Building Success with Business Ethics: Advice from Business Leaders (Collection)

1. Good Business

Jim Thomsen, senior vice president of Member Services for Thrivent Financial, a membership-based financial services company, recalls the financial meltdown in September 2008 all too well: “I was really mad at our industry,” Jim said, “but initially I wasn’t worried about our company.” Thrivent’s solid standing compared to its competitors at the end of 2008 was well earned. In the several years leading up to the economic crisis, when “everything was hot,” some members of Thrivent’s field sales force had put a lot of pressure on company management and the Thrivent Bank to be more aggressive and to do some of the things other firms were doing. But Thrivent management resisted.

When it came to home lending, for example, we stayed ...