HCI Blog

Money and ethics: The things leaders do for wealth

The pursuit for money leads individuals to do things which they may have never imagined themselves doing. Unethical acts which can be simple labeled as stupid are done with the only objective of acquiring more money. To many, this is the only objective in their personal and professional lives.

All over the news we occasionally read about big companies whose CEO and other high-ranking executive get involved in financial scandals or fiascos all for the sake of money.

dollar-bills

Putting all of the pieces together leaves one major question unanswered: How is it that these people who are highly capable and intelligent leaders allow their judgment to become so clouded that they are willing to risk their names and their entire career for money? How much money is enough for them?

This phenomenon was more frequently observed during the 80’s in the United States, when stock brokering was a highly lucrative business if you knew how to play the game. The final objective of every stock broker was to amass as much capital as possible in order to spend on luxury goods. But, many of them were miserable in certain aspects.

Money can’t buy happiness, especially if you were unhappy before you started running after money. If you worry about small things now, you will worry about bigger things later when you have more money. This is part of the person’s individual nature, and not their state of poverty!

Here is where people tend to confuse things a lot. Of course, it is common in today’s modern society that the concepts of money and success are confused and even at times seen as synonymous.

Instead of looking for the easy way to the top (which can be seen as a lazy man’s path) you should seek for the joy of within the struggle. Nothing is more rewarding than reaping the fruits of your own toil.

So next time you read about a scandal or see a big time CEO being arrested for embezzlement or money laundering, stop and think to yourself: What is my relationship with success and wealth? Where do I want to reach? How will I get there?

Stop and remember: That CEO could’ve been you.