The Solution

2022 Reflection: I have called the Nortel Affair "Dr. Anderson, Part II," because of the similarities between the two. The Senior VP of Sales, that ordered me to make an unethical (and possibly illegal) hire, was in the role of Dr. Anderson. The Executive Team at Nortel were in the position of the Regents of the University of Michigan. But the most important players - the rank and file of the company that did what they were told and made no waves (protecting their own positions) were like the staff and middle-level managers at the U of M (especially in the professional community at the U of M). They were like the Nurse Practitioner "Hahaha, we know all about Doctor Anderson, but he's highly respected in his field," with their advice of "Yeah there was a letter going around about you. You should have just done what you were told."

My only awareness of an invisible boulder, in the middle 1990s, derived from a sense of frustration, that I seem to keep getting in fixes like this, where I'm just trying to do right - but something keeps getting in the way. And the obstacle was vast, immovable, and did not seem to present any kind of problem for anybody else. My support network could not see the problem, and could not provide much help. My professional friends and colleagues were like the friends of Job, of old: You're overreacting. Why are you causing trouble?

In late 1995, I was riding high at Nortel Networks. I had completed my first successful year of recruiting, hiring, managing, and developing a class of new hires into our Marketing Leadership Development Program. In the new manager orientation that was required for my promotion, I learned that the company would not take my side if I got into any problem with a Civil Rights issue, regardless of who was at fault. My second year of recruiting resulted in having to turn away a very strong minority candidate, because we simply did not have the budgetary dollars for it. At almost the very instant that I informed the candidate that we would not be hiring him, I was directed by a Senior VP of Sales, to hire the unqualified child of an executive at one of our major customers. I had always wanted to be ethically tested in the corporate world. 

This was it. 

My wife told me there's no way she would hire the child of a big-shot customer, when we had turned away minority candidates that fit the requirements of our program. I thought about my Dad - - - what would he do? I wanted to put together a plan without relying on my usual go-tos, like Dad. 

My manager, Bertha Bartra, supported me. Her boss was non-committal. His boss was non-committal. They both got to the senior level by not making waves. Each of the other managers that reported to Bertha agreed that it was an impossible situation and that I had been asked to do something questionable. 

My confidantes in the company agreed that I was in a tough spot. Candid friends in Human Resources said that it was unfair, but that I had better do what I was told. 

After several weeks of discussions like this, I came up with the following plan:

1) I met with the corporate VP of Ethics. I shared my predicament with him. He agreed that I was asked to do something unethical. He encouraged me to proceed (as detailed below), and said that he would talk to the executive team. It would be a good case study, that can inform policy from here forward. He suggested some books and articles for me to read, and gave me a few professional referrals in corporate Ethics. I still have the report that I wrote up for this VP.

2) I would put together an interview day for the candidate I had been ordered to hire. My peer managers would all meet in Dallas (she was in college there), along with Bertha, and then an HR rep in Dallas would partner with us. We would each interview the candidate, and then at the end of the day, we would decide on a course of action. We viewed her as a candidate recommended by management, and that we would be looking for reasons not to hire her. We found none. Her interviewing skills were laudatory. 

3) I would offer her a position, in the newly-created Junior MLDP Program, the parameters of which would be defined later. I would send a report to the Senior VP that got me into this fix, and also to Human Resources and Bertha. I would describe our process in hiring her, and that it was done based on a recommendation of Senior Management, and that my team of managers all recommended this course of action. (They all signed the report). 

And with that . . . I thought that I had sewed the thing up nicely, and could move on to my second year of building our program. 

I was wrong.

NEXT: The Result

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