(How might cultures of some organizations start to be changed for better if, for instance, its executives gave small-unit leaders parking perks, while they, executives, took their chances in main lot?)

Top leaders who demonstrate commitment to their small-unit leaders will have committed small-unit leaders.

Without top-down commitment, effective small-unit leadership will not flourish through whole business but instead in relatively ineffective, scattered islands.

But top-level commitment, though necessary, is not sufficient. A passion for small-unit leadership should soak entire culture of organization. Everybody must catch spirit of and contribute to maintaining a culture of small-unit leadership excellence.

The word culture comes from Latin root meaning "to cultivate." To grow small-unit leaders, everybody in organization must cultivate them. Spot them early. Bring mentors into their lives. Set their expectations high, not only for themselves but for their colleagues and leaders above them. Encourage them to develop leadership in others.

A successful executive told me that his career was changed by a small-unit leader. At one time, executive was a high school dropout working on assembly line.

"During breaks," he said, "I always had people gathered around me. I had this knack of getting them interested in what I had to say. One day, my supervisor told me something that changed my life. He said, 'I've been watching you with people, and you're a natural leader. With more education, you could go far.'"

The executive said, "Until then, I had never looked at myself as a leader. Suddenly, I had a vision in life. I was something I didn't know I was: a leader. I finished high school, went to college, and came back here.

"That supervisor 's passion for leadership defined my career.. He was always spotting potential leaders and helping them become leaders. His teams consistently racked up numbers because of his leadership. He had me understand that his level of leadership is tremendously important in our company."

Finally, business that is serious about small-unit leadership must systematically develop them through well-thought-out, comprehensive training programs.

In coming New Age of Small-Unit Leadership, leadership development people will have extremely important roles to play. They will be seen as some of most important leaders in organization, since their interaction with small-unit leaders will be contributing directly to top-line growth, to having people get job done where ever generals place their pins in map.

============================= 2005 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ============================= The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. – and has worked with thousands of leaders worldwide during past 20 years helping them achieve sizable increases in hard, measured results. Sign up for his free leadership ezine and get a free guide, "49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results," at www.actionleadership.com

A highly effective tool for creating, organizing and implementing a sound business ethics and compliance program should provide:

•Sample policies and procedures •Step-by-step instructions for development of a program •A business ethics training program outline with classroom materials and a detailed session leader’s guide •Business ethics and compliance officer position description •Templates for employee involvement •Sample code of conduct

Implementing Your Ethics Program

If company board has committed to a strong business ethics and compliance program, next step is to put manual in hands of corporate executives responsible for implementation. Used properly under advice of legal counsel, this efficient tool will yield a solid program that board can understand, endorse, and monitor for effectiveness.

With step-by-step guidelines and accompanying examples of policies, procedures, training program, and employee survey, an effective tool provides an excellent road map for implementing an ethics and compliance initiative.

Maintaining a Culture of Integrity

Companies should make certain that their ethics compliance manual provides fully editable MS Word files with sample policies, surveys, forms and training session outlines. Also, businesses should ensure their ethics compliance system manual is fully endorsed by The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as a tool to maintain a culture of integrity.