STRAIGHT TALK
MARK BARNES: Doing the right thing in business is difficult and it takes courage to step outside the box
I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Those words are from a seminal speech made by Lt-Col Slade, portrayed by Al Pacino, in the movie Scent of a Woman. We’ve all faced that. True leaders, often elected into positions of power by the popular vote, have established their positions of influence, reputations and integrity by taking the right position on matters of substance, not necessarily popular at the time, but having proved to be right. In business it is not that simple and it’s not just up to you. Stakeholders must be persuaded; constituencies must be consulted; opposition must be fought; agendas must be known and understood. It’s not always possible to gather all this consensus to do what’s right (even if you’re lucky enough to have the information and the foresight). So many variables have to come to the party, particularly that most elusive of partners, capital. In some ways, capital is the le...
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