You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity

Taking the Fall

The night before a citywide seminar in Columbus, Ohio, the business teacher at the Ohio Reformatory for Women contacted me. Her class had read my book and was studying the topic of workplace ethics, so she invited me to come out to the prison and speak to her students. Of course, I was happy to do so.

It was a great evening. All of her students were receptive to the topic and we had a lively discussion. I will never forget when I started talking about the topic of accountability in the workplace today. A woman in the back of the room waved her hand, stood up, and interrupted me with her statement: “Nan, you don’t have to talk to us about accountability . . . we’re in the can!”

She brought the house down—and I saluted her.

Afterward, I had dinner with the instructor, who told me there were more than a few women in the room who were convicted of “white-collar” crimes and their defenses were that their bosses said, “Don’t worry—I’ll protect you” (or words to that effect). Of course, at the end of the day, they were convicted along with their bosses—and one even instead of her boss.