Learning by example.

• Author: Rundles, Jeff
• Position: Rundles Wrap-up - Business Hall of Fame

I HAD THE OCCASION LAST MONTH TO ATTEND THE COLORADO Business Hall of Fame dinner, and I was awe-struck by what I heard and saw. All of the laureates, as the honorees are called, were special people, with wonderful messages of what it means to be a forthright businessperson. But hearing their stories--even those from the laureates still living--unfortunately made me nostalgic. There was a time when business leaders in Colorado, or anywhere else for that matter, were people to look up to, and I suppose that's why we honor them with the Hall of Fame. One has to wonder, however, if the supply of future laureates is quickly drying up.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The speech that struck me the hardest was by Harry Lewis, a wonderful man of many business and civic endeavors here in Colorado who I have had the honor of knowing and interviewing over the years. Mr. Lewis could be honored and placed in the Hall of Fame for just a portion of his resume, but we are blessed that not only has he given far more than his fair share, he is still at it.

Mr. Lewis' speech that night centered on his days at Boettcher & Co., that bastion of old Denver money. He related how, during a troubling economic time in 1971, his mentor, the late Warren Willard, then the Boettcher managing partner, decided that all partners would take a two-thirds pay cut because, as Mr. Lewis put it to me later, "we could afford to take a pay cut." They did that so the company wouldn't have to lay off any employees. Later that year, all the partners were restored to full draw and none suffered financially, and they all learned a valuable lesson: that leaders do the right thing in times of trouble because, well, that is what leaders do.

Last month, Mr. Lewis lamented, rhetorically, "What's happened to corporate America since then?"

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Indeed. Mr. Lewis asked this question the day after United Airlines had emerged from a tumultuous bankruptcy, an emergence that management had forged by forcing deep pay cuts and benefit restrictions on various labor units within the airline. On the day the bankruptcy ended, United management let it be known that while their employees had sacrificed to make the numbers work, United management had richly rewarded themselves with bonuses and stock options. No Boettcher partner in 1971 would ever have dreamed of being so hypocritical.

I was fortunate to come of age as a business reporter in the 1970s when there were at least some marvelous...