About the Book
When former executive and entrepreneur Don Sheppard awoke the morning after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he was horrified to learn that Donald Trump had become the 45th president of the United States. Committed to strong business principles and ethics throughout his varied career, Sheppard was concerned about the role model that Trump as a businessperson—and now the most powerful person in the world—presented to corporate America, and to broader society in general.
Part business manifesto and part memoir, The Dividends of Decency shows why and how doing the right thing in business is also doing the right thing for business. Principles and profits are not mutually exclusive; in fact, conducting business in a principled way can significantly improve a company’s profits as well as its relationships with all key stakeholders—employees, customers, suppliers and partners, shareholders and the community at large.
After decades of corporate scandals—including Enron and Lehman Brothers and the other firms who precipitated the Great Recession of 2008–09—the ethical bar for business has fallen to a new low in Trump’s America.
The Dividends of Decency is a timely reminder of what is truly important in business, and a guide to values-based leadership that will help American business indeed be great again—by being ethical, accountable and sustainable.
The impact of Trump’s warped sense of values extends beyond news items and the efforts of stand-up comedians striving to stay ahead of his outrageous antics. The rest of the world either smiles or shudders at his latest escapade or scandal and thinks, Is this how American businesspeople act? Are these the values of American business and the country’s society in general?
Donald Lee Sheppard’s opinion of Donald Trump may not be unique, but it sharply focused. As someone who chose America as his home and rose from a deeply disadvantaged childhood to an enormously successful career, Sheppard occupies a special position from which to criticize Trump’s business activities.
In colorful sharply-worded prose, Sheppard brands Trump’s long-term impact on American business as disastrous. He justifies his view with a compelling narrative of his personal struggles to share the American Dream and completes his premise with solid suggestions on how America’s businesspeople at all levels must counter the Trump influence.
More critically, he provides proof that rejecting Trump’s practices and adopting values-driven business practices makes positive impacts on every corporation’s bottom line.
Amid so much controversy generated by the Trump Presidency, The Dividends Of Decency stands as essential reading for those seeking a bright post-Trump future for the USA.
“Finally, a book that will help American business be great again by being ethical, accountable and sustainable, all of which are sorely lacking in today’s world. Many have tried but, in my opinion, only Don Sheppard has truly captured the how and why of running a business the principled way…”
—Josh OttosonPress Release – About the Book
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marissa Eigenbrood & Sophia Moriarty
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The Dividends Of Decency:
How Values-Based Leadership will Help Business Flourish in Trump’s America
By Donald Lee Sheppard
with John Lawrence Reynolds
The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States ushered in a stream of escapades and scandals, most of them stemming from Trump’s warped sense of values. Following Trump’s long history of involvement in corporate scandals and questionable ethics, it’s no surprise that the American public’s opinion of business people has suffered a steep decline in recent years.
“People who conduct business without principles destroy themselves and do terrible damage to their colleagues, their organizations, and to those of us who emphasize truth and respect in our business dealings,” says former business executive and entrepreneur Donald Lee Sheppard. From modest beginnings, Sheppard quickly rose through the ranks of major international benefits consulting companies before launching his own employee communications firm, Sheppard Associates. In his new book, The Dividends Of Decency: How Values-Based Leadership will Help Business Flourish in Trump’s America [Figure 1 Publishing, April 2018], he underlines the importance of businesses maintaining strong moral values not simply because it is “the right thing to do” but because the practice pays off with better long-term bottom-line performance. He supports his premise with fascinating insights into the struggles he faced in his own business endeavors, presenting a compelling narrative urging readers to counter Trump’s corrupt influence.
Part business manifesto and part memoir, The Dividends of Decency provides readers with solid advice, teaching and showing by example how companies can achieve outstanding success when following established codes of ethics rather than deceit and dishonesty. Neither an ethics guide nor an autobiography, The Dividends of Decency stands as a unique business profile of two decidedly different individuals, their values in distinct contrast with each other. In compelling text spiced with anecdotes and personal experience, Sheppard demonstrates that principles and profits are not mutually exclusive, and that conducting business in a principled manner can significantly improve a company’s profits and elevate its relationship with employees, customers, suppliers and partners, shareholders and the community at large.
“Examples of values-based CEOs who achieved outstanding success for their companies are not just easy to find,” Sheppard notes, “they’re prominent throughout the business media.” Then, with a directness typical of his book’s candor he adds, “If you can’t make it in business by maintaining a reasonable degree of ethics, find something else to do.”
Along with advocating for virtuous practices in the workplace, The Dividends Of Decency offers:
-A comprehensive understanding of why Trump’s business model doesn’t work
-A list of universal ethical quality constituents
-Sheppard’s “Win-Win-Win” strategy as essential to business success
-A pyramid structure illustrating the levels of corporate social responsibility
-A workable definition of integrity for business leaders and entrepreneurs
-Seven concrete steps to creating a meaningful code of ethics in the workplace
-A list of dividends to be earned by promoting diversity in the workplace
-Trends that promise hope for the future of American business
Amid so much controversy generated by the Trump Presidency, The Dividends Of Decency stands as essential reading for those seeking a bright post-Trump future for the United States of America.
Donald Lee Sheppard emerged from humble beginnings in a Northern Ontario mining town to become a leader in employee benefits consulting and communications. During his career he rapidly rose through the ranks of companies such as Manulife, William M. Mercer, and Johnson & Higgins. Later, Sheppard built and sold his own employee communications consulting firm, Sheppard Associates. Currently the CEO of Sheppard Properties, LLC, he is actively involved in a host of charitable ventures. He pedaled coast-to-coast in a cross-country cycling fundraiser and has had a significant positive impact on youth soccer in America, receiving several awards for outstanding community service.
Learn more about Sheppard at www.donsheppard.com, and connect with him on Twitter at @DonSheppard2012, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
The Dividends of Decency is currently available for pre-order on Amazon and can be purchased wherever books are sold as of April 14, 2018.
ADVANCE REVIEW COPIES OF THE DIVIDENDS OF DECENCY AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST