Center for Leadership Ethics Establishes Advisory Board

TUCSON,  Ariz. – February 11, 2014 – The Center for Leadership Ethics (CLE) at the UA  Eller College of Management announced the formation of an advisory board  chaired by Ronald Sable, current president of Concord Solutions, Ltd.

CLE  brings together research faculty, educational outreach programs, and corporate  partnerships to affect broad change in ethical leadership across business. The  new advisory board will offer strategic direction and facilitate new  opportunities for outreach.

“Members  of the board, led by Ron, are already deeply involved in the CLE,” said Paul  Melendez, founder of the CLE and assistant dean for executive education at  Eller. “These individuals have served as facilitators, judges, guest speakers,  and mentors at our events.”

The  new board, he added, will meet twice a year during CLE’s signature events: the  Collegiate Ethics Case Competition and the High School Ethics Forum. “They will  help us brainstorm, set goals, and hold us accountable to those goals,” he  said. 
    Melendez credits Sable with making key connections for the CLE’s outreach  function. Sable is the former chairman of the United Way of Tucson and Southern  Arizona, where he led a major turn around and significant increases in revenue  during a period of economic decline. He also served in leadership roles with  the Aerospace Corporation and McDonnell Douglas Corporation.  Before  joining McDonnell Douglas, Sable was special assistant to President Ronald  Reagan for national security affairs. In that role he was the lead White House  liaison with the U.S. Senate on defense, foreign policy, intelligence, arms  control, and banking issues. He served as an Air Force pilot (Colonel) and was  an outstanding graduate of the Air War College.

Over  the course of his career, Sable said, “Some would say I was fortunate – and  some would say unfortunate – to have been involved in several high-profile  ethical challenges.” The temptation, he pointed out, is to just bend and go  with it. In one case, he was strongly advised to protect a fellow officer. “I  was told that failure to do so would impact my career,” he said. Sable spoke  out, and it did impact his career: “I was promoted before my peers, and the  officer in question went to prison.”

Sable  has shared his experiences as a guest speaker at Eller and CLE events including  the Southwest Leadership Program, the Collegiate Ethics Case Competition, and  business ethics programs in Argentina and Uruguay. “I believe that personal  integrity is foundational,” he said. “You can lose it in a heartbeat, and it’s  hard to get it back.”

“Sometimes  you pick up a paper and you have to wonder if there’s an honest company in the  world,” he continued. “I believe that the overwhelming number of companies do it  right, but the ones that don’t get a whole lot of attention – and in a world of  instant communication, the word gets out a lot quicker.”

Sable  is passionate about challenging students to think about ethics early. “Most  high school students haven’t been exposed to it,” he said. “At the college  level, it has traditionally been taught in philosophy and religion coursework.  I credit Paul for bringing it to the business school and giving students  practical experience with ethics. If we can implant ethical thinking into the  minds of those who are going through school now, we can see real change.”