A Convicted Criminal Speaks of Ethics

I just attended the local chapter meeting for the Financial Planning Association. I do not often attend these meetings. But this luncheon offered 3 hours of Ethics credits which I need to maintain my professional credentials.

Over the years I have found most of these ethics-related sessions rather tedious. It has long amazed me that financial services representatives do such stupid things and cause such harm to their clients. While I acknowledge my own professional failings, I have never engaged in fraud, cheating, embezzlement, etc.

The speaker today was Patrick Kuhse. You have probably never heard of him. I had not until today. I won’t forget him.

Here’s what Patrick says about himself on his web site, www.speakingofethics.com, “I'd like to take you on my own personal journey, from successful stockbroker with a loving family and home in the suburbs of San Diego, to the jungles of Costa Rica as an international fugitive, to incarceration in two countries and back again. After spending four years in prison, I now devote myself to speaking to audiences worldwide about the importance of ethical behavior.”

This presentation was riveting. It had a message that was far more than how to be “ethical” in the financial services industry. It was about how any of us can lose perspective, commit critical thinking errors and slide into an ethical morass. I found it humbling.

Patrick opened his presentation with a reference to Socrates. The famous Greek philosopher would evaluate an issue, an opportunity or a situation by asking three simple questions:

1. Is this truthful?
2. Is this good?
3. Is this useful?

If Socrates could not answer each of these questions positively, he would simply move on.

How simple. We should ask ourselves these questions whenever we are uncertain about how to react to a set of circumstances.