Michael Josephson and I chatted the other day at the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University. It wasn’t long after the death of former Gov. Bob Ray, whose life modeled and was wrapped around one of Josephson’s inventions: Character Counts. That program teaches kids all over the state to be civil, among other things. Josephson is a former law professor and attorney who founded the nonprofit Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics located in Los Angeles. He’s on TV a lot, and is a frequent source for print and online journalists pondering the great ethical questions of our time. Let’s just say there is a long list. 

I asked Josephson for a list of tips he would have for our Business Record members.

Here they are: 

• Judge the source. There may be fake news out there, but you have to know what isn’t, Josephson said. 
  
• Lead by accountability. For example, there was never an edict at Wells Fargo to set up accounts that customers didn’t request. But the company had a system of goals that resulted in that happening, he said. Now, Wells Fargo is working hard to correct the problems that arose. 
  
• There is no such thing as one bad employee. “There would have to be two — the employee and the manager.”
  
• Your job is to know what is going on. “How could you not know? It’s management by walking around.” 
  
• Hire for character and train for skills. Know what your company values are and mean them. “Most are empty rhetoric. Live your values. Stop the hypocrisy. A value is a belief you have, not one you say you do.”