 Welcome
to That's
Awfully Personal, an opportunity for blog writers and readers to
reveal a little more about themselves than might normally happen during
the daily blogging process, and hence get to know each other a bit
better. It's a little like the late, great Friday Five, but more
challenging. Each week our Awfully
Personal Panel will post one or more new questions for you to
answer on your blog, or in the comment space below if you don't have a
blog.
For more on how That's Awfully
Personal works, please see the How
to Play section below. Here is this week's Awfully Personal
Question:
You're
on the fast track to the top of a Fortune 500 company: Your salary has
doubled in two years and you're up for another promotion, to a VP
position, next month. But you were accidentally copied on a
confidential e-mail intended only for the president of the company,
that reveals that the company has clearly been involved in some
unethical activities: (1) an unreported chemical spill into a river in
Nigeria, (2) a bribe paid to an official to win a major Italian
government contract, and (3) a large liability for an employee pension
shortfall that is not shown on the books.
The president has left a voice mail asking you to come to his office
'at your earliest opportunity'. You've talked to a friend of yours, a
lawyer, and she's advised you that most whistle-blowers find their
careers at an end, and some get sued for libel. At the same time, she
says you could also be charged as an accessory if you fail to report these issues.
Situation 1: The president acknowledges that he knows you received the
e-mail, and that the issues discussed are legitimate, and then asks you
to say nothing, and that he's prepared to have the company indemnify
you from any liability that should arise as a result of your
non-disclosure.
Situation 2: The president acknowledges that he knows you received the
e-mail, but says that the issues are 'complicated' and there are
legitimate, legal reasons why they have not been disclosed. He asks you
whether it is your intention to take any action regarding the messages.
What do you do in each case?
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How to Play "That's Awfully
Personal":
- Subscribe to (i.e. join) this Yahoo group
to get the weekly question(s) sent to you automatically by e-mail each
Friday.
- On Saturday, or whenever you get around to it, post one of
the questions and your answer to it on your weblog or web site.
- Then come back here (you may want to bookmark this site)
and click the 'comment' button under the question(s) of the week. If
it's your first time, you'll be asked to enter your e-mail and the URL
of your blog or website. Then just note that your answer is up. Other
readers will then be able to read it on your site by simply clicking on
your name in the comments thread. You can check out other people's
answers at the same time. Or, if you don't have a blog or website, you
can post your answer right in the comment box.
- If you have questions or observations about "That's Awfully
Personal", or would like to become part of our Awfully Personal Panel that selects
the weekly questions, e-mail
us.
- If you have a suggestion for Question of the Week, e-mail us and our Panel
will review it and, if selected, they will acknowledge you as the
author with a link to your blog. Questions should ideally be
challenging, so that the answers will be revealing (when answered
honestly). But this isn't Truth or Dare -- we want people to want to
answer honestly and to have to think a bit before they do.
- "That's Awfully Personal" was developed when The Friday
Five closed down. The questions are more thought-provoking and, well,
more personal than most
Friday Five questions. If they're too serious for you, here's
a group that is resurrecting The Friday Five, which you might enjoy
instead.
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10:58:04 PM 
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September 10, 2004
