People of Character
A Story of Finding Yourself Far from Yourself
J. Cliff Baxter was born in New York. After graduating university, he served in the US Air Force in the early eighties, rising to the rank of captain. After he was discharged from the military he studied for two years receiving an MBA degree. He worked in investment banking briefly before he joined Enron in 1991 where he rose to the executive position of Chief Strategy Officer before his resignation.
Enron Corp. is a company that reached dramatic heights only to face a dizzying fall. Its collapse affected thousands of employees and shook Wall Street to its core. At Enron’s peak, its shares were worth $90.75. When it declared bankruptcy in December 2001, they were trading at $0.26. To this day, many wonder how one of the largest companies in the U.S. disintegrated almost overnight and how it managed to fool the regulators with fake holdings and off-the-books accounting for so long.
CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, was Baxter’s closest friend at Enron. In 2006, Skilling was convicted of conspiracy, fraud, and insider trading. Skilling originally received a 24-year sentence, but it was reduced by 10 years in 2013.
Baxter was sued personally for $30 million due to his sale of $30 million worth of Enron stocks in the months prior to Enron’s bankruptcy.
On January 25, 2002, having been subpoenaed to testify before Congressional Committees regarding his knowledge and evidence of the scandal at Enron, Baxter committed suicide.
His suicide note to his wife was later published. It read:
“Carol, I am so sorry for this. I feel I just can’t go on. I have always tried to do the right thing but where there was once great pride now it’s gone. I love you and the children so much. I just can’t be any good to you or myself. The pain is overwhelming.
Please try to forgive me. Cliff”
The Cost of Poor Character
This is a dramatic and extreme example of ethics and integrity being swept away in a whirlwind of greed and deceit. It is sad for the many lives that were affected by this scandal and for Baxter that his disillusionment with himself was so great he couldn’t live with himself any more.
Let’s relate it to our lives. Have you ever worked with someone who was bright, talented and competent, but there was something about who he or she was as a person that somehow got in the way, putting a lid on their advancement? Or do you know of someone who had a meteoric rise up the ranks because of their incredible ability only to crash and burn because of some scandal?
Whether they lacked some kind of moral fibre to start with, or the demands of their position put so much pressure on them that they buckled, the outcome is the same. As individuals they either lost everything they had built up, or they could never achieve a future they envisioned for themselves. What often suffered along with them were friends and family, colleagues and the reputation of their company.
Integrity is therefore the backbone that needs to hold each of us together. It’s the inner core that provides the strength for effective, even brilliant work to be achieved. It is the reserve within us that gives us a sense of peace, that is also a deep well of strength. We call it ‘being able to look at ourselves in the mirror’ or ‘sleeping soundly at night.’
The Nature of Integrity
Henry Cloud in his book Integrity, takes a deeper look at the concept. For Cloud integrity is not only a matter of trustworthiness, faithfulness and dependability, and doing the right thing when no-one is looking. It is also about being able to hold under stress.
He uses this analogy:
If you are an air force general wanting a new fighter jet built you would sit with the engineers who are going to ask, “What do want this jet to do?”
Depending in whether the plane needs speed, to fly at high altitudes, dip down to the desert and withstand heat, or carry heavy cargo over long distances they will design accordingly. They will want to know if fuel efficiency is a criteria, and/or maneuverability. Based on the requirements the “integrity” of the material will need to withstand the demands placed on it.
For Cloud the level of our integrity connects to our character. At the end of the day, what we are asking is “What am I made of?” Cloud translates character as “the ability to meet the demands of reality.”
Checking Ourselves At the Door
One of the most valuable tools we have to work towards greater character is self-awareness. Knowing where and when we are strong or weak, and then acting on this awareness, prepares us for possible scenarios.
For example, in what situations do you feel stretched to your limit in terms of capacity, ability to respond, energy, and coping mechanisms?
They could be situations like:
? Severe criticism
? Someone badgering you to get what they want
? Pressure to concede in group situations on issues you believe are important
? Requests to look the other way when others are ducking and diving through the system
? Extreme tiredness, lowering your defenses.
It is foolish to think any of us are exempt from the temptation to fudge the lines. What we don’t realize is that mostly we don’t sacrifice our sense of well being and goodness in one giant leap. It is usually in small, easily justifiable decisions that inch us away from the moral person we believe ourselves to be.
Cliff Baxter lost himself somewhere along the line. This may be an opportunity for you to self-correct and get yourself back on track. Or perhaps it’s about checking that you have the inner and external resources to manage your reality before it trips you up.