4 - Do they occasionally see themselves as part of the problem?

I've grown weary of hearing every C.E.O. who gets before the media,
glibly announce: "We have no ethical problems in my company."  Huh?  If
we've learned anything in these recent months - it's that all man-made
systems are flawed and full of mistakes.  As long as organizations are
comprised of people, they're not going to be infallible institutions.
This is something even the Catholic Church, experts on infallibility,
have recently come to appreciate.  The revealing executive question is:
"What is your contribution to the problem that you've come here to
explain away?"  If they see none, then we're in for trouble.

Not that I'm asking all executives to bare their corporate souls in
public, but business leaders need to create the environment for
surfacing flawed practices and taking decisive action.  This line of
thinking has a confessional aspect to it, and the priest in me likes
it.  I find that those who have the humility to acknowledge corporate
shortcomings offer us some hope that business justice will eventually be
served.

5 - Can they make the workplace friendly for artists?

My favorite definition of integrity is ". a firm adherence to moral and
artistic values." The moral part of this discussion is obvious.  The
artistic side often gets lost in business.  Executives can't rely solely
on accountants and engineers to safeguard the integrity of our corporate
institutions.  We need artists to complement their efforts.  They are
the ones who have the language, mythology and requisite skills for
building the spiritual side of business.  In large part, it is the voice
of the artist that has remained silent during these corporate failures.
It is they, however, who are the shamans of the 21st century.  Business
and religious leaders have left us feeling violated and without hope.
We need spokespeople for the Sacred and the True, which co-exists within
the world of commerce.  Our organizational charts long for those who can
use word, color and brush to reveal that the world has became
surprisingly small.  That my individual action reverberates across the
globe.  Artists  remind us that misdeeds done by a few can injure the
many.  Just as we look to our internal "adult" for moral direction, we
should look externally to the poets, painters and mystics in our places
of work to shore-up the frailty of the human condition in the
marketplace.  Like Walt Whitman of old, I believe that present day
artists will usher in a new era of celebration in business . revealing
the sacredness of the human spirit, its vast potential for world good
and its rectitude in the face of deceit and transgression.

It's a message of hope.   The Corporate world could use more of it these
days.  I believe it's a legitimate demand to place upon our leaders.

P.S.  If you're thinking about writing me, give in to the temptation.
I love getting mail ... and being influenced by what you have to say.
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