Shame on you.

A set of studies reported in The Wall Street Journal found that even the most virtuous of people can become corrupt once they get a taste of power. Google is a case in point. Twenty years ago, Google had two employees. Today it has more than 94,000. Twenty years ago, there was very little power to be had at Google. Today, there are lots of power positions and with those positions came the predictable corruption in the form of sexual harassment. Last week, nearly 20,000 Google employees staged a series of walkouts all over the world “to protest a workplace culture that they say promotes and protects perpetrators of sexual harassment.” What got all this started was a New York Times report that found the Google has paid millions of dollars in exit packages to high ranking executives who were accused of sexual harassment and then tried to cover it up. Google once set the standard for treating its employees with honesty, equality and transparency. It’s unofficial motto, until recently, was “Don’t be evil.” The executives at Google knew better and they let this happen anyway. So, shame on you Google!

Which company do you think will emerge as the new standard bearer for how to treat employees?

If you would like to learn more about the goings on at Google, here’s a link.