Q What can be done about the corruption and collapse of corporations?

A We're now entering an inevitable period of radical book monitoring; laws are already being changed to support and require that. “We know you're in there. Drop your Excel spreadsheets! Put your hands up! Open the books and show us what's really going on!”

Because we have so institutionalized selfishness, the legal solution is the only way some can imagine getting things under control. But this corporate breakdown might put us in a position for a corporate breakthrough. Could we change the culture of corporations in addition to policing them better?

One change I'd like to see is making corporations more inclusive. Not inclusive in the politically correct sense — motivated by jealousy and envy as much as injustice. Rather, inclusiveness based on strong relationships and an appreciation for openness, communication and genuine interdependence.

Instead of being legalistic entities based solely on contracts, could organizations not become based on covenant relationships with shared commitments to “ideas, issues, values, goals and management processes”? Does this sound quixotic or utopian? These words are from successful executive Max DePree in his book Leadership As An Art.

DePree concludes that exclusivity institutionalizes selfishness. And contrary to the Machiavellian myth that selfishness is a necessary evil that is good for business, perhaps the present crisis can teach us that it not only can destroy business, but it can also destroy the lives and futures of many people.

DePree argues that the relationships at work are more like a covenant than like a contract. What's the difference? A contract “covers the quid pro quo of working together ...” but “it almost always breaks down under the inevitable duress of conflict and change. A contract has nothing to do with reaching our potential.” A covenant relationship rests on “shared commitment to ideas, to issues, to values, to goals and to management processes. ... They reflect unity and grace and poise. They are an expression of the sacred nature of relationships.”

As a starter perhaps we should try to see fellow workers as persons and not just as human resources. If just resources, then we reduce our interactions solely to using others when we need them. And vice versa. It can't be said of resources, but it can be said of people, that they have “a gift to bring,” they are social beings and “they have a deep-seated desire to contribute.” We don't need to include, or be fair toward, or communicate with, or develop the potential or future of resources. We do with people. As a leader I feel little obligation and certainly no indebtedness or responsibility to my resources. I do to the people whom I lead.

Art Bennett is the director of

Alpha Omega Clinic and

Consultation Services.