Mann Medal in Ethics and Leadership to Recognize Work for a Better World; Nominations Now Open

Nominations are now being accepted for the Mann Medal in Ethics and Leadership, awarded by Samford University to recognize achievements that have contributed to a more just and ethical world. Nominees may be individuals, groups or organizations from any field of practice. Following are several key considerations in selecting the honoree:

• The work recognized with this award must address a clear need or problem facing society.
• The results achieved by this work must have significance on a large scale.
• The work must be exemplary of leadership that inspires others.

Designed by world-renowned artist Malcolm Grear, the Mann Medal bears the “Sheaf of Grain” emblem of the Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership, symbolizing leadership that cultivates a better world. One medalist each year is honored at a special event in Birmingham, AL, and invited to speak to an audience of university constituencies and community leaders.  Click here for a nomination form in pdf format. Nomination deadline for the 2011 Mann Medal: Monday, March 28.

Mann Center Initiatives in South Africa Support Entrepreneurship and Leadership Development

A team of students from Samford's Brock School of Business is working with the Mann Center to support a micro-enterprise center in the Cape Town area of South Africa.  Living Way is a non-profit organization that empowers the poor with "meaningful opportunities to earn a decent living."  The students are conducting research and will work on site at Living Way this summer to produce a plan to replicate an existing bakery business in multiple locations within townships where the greatest poverty exists.

The Mann Center also is collaborating with Stellenbosch University in South Africa in a new program to develop leaders as agents of positive change.  Cadres of students at Samford and Stellenbosch are  studying the leadership of college students in the historic movements to overcome racial segregation and oppression in both South Africa and the American South.  The project involves live videoconferences and networking on a Facebook group.

News and Views

Government and business regained some public trust in 2010, according to the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, a survey of educated, affluent citizens in the top 10 GDP countries.  However, this trend did not hold in the United States, where trust of many institutions fell sharply.  The U.S. banking industry experienced the steepest decline -- a 46-point drop in trust from 2008 to 2011.  Related resource: Edelman Trust Barometer highlights.

Americans are sharply divided over the dramatic changes in the structure of the family that have occurred in recent decades, a survey by Pew Research Center finds.  These changes include "more unmarried couples raising children; more gay and lesbian couples raising children; more single women having children without a male partner to help raise them; more people living together without getting married; more mothers of young children working outside the home; more people of different races marrying each other; and more women not ever having children."  Roughly a third of Americans accept the changes, a third are tolerant but skeptical, and a third view them as bad for society.  Related resource: Pew Research Center study on changes in family structure.

Today's college students crave self-esteem above all else, reflecting an unhealthy societal belief that "self-esteem is the cure all for every social ill," says a study published in the latest issue of Journal of Personality.  "The problem isn’t with having high self-esteem; it’s how much people are driven to boost their self-esteem," explains one of the researchers. "When people highly value self-esteem, they may avoid doing things such as acknowledging a wrong they did."  The findings are consistent with research on the Millennial generation whose parents often went to great lengths to build self-esteem, including awarding trophies to every team in youth sports, including the losers. Related resource: Ohio State University report on the study.

Are employees more likely to report wrongdoing at work when economic times are tough? A new report from the Ethics Resource Center says the percentage of workers who say they report misconduct rose to 63 percent in 2009, up from 58 percent in 2007.  Between 2000 and 2009 the percentage of employees who observed and reported misconduct averaged 59 percent.  Related resource: Ethics Resource Center Report on Whistleblowing.