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Every organization should have a few clear and unambiguous rules and principles that are followed and enforced at every level. These principles build culture and set standards that can readily and credibly spread throughout any organization.

A string of executive controversies over the summer months have brought this issue into stark contrast. Two bewildering examples drawn from recent headlines include the firing of the:

• University of Georgia’s athletic director following a DUI arrest (when part of his responsibilities involved encouraging fans not to drink at UGA sporting events)
• HP CEO for breaches of trust and conduct who had pledged to lead his business ethically

In setting standards, I suggest leaders and boards figure out what’s really important. If you don’t live up to these rules, you’re gone, no matter what position you hold or who you are.

Miners used to carry a caged canary into new coal mines. As long as the canary kept singing, miners knew their air supply was safe. A dead canary signaled the need for an immediate evacuation.

The last canary disappeared from English coal mines in the late 1980s. Since then, miners have relied on inspections, instrumentation, regulation, administrative processes, complaint investigations, and their gut instincts to safeguard their lives.

Unlike human whistleblowers who often are ignored, called troublemakers, demoted, ostracized or fired, canaries send a clear and unmistakable signal of danger. With the recent tragedies at the Massey coal mine in West Virginia and the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, it may be time to bring back the canaries or listen to employees or others whose voices deliver the same message, as I suggest in this brief  video.

Bad doctors lose patients they shouldn’t, cause avoidable complications, distract team members who may deliver the wrong medication, or cause others to keep quiet when they should speak up about problems. I’m not talking about physicians who lack clinical skills, though some may. Rather, these bad docs may have great and even extraordinary talents. But they scream, berate, physically intrude, threaten, and demean team members – including other physicians, nurses, and other professionals – so abusively and repetitively that patient care may suffer as much as from acts of technical incompetence.

• The pharmaceutical firm that keeps selling a profitable medication though its researchers know it has significantly adverse side effects
• The hospital that tolerates physicians’ abusive behavior though aware of the distraction their conduct causes during day-to-day practice
• The automobile manufacturer that conceals a discovered defect that could cause fatalities rather than absorb the costs of expensive product recalls

Organizational disasters have resulted recently from each of these fact patterns. I know I’m not alone in noticing how the same kinds of action keep causing avoidable catastrophes.

I recently facilitated a session for senior leaders of a public utility. In all ways, they were confident that they successfully lived by their values, with one exception: accountability.

I had the recent opportunity to participate as a panelist at the Women in Cable Television (WICT) Event held in Seattle. Grace Killelea, Senior Vice President at Comcast, offered a keynote on The Four Cornerstones of Staying Essential.

Can business culture learn a lesson from the high-priced gasoline culture?

Last Friday I dead-lifted 260 pounds. In other words, I picked up a 45-pound bar with 107.5 pounds attached to each end and stood it straight up. It was heavy. It was also one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done in my life.

I’ve thought a lot about leadership over the past few years – it’s what every firm says it needs to build better, more efficient, inclusive ethical and lawful workplaces. Go to any bookstore and the shelves will be lined with first-person or biographical accounts of epic leaders –Washington, Lincoln, King, Patton, Schwarzkopf, Welch, Jobs, Gates. Those leaders are few and far between, and most of us read about them hoping to find nuggets of wisdom we can apply.