Integrity starts at the top.
That's the message Rob Chesnut, General Counsel for Airbnb, wants to share. “Everyone looks up to the person who’s been successful in business, in their career, so if a leader acts with integrity, that permeates the culture," he told LegalDive before adding, "the way a leader talks and behaves creates a climate that everybody in the company is living in and is affected by. So, it’s not just about you; it’s also about the people around you.”
According to Chesnut, whether it be social movements (like MeToo or Black Lives Matter) or simply a company doing whatever it takes to chase a goal, company culture is vital to how a firm views and evolves itself. Of course, the company culture, begins with the executive team, and the general counsel can play a huge part in shaping things.
Speaking about the MeToo movement and how he helped eBay's executives, Chesnut describes how he sat them all down and made them commit in front of one another how they would not behave in a way that could even be construed as harassment. “We had a discussion about it and I said, perhaps in light of all that is happening, why don’t we agree we’re just not going to go there?” Chesnut continues. “We went around the room and everybody said, ‘I’m in.’ The significance of that is, if no one ever talks about it, it’s easy to rationalize and fall into it. Everybody in that room understood that if they went that way now, they were violating their word to the rest of the team, which means they were probably going to have to leave the company.”
Ultimately, creating a workplace with integrity means instilling the executives with the idea and getting ahead of any temptations. "It could be financial irregularities or sexual misconduct, because these kinds of matters can be career altering and potentially brand altering. As a lawyer, I saw it as my responsibility to protect against that risk," said Chesnut. “We’ve all made mistakes, done things that are wrong. …It’s just having an honest conversation about the temptations to do things that are wrong. If it takes 30 minutes here and there, or takes a conversation at an executive committee meeting, you can insulate your company a little bit.”
THE VERDICT:
Nothing can derail a firm as quickly as poor company culture or a rotten executive suite. As Chesnut advises, aligning the leadership team around integrity can insult you against scandal and risk down the line.
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