In his book, The Memo, business professor John Wesley Yoest, Jr. offers an anecdote about a former employee to illustrate how chastity is essential to maintaining a sense of professionalism and building relationships of trust. "'Why on earth did you hire him?' I asked the sales manager. The Senior Territory Manager had shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a leather jacket and a three-day beard that passed for the latest fashion. His eyes followed every woman. He looked like idle Eurotrash sauntering toward a comfortable café to pass the afternoon. Let’s call him Rob. "Our work was selling high-end medical devices to hospital accounts. Nurses were the key influencers for our products and services. But these women were more than clients for that one sales representative. They were targets. Rob was a fox in a hen house. "He was a management headache who should not have been hired. Rob’s personal appearance was inappropriate for a dance club. His record of poor decision-making and careless work products combined with his attitude, demeanor, and lack of professionalism, made him a disaster in making a presentation intended to inspire trust and confidence in the new medicine we were selling. "John William Gardner, who served as Marine Corps Officer in WWII and later in President Lyndon Johnson’s cabinet said, 'When hiring key employees, there are only two qualities to look for, judgment and taste. Almost everything else can be bought by the yard.' "Rob lacked both good judgment and good taste. He was not 'virtuous.'" (Yoest Jr., The Memo, ch. 9)
In The Memo, business professor John Wesley Joest, Jr. describes an episode from his military career to demonstrate why it is important for the members of any professional organization to practice chastity. "A smooth major was a brilliant staff officer and a highly decorated combat veteran. He was destined for high command. And his performance deserved it. "But the promotions did not come. "The end began early. At a Christmas party sponsored by his organization, the major danced a little too close with a woman who was not his wife. It became predictable. He did this with different women over the years in public and in private. "His boss noticed. (We all did.) The young guns giggled. "His commanding officer—being a grown-up—was not amused. "The battalion commander gave him promotion-ending efficiency reports. The employee evaluations were open secrets where trust is a matter of life and death. "That warning goes all the way back to the Old Testament where people in trusted positions of responsibility are warned that they have a three-part loyalty test: spouse and family and home. "If, as Benjamin Franklin said, 'Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom,' then it can also be said, only virtuous staff—made up of people who are honest, trustworthy, hardworking, dependable—are capable of self-management." (Yoest Jr., The Memo, ch. 9)
In The Memo, business professor John Wesley Joest, Jr. describes an episode from his military career to demonstrate why it is important for the members of any professional organization to practice chastity. "A smooth major was a brilliant staff officer and a highly decorated combat veteran. He was destined for high command. And his performance deserved it. "But the promotions did not come. "The end began early. At a Christmas party sponsored by his organization, the major danced a little too close with a woman who was not his wife. It became predictable. He did this with different women over the years in public and in private. "His boss noticed. (We all did.) The young guns giggled. "His commanding officer—being a grown-up—was not amused. "The battalion commander gave him promotion-ending efficiency reports. The employee evaluations were open secrets where trust is a matter of life and death. "That warning goes all the way back to the Old Testament where people in trusted positions of responsibility are warned that they have a three-part loyalty test: spouse and family and home.” (Yoest Jr., The Memo, ch. 9)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn his book, The Memo, business professor John Wesley Yoest, Jr. offers an anecdote about a former employee to illustrate how chastity is essential to maintaining a sense of professionalism and building relationships of trust. "'Why on earth did you hire him?' I asked the sales manager. The Senior Territory Manager had shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a leather jacket and a three-day beard that passed for the latest fashion. His eyes followed every woman. He looked like idle Eurotrash sauntering toward a comfortable café to pass the afternoon. Let’s call him Rob.
"Our work was selling high-end medical devices to hospital accounts. Nurses were the key influencers for our products and services. But these women were more than clients for that one sales representative. They were targets. Rob was a fox in a hen house.
"He was a management headache who should not have been hired. Rob’s personal appearance was inappropriate for a dance club. His record of poor decision-making and careless work products combined with his attitude, demeanor, and lack of professionalism, made him a disaster in making a presentation intended to inspire trust and confidence in the new medicine we were selling.
"John William Gardner, who served as Marine Corps Officer in WWII and later in President Lyndon Johnson’s cabinet said, 'When hiring key employees, there are only two qualities to look for, judgment and taste. Almost everything else can be bought by the yard.'
"Rob lacked both good judgment and good taste. He was not 'virtuous.'" (Yoest Jr., The Memo, ch. 9)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn The Memo, business professor John Wesley Joest, Jr. describes an episode from his military career to demonstrate why it is important for the members of any professional organization to practice chastity. "A smooth major was a brilliant staff officer and a highly decorated combat veteran. He was destined for high command. And his performance deserved it.
"But the promotions did not come.
"The end began early. At a Christmas party sponsored by his organization, the major danced a little too close with a woman who was not his wife. It became predictable. He did this with different women over the years in public and in private.
"His boss noticed. (We all did.) The young guns giggled.
"His commanding officer—being a grown-up—was not amused.
"The battalion commander gave him promotion-ending efficiency reports. The employee evaluations were open secrets where trust is a matter of life and death.
"That warning goes all the way back to the Old Testament where people in trusted positions of responsibility are warned that they have a three-part loyalty test: spouse and family and home.
"If, as Benjamin Franklin said, 'Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom,' then it can also be said, only virtuous staff—made up of people who are honest, trustworthy, hardworking, dependable—are capable of self-management." (Yoest Jr., The Memo, ch. 9)
Case Study (Edited Re-Post)
ReplyDeleteIn The Memo, business professor John Wesley Joest, Jr. describes an episode from his military career to demonstrate why it is important for the members of any professional organization to practice chastity. "A smooth major was a brilliant staff officer and a highly decorated combat veteran. He was destined for high command. And his performance deserved it.
"But the promotions did not come.
"The end began early. At a Christmas party sponsored by his organization, the major danced a little too close with a woman who was not his wife. It became predictable. He did this with different women over the years in public and in private.
"His boss noticed. (We all did.) The young guns giggled.
"His commanding officer—being a grown-up—was not amused.
"The battalion commander gave him promotion-ending efficiency reports. The employee evaluations were open secrets where trust is a matter of life and death.
"That warning goes all the way back to the Old Testament where people in trusted positions of responsibility are warned that they have a three-part loyalty test: spouse and family and home.” (Yoest Jr., The Memo, ch. 9)