When you think of white collar crime your mind immediately goes to recent news stories of Bernie Madoff or Tom Petters. These are the current poster children for what is wrong in Corporate America. As citizens we wonder how they could be so dishonest and criminal — we think of all of the lives they have impacted and the people they have hurt. In reality, it more than likely started with one small step down the wrong path and then become a way of life they couldn’t get out from under.
Please, take two minutes to get a glimpse of how one person started down the wrong path. This blog is all about Leadership and Community and you owe it to yourself, your love ones and the community to listen and learn from this story.
The Story of Nick and Carolyn Ryberg
Please watch this 2 minute video before proceeding.
Nick’s video is the background most people never have the chance to hear about a person who seems just like you or I. The difference is Nick is a convicted white collar criminal that was sentenced to 30 months in jail. His wife Carolyn was sentenced to 24 months in jail and they had to sell everything and find temporary homes for their two daughters.
After listening to Nick video, you can listen to what it was like for his wife to leave her kids and be confined in the same prison as Martha Stewart.
You can get the full details and more background on the Ryberg’s story at: http://www.stthomas.edu/ethicalleadership/research/professions/Ryberg.html
Leadership and Ethics
I was fortunate to hear the story of Nick and Carolyn Ryberg first hand this last week as they gave a presentation at General Mills to kickoff our Ethics week discussion. This is the type of story everyone should have the opportunity to hear.
The story was moderated by Hank Shea, Senior Distinguished Fellow at the University of St. Thomas. Mr. Shea started a program series which brings white collar criminals to colleges, corporations and community groups to tell their story and hopefully prevent others from going down the wrong path. They are cautionary tales of how easy it is to take that first small step and what it can lead to down the road.
I had the great fortune of meeting Mr. Shea about five years ago when I was in the Leadership Twin Cities program and he was the Assistant US Attorney in Minnesota responsible for handling White Collar Crimes. He had another felon speaking that day. Overall I have attend three or four different sessions where Mr. Shea has brought different speakers to tell their story. This is an amazing program that he has developed and one I hope each of you someday have the opportunity to attend and hear first hand.
Hank Shea has graciously agreed to add a white collar criminal presentation to The Minnesota Student Leadership Seminar on March 29th. He was an inspiring guest speaker at our inaugural seminar (2009) and to our great pleasure and gratitude has remained involved in the seminar this year.
The seminar is an interactive set of small group discussions for high school students (separate sessions for faculty) focused on values and leadership and how they intersect. We are excited to be able to include the white collar criminal session between group sessions because it will re-enforce the idea that values have to be 1) identified and then 2) continuously revisited so that decisions are congruent with them.
Tim – PERFECT timing! Community Safety day is next month and of course Hank Shea will be there with another one of his clients. Always one of the most eye-opening and memorable presentations of the year. I think it is a story everyone should hear and your narrative is right on! Thanks for sharing and commenting.