthcare sector.  Let’s talk about four of these.

First of all, our health system employs around 10,000 persons. Therefore, there are the traditional ethical issues in business, the same ones every business faces. Secondly, due to the nature of our business, there are social ethical issues that need to be addressed. GHS, like many hospitals, provides pastoral services to support patients. Thirdly, GHS conducts research on our own but also in partnership with universities and research institutes. There are ethical issues with the implementation and character of this research. Regulations and guidelines have been introduced by the government and committees supervise their implementation. Finally, doctors receive more and more solicitations from pharmaceutical companies’ vendors to prescribe their drug instead of another one from a competitor. Ethical issues are brought up in the choice of the prescribed drugs. GHS controls the access of pharmaceutical companies and their vendors to the doctors with internal regulations.

-          Business > 10,000 employees

-          Social > practical > Pastoral services

-          Research > how to conduct research > committees > guidelines from government

-          Pharmaceutical vendors > control access to doctors > prevent abuses in prescribing a drug

-          Education, information

I&P     What are new ethical challenges brought up by Health Care reform?

M. Riordan     I have been able to read the new Health Care reform bill and recognize that, in some ways, this was an attempt to address some ethical issues, such as providing access to health care for most Americans.   In 2009, more than 50,000,000 people are uninsured in the country.

The discussion about the bill has not really been about the core value – the ethical issues – but rather about the cost to implement it. I’m not sure that politicians are so much focused on the important ethical issues as they are devoting energy to fight against the opposite politicalparty.

-          New Health care reform > attempt to address some ethical issues > to provide access to 50,000,000 uninsured people

-          Discussion > about cost, not ethics

-          Politicians >  not moving forward on ethical issues >  more focus on winning

I&P     How do you, as a leader, make ethical decisions on a regular basis? Do you have a framework by which you make ethical decisions (Toolbox, etc…)?

M. Riordan     First of all, I have a team around me to help me make decisions. The first step I take is to analyze the nature of the issue. It might be an issue that can be resolved without the need for me to be involved. There are resources available to employees to help them make ethical decisions. For issues with a legal nature, there is a General Consul available. For issues related to the practice of medicine, delivery of patient care and such, we have clinical leaders who are available. Then, if the nature of the issue needs my involvement, I’ll analyze the gravity of the issue. If it is not very critical and I feel confident in making a decision, I will do so alone. If I don’t feel confident enough, I’ll engage other people.

-          Material enough > talk to the board

-          Big enough to be involved

-          General Consul > law > to handle it

-          Clinical Leadership > medical practice; patient care > to handle it

-          Critical, complex and important > Engage other people

I&P     How does GHS make and implement ethical decisions throughout all levels of the organization? Are there specific measures or training programs in place?

M. Riordan     For all the employees, there are training programs, some mandatory, and also hot lines and compliance officers available if needed. For the doctors, there are internal and external policies to regulate the access from pharmaceutical companies’ vendors. For researchers, in collaboration with universities such as Clemson and USC but also with companies, there are guidelines from the government to follow. Finally for the leadership management and the company, there are internal and external audits conducted throughout the year.

-          Employees > training programs, hot lines, compliance officer

-          Policy to prevent excessive pharmaceutical vendor influence

-          1 person designated to participate in Association of American Medical Colleges

-          Policy for research > collaboration with Clemson, USC, companies > guidelines for trials to   follow

-          Internal and external audit > financial practices

I&P     What advice would you give to Clemson students about ethical decision-making and becoming recognized as an ethical business leader?

M. Riordan     As I said earlier, I think it is really important to understand and focus on the two bases of business ethics: checked ego and setting the right tone. Keep an eye on your ego and take another look at yourself. Don’t forget to express gratitude and appreciation to your employees and coworkers. Lead by example to promote the core values of the corporate culture and cultivate transparency and trust to create a good work environment. I have been able to notice through the years that experience helps in making ethical decisions. It is a learning process…

-          Keeping ego and check > not take ourselves so seriously > gratitude and wonder

-          Experience > helps

-          Voice > aware of ambition and what you do

-          Core values > avoid creating a lost sense of appreciation

Julien Camiade

Clemson University MBA Student



Julien Camiade

 Julien is a second year MBA student working with the Rutland Institute for Ethics this academic year. He studies here as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from France, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Clemson. His undergraduate degree is in Mechanical Engineering.