finishing touches 42 minute speech

Finishing Touches tm

Out in the countryside of northern Virginia, on a farm, a young school boy sat at the table, by the light of a lantern, learning his lessons. Perhaps, his father said, “Here, study this, and you’ll learn how to write and you’ll learn how to act.” So, the young boy took from his father the 110 Rules of Decorum and Civil Obedience,1 and took them to heart. He wrote them over and over again, practicing his penmanship; by doing so he learned how to write and he learned how to live. Years later, while President of the United States, these very rules served him well. The young boy,2 of course, was George Washington. The rules had come from England; and, it is surmised that George’s father or brother had traveled to England and had brought back a copy of the 18th century rules of etiquette. Research shows their origin to be traced back to Francis Hawkins in 1640 through the French Jesuits3 to the Greeks and even beyond that of the Hammurabi Code of antiquity c. 2010 B. C.

It is of interest to note that Sir Thomas Malory’s Code of Chivalry is not unlike George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decorum; so, too, are the Judeo-Christian’s Ten Commandments. Alongside of “the Code,” “the Rules,” and “The Ten Commandments” may be placed several other historical documents, including Hammurabi’s Code, the Magna Charta 1215 A.D.,4 the Mayflower Compact 1620,5 the Declaration of Independence1776,6 the

1Richard Brookhiser, Rules of Civility, The Free Press: New York, 1997: 5. 2 Richard Norton Smith, Patriarch, George Washington and the New American Nation, Houghton Mifflin Company: New York, 1993: xx.3 Brookhiser, 4. 4 June 15, 1215 A.D.5 c. December 21, 1620.6 July 4, 1776.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]

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Preamble to the Constitution1787 and the Bill of Rights 1791.7

Hammurabi’s Code of Law is a code of action for customs and for conventions concerning criminal and civil actions. The Magna Charta is called “the Great Charter” of England that limits the monarch’s power as to taxing without consent of a “council of the realm,” and as to seizing of property without trial by jury of the peers of the accused, and as to imprisoning;8 thus, the Magna Charta is about civil rights; and it showed America’s founding fathers there was a need for them to enact the Bill of Rights.9 The Mayflower Compact was drawn up aboard the ship the Mayflower by the Pilgrims after their arrival in Massachusetts from Southampton, England, as “an agreement binding them together in a ‘civil body politic’ for the government of the colony.”10 Within the following 160 years there would be numerous occurrences which showed that there was a need for rules of guidance for governance for the entire colonial experience, first to the creation of The Declaration of Independence with its “life, liberties and pursuit of happiness” expressions which were written by Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) during the Second Continental Congress declaring that the original thirteen colonies would be “free and independent of Great Britain;”11 through the failed Articles of Confederation and its attempt to provide a system of governance for the

7 December 15, 1791, The Athens Banner-Herald, Thursday, October 9, 2003: front page.8 The Reader’s Encyclopedia, 619.9 Encarta Reference Online, Microsoft Corporation, 1993-2002, downloaded December 15, 2003.10 The Reader’s Encyclopedia, 651.11 257.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



fledgling united former colonies; and then to James Madison’s writing of the Constitution of the United States of America, a document providing presidential powers and providing the establishment of the acceptance of stronger powers for the central government; and then to The Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution “guaranteeing liberties, establishing justice, insuring tranquility.” Earlier, Thomas Jefferson had sought to define “18th century political life and social life” in his (1784-1785) Notes on Virginia12 showing a recognition of and a distinction between religion, law and decorum. From 2010 B.C. through 2004 A. D. almost four thousand years of evidence shows that there is a need for decorum as the ideal of propriety and as the ideal of appropriateness.

Perhaps, then, civility, being gained through knowledge, is how the teenage boy, George Washington, was taught. Richard Brookhiser documents how the young George Washington was given the elementary school assignment of learning to write script while learning about the “Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.”13

Originally, back in 1595, when the French Jesuits first set down into print “Decency of Conversation among Men,” a collection of moral instruction was preserved and, therefore, was passed down through the centuries to eventually become our society’s guide to civility. Brookhiser continues with acknowledgement of

12 The Reader’s Encyclopedia. 518.13 Richard Brookhiser, 1988, 1.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



over ten subsequent editions on decorum, including, Decency in Conversation Amongst Women in 1672. 14

With careful study and with careful consideration of the rules and of the history of George Washington’s life, one may see what an impact the rules actually had on Washington throughout his entire life from that of a young boy to that of an older man. When the young George was asked who had cut down the cherry tree, the quote often attributed to him is, “I must not tell a lie; it was I.” This is in reference to the 59th rule which states, “Never express anything unbecoming, nor Act agst the Rules Moral before your Inferiours. Translated, rule 59 reads, “Never express anything unbecoming, nor act against the moral rules.” r

When his peers were discussing how to create codes and traditions, since there were no examples to follow except those of the rigid social classes and nobility of Europe where there had never been an elected leader of a country before, the American political leaders did not know what title to call Washington as the leader of the newly founded country; they suggested that he be called “Your Excellency”; but Washington refused, saying, “We have established this country in order to get away from one king; just call me ‘Mr. President.’” This is in reference to the 63d rule which states that “A Man ought not to value himself of his Atchievements, or rare Qualities of wit; much less of his riches Virtue or Kindred.” Translated, rule 63 reads, “A man should consider himself to be important because he lives a moral and an ethical life not because of how wealthy he his, who his parents are, or who he knows, 14 Brookhiser, 4.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



not just because of his own achievements, keen wit, possessions, or ancestors.” As a result of Washington’s truthfulness and humble attitude, out of respect to Washington, the location for the center of the new government was named “Washington” in his honor.

Some rules change over time, some change slightly, and some do not apply at all to later time periods; yet, there are rules that never change, like not eating with your mouth open. These 110 rules used to be 220 rules and even as many as 400 rules in order to incorporate figures of speech with each rule dictating how one was to act, how one was to speak and how one was to write. How eighteenth century British scholars responded with acceptance to the French maxims on decorum was to use fewer and fewer rules, and that is how Americans are responding with acceptance to decorum four centuries later. Even though the rules have been altered and transformed, rules of decorum have survived and have been passed down from generation to generation to us today resulting in our laws and resulting in our rules of civility, resulting in the laws and in the rules being that which we wish them to be.

It has been said that “The law of the land is embodied in thousands of statutes and tens of thousands of reports…that must be extracted by a tedious and difficult process of induction.” Through the codes or codification of the law, it becomes “possible for a lawyer to learn the whole law.” Knowledge and etiquette are something we are not born knowing. Knowledge and etiquette are acquired through study and through family values passed down for one

Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



generation to another just as George’s father passed the rules down to George. 15

From commandments to creeds to canons, to codes, civilizations have relied upon guidelines and moral foundations for unity of laws and of rules. It remains true, today, that there is a sense of need for ethics; and these ethics need to be incorporated into every thing we do; we need ethics in our government; we need ethics in our corporate boardrooms; we need ethics in financial institutions; we need ethics in our public lives; we need ethics in our private lives; we need ethics everywhere we go and we need ethics in everything we do. We need ethics in systems, in policies, in regulations, in conventions for fostering the stability in the lives of mankind. It is believed that ethics can be inculcated into the ethos of each individual to such a degree that ethics becomes proprietary principles in each individual. With these proprietary principles it could become second nature to the individual, in the sense that, these rules may be incorporated as personal attributes such as principles of honesty, truthfulness, honor, trustworthiness, veracity, reliability, uprightness, by establishing the moral fiber in character and integrity, by letting the rules encompass our personal lives whether in private or whether in public. These rules with a little “r” are the same rules with a big “R” that started as a penmanship exercise for young George and ended up as a way of living for an older George.

The way of living in today’s world of fast food and of free goods gives us cause for reflection to remember the 15 Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. VI, p. 97.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



importance of the role that ethics plays in our technology-driven lives. One of the things that make us a great nation is that we encourage creativity; and, also, it is that we encourage individuality. We reward people for their creativeness; our free-market economy rewards people for their innovative creations; and we have intellectual property laws that protect that. When someone steals another person’s intellectual endeavor, it is not unlike stealing a tangible object from them. For example, one of the great gifts of the Internet is its egalitarian nature; it avails itself to anyone, it avails itself for anyone, it avails itself from anyone. By taking someone’s work from a book or by taking someone’s work from the Internet or by taking someone’s work from someone’s computer, it is all the same; without authorization and without proper crediting, it is illegal. Also, it is plagiarism. When you steal someone’s intellectual property, you are cheating them; but, you are, also, cheating yourself, because you have cheapened your sense of morality, you have compromised your honesty; perhaps, without even realizing it, you have allowed yourself to become unethical by conceding your principles. In a case like this, the person who really gets hurt is the one who hurts himself, for when you take something from someone, at the same time you are taking something from yourself: your reputation, your good name. So, as much as you take, you are actually taken from; and, systematically, you can be harmed more than they are harmed. A good opinion of one is something that all would agree is to be held in high esteem. When being considered for service in




the highest office in young America, George Washington said, “The approbation of my country is what I wish and, as far as my abilities and opportunities will permit, I hope I shall endeavor to deserve it. It is the highest reward to a feeling mind; and happy are they, who so conduct themselves as to merit it.”16

Although people take from the Internet all the time, that does not make it right; that is not the legal thing to do; that is not the ethical thing to do. Just because information is there on the Internet does not make it free; what makes it free is the pay back in the form of recognition, in the form of giving credit to the author. You should honor the author by giving credit to the author;17 others will do it for you. But by deliberately avoiding such unethical Internet activities as plagiarism and as copyright infringements, as peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, downloading music, downloading videos, it is to be ethical.

History favors reputable people and history favors repeatable phrases such as with George Washington, according to “his most popular biographers, Weems”18 and his comments about the cherry tree. However, history remembers the famous as well as the infamous. Archie B. Carroll, a professor of Business Ethics at the University of 16 Richard Norton Smith, Patriarch, Washington and the New American Nation, Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1993: vii.17 Consultant Gary H. Becker’s Copyright, A Guide To Information And Resources, 3rd Edition, 2003, ISBN: 0-9666594-2-2, is the best, most up-to-date resource “to provide day-to-day copyright references…” and as a “guide is a product of extensive research into the law, court cases and respected legal opinions…with interpretation of the law…based upon the House and Senate versions of the Copyright Act prior to its formal adoption as well as the Congressional discussions that have led to amendment/modifications since that time.”18 The New Werner Twentieth Century Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Edited by Professors Spencer Baynes, LLD., and W. Robertson Smith, LLD., The Werner Company: Akron, Ohio, Vol. XXIV, 1901, P. 408.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



Georgia who holds the Robert W. Scherer Chair of Management in the Terry College of Business and a columnist for the “Athens Banner-Herald,” clearly speaks to the current issue of a lack of ethics and of its consequences.19 He centers his article upon the nursery rhyme “For Want of a Nail,” or for the lack of a nail, which goes like this:

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;For want of a horse, the rider was lost;For want of the rider, the battle was lost;For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost;And all for the want of a nail.

Carroll uses this metaphor to say that, “‘For want of business ethics, many corporations have gone into bankruptcy or experienced gravely damaged reputations.” Interesting enough, while the topic of ethics is earning renown through the efforts of such people as Dr. Carroll and of Dr. Michael Covington of the UGA Artificial Intelligence Center, who, decades ago, “led a push for a UGA computer ethics policy, as of today, there is no required ethics class taught in the Computer Science Department. Don Potter, Director of UGA’s Artificial Intelligence Center, may see it differently, for he is quoted as saying he thought a class in ethics would be a “good course to have, and if the student wanted to take it, he or she should take it. But, I don’t think most kids need a class 19 Athens, Georgia, December 14, 2003, “Bill George Offers Guide for Ethics” F1.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



on how to live their lives. If I go to college, I ought to know how to live my life.” 20 Some UGA students might disagree with Dr. Potter and might agree with Dr. Carroll for they are trying to form an ethical group called The Academic Honesty Student Task Force. For this new group, they are looking for members by saying that it would be a great way to get involved with the policies that affect students. They asked that applications be turned in by April 9, 2004, and that those who are selected would be notified by April 12, 2004. This appears to mean that they are seeking students who are serious about being ethical and that there is a selection process in order to get seriously ethical students to join.21 One might know how to live one’s life if proper courses are provided in college; and, Finishing Touches points out that the mere act of attending college in and of itself may or may not lead to knowing how to live one’s life; thus, why not instruct proper ethics in order to insure that proper ethics is taught and not just hope that it is learned through osmosis. These UGA students may possess character traits not unlike George Washington, who at the age of 19 already had “impressed others with a belief in his force of mind and character, for…when the first indications of the French and Indian War appeared, he was appointed adjutant of the Virginia troops, with the rank of major. Otherwise, without ethics, it could be costly for all involved, not least of which is the institution. As a consequence of a lack of ethics in some major American 20 Ronnell Smith “For some, ethics courses compute,” Athens Banner-Herald, February 8, 2004: front page. [email protected] 21 Email from Brittany Lynn Adams of Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority, Tuesday, 3-2-04, asking for responses to the request to form the ethical group of The Academic Honesty Student Task Force at UGA.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]




corporations’ top management, leaders’ career’s can be destroyed. When you mention the following names, it is immediately recognized that these leaders’ careers were destroyed: Enron’s Kenneth Lay, Arthur Anderson’s Andrew Fastow, Tyco’s Dennis Kowslowski, WorldCom’s [currently MCI] Bernie Ebbers, Adelphia’s John Rigas, Global Crossing’s Gary Winnick, HealthSouth’s Richard Scrushy, Citigroup Global Markets’ Todd Thomson, and Martha Stewart’s Living Omnimedia’s Martha Stewart. It is more than just the appearance of propriety; even though it is after the horse has left the barn and the door is closed that these corporations are adopting the implementation of moral management, exactly what they realize they should have been doing all along, which brings us back to Carroll and the quote “And all for want of a nail,” the nail that was driven into the coffin of many a career. Carroll’s thesis is that, “More and more today, effective leadership needs to be defined in terms of ethics and social responsibility.” Exhibiting a moral character is a major component in demonstrating leadership ability in its attempt to define the terms of ethics and social responsibility. Apparently, for George Washington, this occurred at an early age. Upon the death of his brother Lawrence in 1752, Washington became executor under the will, and he was only twenty years old; and in 1753, he was named commander of the northern military district of Virginia, and he was only twenty-one years old; in 1753-54, he was made the agent who warned the French away from their forts, and he was only twenty-two years old; and it was Washington in




1755who was commissioned commander-in-chief of all the Virginia forces where “he served in Braddock’s campaign, and showed for the first time that fiery energy which always lay hidden beneath his calm and unruffled exterior….In the campaign he was one of the few unwounded officers, although he had kept a high profile on the battlefield,” and he was only twenty-three years old. Indeed, it was Washington who “commanded the advance guard of the expedition which captured Fort Du Quesne and renamed it Fort Pitt,”22 and he was only twenty-six years old. Thus, Washington found out at an early age that ethics is integral to effective leadership. That “business ethics is integral to effective leadership” is the point that Archie Carroll is making. In fact, he states that it is the responsibility of top management not to delegate ethics, but to “set the moral tone,” otherwise, as these top executives found out too late, they are held responsible for their “active involvement and personal complicity of organizational leaders’ unethical actions which led to many people losing their life’s savings, which led to many people losing their jobs, which led to the [disastrous] economic stock market’s decline.”

In an earlier article, Carroll writes that, “Whether it is the establishment of formal policy, a casual statement made in passing, or the leader's personal actions, forceful messages about what constitutes ethical behavior are

22 The New Twentieth Century Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Edited by Professors Spencer Baynes, LLD., and W. Robertson Smith, LLD., The Werner Company:Akron, Ohio, Vol. XXIV, 1901: 409.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



transmitted.”23 In a July 2003 EMC2 White Paper, entitled “Business Continuity and Ethics: Minimizing Future Risks” which “explores the connection between ethics and business continuity,” it shows how considerable risks are a major component, especially for senior executives in publicly held companies due to legislative initiatives, such as due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act [2002]…which, as far as to the significance of consequential liabilities is concerned, is one of the many recent legislative initiatives that create personal liabilities regarding ethics…. It is the thesis of the paper that since “corporate culture determines ethics,” that “effective business continuity solutions protect against even internal ethical lapses.” The White Paper continues to say that if, from the top down, corporate executives “aggressively enforce…and vigorously promote [proper] employee conduct,” a strong corporate culture will be adhered to and will be respected. 24

The White Paper cites Jim Collins’ book Good to Great as explaining that “successful companies… establish…a strong ethical culture that helps to self-govern every activity of the organization. As a result, “when presented with a choice, employees usually make decisions that favor the interest of the company over those of the individual in the presence of that culture…. When the culture isn’t present however, negative forces act on individual employees to lead otherwise good people

23 Online Athens Banner-Herald, Saturday, November 30, 2002, Carroll: “Four spheres should guide your ethics.”24 Sarbanes-Oxley Act [2002]: 3, 4, 5.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



occasionally astray.”25 According to the White Paper, the following is a list of rationalizations used as excuses for unethical behavior:

I have to cut corners to meet my goalsI lack the time/resources to do the right thingMy superiors want results not excusesNo one will ever know the differenceI am afraid to do what I know is right

The summation is that “only a strong cultural bent towards integrity and a disciplined ethics management program can counterbalance these rationalization forces” (4). The American Association of Certified Public Accountants would agree, for they have drawn up Principles of Professional Conduct. Among them are the following four principles that are centered upon integrity:

Section 52 - Article I: Responsibilities

In carrying out their responsibilities as professionals, members should exercise sensitive professional and moral judgments in all their activities.

Section 54 - Article III: Integrity

25 Jim Collins, Good To Great, Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t , Harper Collins, New York, 2001:Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



To maintain and broaden public confidence, members should perform all professional responsibilities with the highest sense of integrity.

.01 Integrity is an element of character fundamental to professional recognition. It is the quality from which the public trust derives and the benchmark against which a member must ultimately test all decisions.

.02 Integrity requires a member to be, among other things, honest and candid within the constraints of client confidentiality. Service and the public trust should not be subordinated to personal gain and advantage. Integrity can accommodate the inadvertent error and the honest difference of opinion; it cannot accommodate deceit or subordination of principle.

.03 Integrity is measured in terms of what is right and just. In the absence of specific rules, standards, or guidance, or in the face of conflicting opinions, a member should test decisions and deeds by asking: "Am I doing what a person of integrity would do? Have I retained my integrity?" Integrity requires a member to observe both the form and the spirit of technical and ethical standards; circumvention of those standards constitutes subordination of judgment.

.04 Integrity also requires a member to observe the principles of objectivity and independence and of due




care.

That Washington exhibited integrity is well documented. Washington’s principles of professional conduct, are illuminated by the President of the College of New Jersey, Reverend Samuel, when he spoke of “that heroic youth whom I cannot but hope Providence has preserved for some important service to his country.”26 In comparison to the American Association of Certified Public Accounts’ professional principles is a summary of selected sections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002.27 As shown above, there is a call for the ability to communicate and there is a call for the ability to demonstrate integrity. How these are accomplished may be with a reference to this 2002 act. The following rules are from four selected sections of the Rules of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act:

Section 404: Management Assessment Of Internal Controls

Requires each annual report of an issuer to contain an "internal control report", which shall:

Direct the SEC to require each issuer to disclose whether it has adopted a code of ethics for its senior financial officers and the contents of that code.

26 Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. XXIV, 1901: 409.27 (<http://www.aicpa.org/download/career/edu/communication-is-key.pdf>, downloaded 12/18/2003). Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]


http://www.aicpa.org/download/career/edu/communication-is-key.pdf


Direct the SEC to revise its regulations concerning prompt disclosure on Form 8-K to require immediate disclosure "of any change in, or waiver of," an issuer's code of ethics.

Section 602(a): Appearance and Practice Before the Commission

The SEC may censure any person, or temporarily bar or deny any person the right to appear or practice before the SEC if the person [:] does not possess the requisite qualifications to represent others, lacks character or integrity, or has willfully violated Federal securities laws.

Section 602(d): Rules of Professional Responsibility for Attorneys

The SEC shall establish rules setting minimum standards for professional conduct for attorneys practicing before it.

Section 1102: Tampering With a Record or Otherwise Impeding an Official Proceeding

Makes it a crime for any person to [:] corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal any document with the intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding or to otherwise obstruct, influence or impede any official proceeding [making that person] liable for up to 20 years in prison and a fine.




Imparting an ethical message is the intent of moral consciousness. It was the intent of George Washington to impart an ethical message of moral consciousness. The Virginia Convention, in 1774, while appointing seven of its members as delegates to the Continental Congress, named Washington, at the age of 42, as one of them; and with this appointment George Washington’s national career begins. His associates in Congress recognized his previous military ability at once…and most of the details of [the military planning] were by common consent left to him.” The future of the infant nation was in this one man’s hands – would it become free or would it become subjugated to colonial status, again. Maybe not as momentous as the decisions Washington was forced to make, the decisions of today’s executives’ still carry a tremendous amount of responsibility. With these responsibilities come tremendous liabilities, as well, because the decisions today’s executives make affect the livelihood of thousands of employees and tens of thousands of stockholders. Therefore, there is a “significant liability challenge for executives,” 28 and the only way to meet that challenge is with integrity and with an ethical message.

In the case of corporate ethics, intent is associated with comprehension, and comprehension is associated with communication. What is at stake is the ability of management to communicate an ethical message. George Washington communicated his ethical message; “even in

28Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. XXIV, 1901, P. 409.




the intervals of his Congressional service he was occupied in urging on the formation, equipment, and training of Virginia troops, and it was generally understood that, in case of war, Virginia would expect him to act as her commander-in-chief.”29 This is how junior executives become senior executives, by communicating their objectives, their intent, their ethical messages. As the 32nd Rule says, “To one that is your equal, or not much inferior you are to give the chief Place in your Lodging and he to who ‘tis offered ought at the first to refuse it but at the Second to accept though not without acknowledging his own unworthiness.” This Washington did. “When Congress, after the fights at Lexington and Concord, resolved to put the colonies into a state of defense, the first practical step was the unanimous selection, on motion of John Adams of Massachusetts, of Washington as commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United Colonies. Refusing any salary, he accepted the position, asking ‘every gentleman in the room’ however, to remember his declaration that he did not believe himself to be equal to the command, and that he accepted it only as a duty made imperative by the unanimity of the call.”30

If corporate leaders are already complaining that even some of their new Ph. D.s “too often fail as communicators and cannot advance their own careers or contribute to the success of their companies,” as is presented in the April 21, 1998, Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates, it 29 Encyclopedia Britannica, P. 409.30 Encyclopedia Britannica, P. 409.




could be said, “Houston, we have a problem.” It is not surprising, then that at Southern Utah University, David Christensen and David Rees31 administered a survey to 90,000 members of the professional accountant organizations AICPA and IMA, who identified communication as being important to an accountant’s job. Of the 32 selected skills of communication, seven of them are of interest to Finishing Touches tm as they relate to the intent of ethics as charged by Congress to corporate executives for them to relay to their employees. Four of the seven selected skills of communication are: Listens effectively, produces correctly spelled documents, asks appropriate questions when talking with customers, and uses an effective business vocabulary. However, concerning the other three skills, the corporate executives responded to the survey by stating their dissatisfaction with the college preparation of new accounting graduates: in the use of correct grammar in both spoken and written communication, in the use of writing well – clearly, concisely, correctly, completely, and in the use of organizing information into effective sentences and paragraphs. These seven communication skills are the basis of communication; and yet, according to this survey, graduating accountants lack the ability to write, to speak and to organize their thoughts in a business environment. These graduates obviously can manipulate numbers; but many are unable to communicate the importance of those numbers to the stakeholders of the company. Thus, there is

31 qtd. AICPA.org/communicationFinishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



a need for the instruction of basic communication skills in order for ethics to prevail.

The young George Washington learned what the older George Washington found to be true, that there are definitions of the topics of decorum. Although there are some rules that apply to multiple categories; basically, however, in the 110 rules, there are 40 references to decorum, 24 to demeanor, 33 to deportment, 19 to dining, 40 to discourse, six to dress, and three to divinity.

The topic of decorum deals with conduct. It is good taste in conduct; how one has a personal interaction within oneself; how one has an inward manner; how one exhibits bearing; how one has the appearance of good conduct; how one utilizes the conventions of polite behavior; how one has the appearance of politeness.

The topic of demeanor deals with behavior. It is behavior toward others; a personal interaction with others; one’s outward manner; one’s involvement of accountability; one’s duty and respect toward obligatory tasks; how one conducts oneself with parents and supervisors; how one exhibits conduct of service; how one conducts oneself at functions that arise from one’s position in life or how one conducts oneself in a group; how one conducts oneself at ceremonies.

The topic of deportment deals with walking. It is how one carries oneself; how one behaves and comports oneself, especially in accord with a code; how one walks; one’s bearing; one’s behavior.




The topic of dining deals with eating. It is eating properly; how one politely handles food and drink; how one is able to be eating without it being obviously distracting to others.

The topic of discourse deals with talking. It is conversation, orderly thought, writing, or an interchange of ideas; how one expresses oneself, especially in oral discourse; how one talks and converses; how one extends expression of thought into discourse.

The topic of dress deals with wardrobe. It is how one dresses according to one’s silhouette; one’s appropriate attire for a particular time and place.

The topic of divinity deals with God. It is relating to or dealing directly with one’s God; it is how one worships.

As Brookheiser said, it is a pleasure to be “associated with the idea of promoting the knowledge of manners and of promoting the intention of “polish(ing) manners, keep(ing) alive the best affections of the heart, impress(ing) the obligation of moral virtues, teach(ing) how to treat others in social relations, and above all, (of) inculcat(ing) the practice of a perfect self-control.”32

Eleven year-old George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior In Company and Conversation is as follows and as referenced in George Washington’s “The Exercises Of A School Boy” which appears in a Colonial Life Almanack article, and which is kept as true to capitalization and to spelling as possible. In the presentation you are about to see, illustrations are used, mostly from a contemporary of note of George 32 Brookhiser, 1988 page 1.Finishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]



Washington’s, the British artist and illustrator William Hogarth (1697-1764) who, too, was interested in manners and portrayed that through the ever so popular 18th century use of social satire. It is said of Hogarth that he “is unquestionably one of the greatest English artists and a man of remarkably individual character and thought. He is the greatest innovator in English art. On one hand, he was the first to paint themes from Shakespeare, Milton and the theatre, and was the founder of a wholly original genre of moral history, which was long known as Hogarthian [Hogarthism].”33

For this Finishing Touches tm presentation, the art work of William Hogarth, along with other’s, will be used to illustrate these rules which are followed by a more modern Finishing Touches tm translation after each individual rule.

33 http://www.abcgallery.com/H/hogarth/hogarthbio.htmlFinishing Touches tm 4/10/[email protected]


http://www.abcgallery.com/H/hogarth/hogarthbio.html

finishing touches 42 minute speech

Education

rules of decorum

rules moral

moral rules

rules of guidance

young boy

young george washington

century rules of etiquette

young school boy