Business Ethics and Integrity Honored at 1st Annual Leadership Character
Awards
(Atlanta, Georgia) -- Turknett Leadership Group announced
the winners of the 1st Annual Leadership Character Awards during a
ceremony attended by nearly 300 business leaders recently at the Grand Hyatt
Hotel in Atlanta. The ceremony
celebrated the integrity, character and business ethics of the 47 nominees, and
honored a select group of four individuals and two organizations that best exemplify
the standards set forth in the Turknett Leadership Character Model.
The winners include (listed in the order in which awards
were made):
Non-profit Award
Orrin C. Hudson, Be Someone, Inc.
Small Organization Award
Porter Keadle Moore, LLP
Manager Award
Ken Murphy, Acuity Brands
Manager Award
Stacy Bell, BellSouth
CEO/President Award
Dennis Cooper, RTM Restaurant Group
Large Organization Award
MATRIX Resources, Inc.
“Congratulations
on making a difference in the quality of dialogue and leadership in the Atlanta
business community,” said Kathleen Brandt, former Senior Vice President of
Wachovia. “The event drew a wonderful collection of talented people who share
values and place importance on integrity as the bedrock of leadership.”
With more than 45 nominations to consider, Turknett
Leadership Group (TLG) tapped four outstanding senior leaders to serve as the
advisory group to make the first statewide award selections. Members of the group include Oz Nelson,
retired chairman and CEO of United Parcel Service; Conchita Robinson,
former vice president of IBM Corporation; Betty Siegel, president of
Kennesaw State University; and Frank Skinner, retired president of
BellSouth Telecommunications. The
advisory group assisted in presenting the awards at the ceremony.
“At a time when so much of the news in business is focused
on unethical activities, we felt it important to honor organizations like
Matrix who exemplify the best in Georgia business today, ” said Bob Turknett, co-founder and
CEO of Turknett Leadership Group.
Turknett’s work with leaders and organizations is centered
on developing a culture of leadership at all levels, and therefore the awards
recognized excellence not only in top management, but also throughout the
organization. Complete descriptions of
both leadership character and organization character can be found at www.leadershipcharacter.com.
Turknett
Leadership Group is an Atlanta-based management and consulting firm that
focuses on developing leadership character at all levels of organizations by
providing Executive Coaching, Selection & Integration; Succession Planning;
Team Assessment and Development; Ethics, Retention and Culture Consulting.
Orrin C. Hudson of BeSomeone, Inc.
Top Award in the Non-Profit Category
Of Orrin Hudson, Lyn Turknett said, “An Air force veteran,
former state trooper, entrepreneur and a two-time chess champion, Orrin Hudson
has many accomplishments to his credit.
Perhaps the most compelling of his accomplishments is the creation of an
award-winning program called - Be Someone. One of the reasons we selected Mr.
Hudson for special recognition is because Be Someone‘s mission is to help build
and maintain character and hope among youth and individuals – especially those
individuals from disadvantaged circumstances.
But another reason is that the person who nominated him gave such
perfect examples of leadership character. His integrity is such that after
promising a group of children he would work with them, he continued the program
even after the funding was cut. And if
you’ve ever been stopped by a car with a blue light you’ll appreciate this from
his nomination form – ‘As a state trooper for six years he treated every person
he stopped as though they were the most important person in the world.’”
Porter
Keadle Moore, LLP
Top Award in the Small Organization
Category:
Bob Turknett gave tribute to this organization when he said,
“As stated in the nomination, ‘the principle virtue of the CPA profession is
integrity. It’s the heart of what PKM
does.’ Not only does the firm adhere to a strict code of professional
standards, PKM also promotes the demonstration of integrity in their
associates’ personal lives. An
excellent example of Porter Keadle Moore’s integrity is their ‘communal’ client
acceptance process. While new client
development is core to the livelihood of every business – and PKM is no
exception – they nevertheless maintain a policy of choosing their clients not
on their revenue potential, but rather the ethical soundness of the organizations’
management team. Potential clients are
discussed at monthly meetings and any one of the firm’s seven partners can veto
the acceptance of the new client. Other
distinguishing characteristics of the Porter Keadle Moore’s culture are seen in
their demonstrated commitment to a healthy life and work balance for their
employees.”
Because
of the wide range of responsibilities in the Manager Category, 2 awards were
given this year.
Ken Murphy, Acuity Brands, Inc.
One of Two Top Awards in the Manager Category
Of Ken Murphy, Dr. Betty Siegel said, “He is trusted by both
the Board of Directors and Senior Management to do what is right in all
circumstances – and he does so instinctively.
Integrity is paramount to Ken as evidenced by his actions during the restructuring
of the company. Midway through the
project, he made the decision to fire one of the five professional firms he was
working with because they broke a promise they had made. The easy way would have been to let it go,
but integrity meant more to Ken than a possible disruption in the project. A good listener who is open and willing to
compromise, Ken Murphy affects an attitude of humility, while maintaining a
“spine of steel”. He takes personal
responsibility and initiative for transactions and risk across the corporation
without regard to organizational influence or power. Simply put, he is a fearless advocate for what is right for the
business. Because he accepts responsibility
for virtually everything that occurs in the company, people defer to him
frequently.”
Stacy Bell, BellSouth
One of Two Top Awards in the Manager Category
Conchita Robinson described Stacy Bell as, “…someone who
demonstrates honesty and integrity by doing the right thing EVERY time, not
just when it’s comfortable. When a
valued and knowledgeable employee in the group was found to be discussing
specific business issues that could be considered proprietary with a family
member who worked for the competition, Stacy did what had to be done. As a result of the action taken, and even
though the workload was more difficult for everyone, our award recipient gained
the trust and respect of the whole team by demonstrating unwavering integrity. Respected by supervisors, peers and subordinates alike,
Stacy is consistently sought after for her advice and opinions. Listening openly, patiently and caringly to
what others have to say, she tries to help them solve their problems or
issues. When a mistake is made, the
response is not to scold or blame, but rather to coach and to learn from the
mistake. Ever willing to roll up her
sleeves and work along side fellow team members, Stacy leads by example and
always encourages different perspectives.
Because of her selfless dedication to and support of the team, team
members are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
Dennis Cooper, RTM Restaurant Group, Inc.
Top Award in the President/CEO Category
Oz Nelson said of Dennis Cooper, “As a visionary, he is
known not only for his work with RTM Restaurant Group, but for his ability to
focus on and enhance the value of the entire Arby’s System nationwide. Like the
Leadership Character Model depicts, integrity is the foundation of all that
this individual has done in his 30-year career with the RTM Restaurant Group. As a recognized leader in his industry, he
is known for always delivering on commitments and promises, and for his
“undying honesty, regardless of the subject at hand.” Throughout his tenure
with RTM Restaurant Group, he has served as principal liaison between RTM and professional,
cultural, social, educational and business groups within the communities served
by the company’s restaurants. Aptly
described as a “servant leader and compassionate citizen,” he has guided
numerous philanthropic initiatives beginning with the formation of the RTM
Foundation which contributes 5% of the company’s pre-tax profits to community
partners and charities.”
MATRIX Resources
Top Award in the Large Organization
Category:
Frank Skinner said of this organization, “MATRIX Resources
was founded in 1983 on principles of integrity, fairness, a genuine care for
people, and a commitment to excellence.
In 2002, this company formalized their identity, foundational values,
and vision into a charter statement.
They hold themselves accountable to the Charter both internally and
externally. An internal survey designed
to measure how they “stack up” against the Charter is conducted semi-annually
with the results communicated company-wide.
Not only are the results of the survey displayed in the visitor lobby of
each office and on their web site, but also each employee proudly presents a
copy of the Charter to clients, candidates, consultants and other external
business partners as part of their business card. Also in 2002, MATRIX Resources created an innovative new program
that personifies their company values and character. During this time, their industry was in the midst of a complete
reversal. Thousands of IT professionals
were being laid off while few new openings were being created. They made the commitment to provide IT
professionals, at no cost to them, the knowledge and tools they needed to find
jobs with or without assistance.”
Frank also added, “…it is neither coincidental nor
accidental that there is a driving force behind the values, the culture and the
community focus of the MATRIX Resources organization. And although their CEO prefers to give the credit to others, we
know that he leads with uncompromising leadership character. We know it because he received numerous
individual award nominations in addition to his company’s nomination. I am pleased to present the 2003
Organization Character Award to MATRIX Resources and to Jim Huling, Chief
Executive Officer. Jim, you and your
organization have set the bar extremely high!”
