Notre Dame and NDDCEL continue to inspire ethical business leaders with fall forum for early career professionals

What would you do if your employer asked you to do something that conflicted with your values? How do you show up as your authentic self when the work you’re performing doesn’t feel meaningful? What can you ask during a job interview to help gauge whether a company values business ethics? How can you raise issues or concerns about ethics without offending leadership?

Allan Njomo // All photographs Kaity Fuja, OMG Photography

These were just a few of the questions pondered by early career professionals and emerging leaders at the Future Forward forum hosted by the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership (NDDCEL). Held at the University of Notre Dame Chicago Campus on October 3-4, the forum convened members of industry and academia to engage in lively discussions about values-driven business practices. It was also an opportunity for young professionals to apply scholarly research and innovative thought leadership to their post-academic careers.

Many participants were Notre Dame alumni. “Part of what I loved most about Notre Dame was being able to read, analyze, discuss and debate different types of concepts,” said attendee Cristin Pacifico (BBA ’15), who has served as a director for TechNexus Venture Collaborative’s strategy and venture investment team for the past five years. “Oftentimes, when we’re in a work environment, it’s very easy to become submerged in what you’re doing. Having an immersive experience like this where we were able to purely focus on the different types of ethical dilemmas we may encounter in the work environment and how to navigate those has given me great context that I can bring back to my job and my role.”

The NDDCEL forum is the second in a series of three convenings this year. The series began with a leadership event in September for business students from eight universities that was co-sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. A third event for senior executives will be held in the spring.

“Our events this year represent the journey of ethical leadership starting with studying business, then moving to early career and then to senior leadership,” said Jessica McManus Warnell, Rex and Alice. A. Martin Faculty Director of the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. For each event, McManus Warnell shares insights from attendees of the previous event, culminating in a final content analysis to better understand ethical leadership experiences at different stages of academic and professional life.

“As this group is ascending to leadership positions, we want to hear what’s important to them,” she said. “What are their companies doing well? What would they like to see improve? And then give them tools they can take with them to their roles.”

Over two days, Future Forward attendees discussed case studies and research highlights from Notre Dame faculty, including McManus Warnell, associate teaching professor Kelly Rubey, teaching professor Brian Levey, Professor of Philosophy and the Rev. John A O’Brien Collegiate Chair Meghan Sullivan and Gary Lamberti, Nieuwland Professor Emeritus of Aquatic Science. They also heard from business practitioners such as Cecelia Bolden, executive vice president and COO of EC-United, who spoke about inclusive leadership, and Lori Pressler, chief ethics officer at Deloitte. Betsy Besanceney, managing director of risk and financial advisory at Deloitte, gave the keynote presentation.

“A big part of my ethical leadership journey has been coming back to my authentic self because I think we’re most successful when we’re being ourselves,” said Besanceney. “We can be influenced sometimes by stress or pressure or a need to please, and that’s when we end up straying from who we are. So I encouraged participants to bring their authentic selves to whatever they do because I believe inherently each of us is good and we want to do the right thing.”

Besanceney was particularly inspired by the active Q&A discussion that followed her keynote. “I’ve had the opportunity to speak to a lot of different groups, but I’ve not been asked [these] questions before. So that was very energizing,” she said. “Emerging leaders are our future, so the more we provide them with tools and opportunities to discuss and ponder these concerns the more we arrive at solutions.”

Originally posted on NDDCEL.