A time for leadership. (President's Page).

Incoming FEI Chairman Ridge Braunschweig is actively planning for his term by thinking broadly about FEI and our profession. One important goal that he's set for our upcoming fiscal year is for the organization to:

Encourage and motivate our membership to take active leadership in their organizations in promoting a proper and consistent ethical tone at the top.

Previously, in this space, we've discussed FEI's ethical code of conduct and our members' duties under that code. That code is printed on the next page as a reminder of those obligations. Today's lingering sense of uncertainty, with the post-Enron fallout continuing and investor confidence in the capital markets wavering, leads me to the topic of leadership.

Tumultuous times not only demand that we lead in our organizations. They offer great opportunities for up-and-coming leaders to step forward and establish themselves. Such is the state and opportunity that financial officers are currently presented. Famous leadership scholars Max Weber and Howard Gardner assert that many high-profile leaders appear in times of trouble, and that their followers exhibit a "devotion born of distress."

The state of mind of the followers is a powerful ingredient in the leader's emergence. In other words, your financial organization, your board and your fellow executives may very well be either openly or quietly in significant need of your leadership. Seize the opportunity. Think of Winston Churchill, a "has been" late in life who rallied Britain for the long and terrible fight in World War II.

Financial executives, in particular, often act as the con-science of their organizations. Perhaps the CEO and the board have become enamored of some program or product line whose cost structure just doesn't make sense. Its revenue targets may look wildly inflated, or its costs have been dramatically underestimated. That's the time when it's incumbent on the CFO "leader" to make his or her voice heard and try to bring the rest of management to its senses.

In a recent presentation to an FEI Virtual Chapter meeting, prominent executive recruiters talked about the characteristics they are looking for in high-ranking finance officers. Strong moral values will be important, they said, and there will be more scrutiny of executives' backgrounds -- what did they do when they were confronted with a potential ethical problem, for instance? "Ethics and integrity aren't just buzzwords any more," said Chuck Wardell, a managing director with Korn/Ferry International.

Another key aspect of corporate leadership is constantly reaffirming the company's values. Reinforcement and consistency of the actions of the few at the top either build up or tear down these values. Generations tear down then renew societal values, as we've seen throughout modern history. The same thing happens inside the corporation.

People change, reporting relationships change, but we keep coming back to the organization's long-held values. If we don't, the institution ceases to thrive, folds or is sold.

Think about the values of your organization and how the current situation may be a time to recommit to those values and renewal processes.