Leading by Example

LESSON TWO

Setting the Right Tone at the Top

Sir Michael Rake

Chairman, KPMG International

IN THE LAST three or four years, we look at what’s happened in the business world, and there’s been a complete breakdown in trust.

There’s been a complete breakdown in trust in the operation of the capital markets and a complete breakdown in trust of chief executives and the way they operate. The assumption has been that everyone operates out of a sense of greed, if not dishonesty—to enrich themselves at the expense of others. This is what’s happened as a result of all the corporate scandals that we’ve seen, not only in the United States—actually we saw it in the UK a few years ago too.

Of course, as a result of that, we’ve seen an enormous amount of ...