BB&T Chairman Gives Special Ethics Symposium

On Tuesday, April 7, 2009, a capacity crowd in Frank Auditorium was privileged to hear from John Allison, Chairman of BB&T Bank. Allison addressed students, faculty, and other community members in a special Ethics Symposium lecture focused on developing and living by a set of reliable values.

Allison began his ethics lecture with a core question he has asked his employees: "Are you making the world a better place to live with your work?" That values-based question, he claimed, is central to customer satisfaction, which is necessary for customer loyalty and the profitability of a business, but does not necessarily come without real effort. "Defining your values," Allison continued, "is a scientific process."

John Allison served as Chief Executive Officer of BB&T Corp. from 1989 to 2008. He began his service with BB&T in 1971 and served as its President since 1987. Mr. Allison has been Chairman of BB&T Corp., since July 1989. He serves as a Director of The Financial Clearing House, Independent College Fund and the Global TransPark Foundation. He serves as a Member of American Bankers Association and The Financial Services Roundtable. He serves as Member of the Board of Visitors at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill. Mr. Allison holds a BS in Business Administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MBA from Duke University.

The lecture continued with an engaging summary of BB&T’s corporate values through the lens of many perspectives: philosophical, historical, and psychological. Allison, a riveting speaker, delivered his relevant and enlightening remarks without referring to notes or even pausing to rest. His passion for the topic, and for encouraging the use of value-based decision making, was clear throughout his remarks.

Reality is BB&T’s base value, which Allison defined as having "no resistance to facts." Further clarifying, he stated, "Reality is independent of popularity and authority". Having a strong sense of reality will allow an individual to move towards the second value—reason. Allison encouraged his listeners to "look at your fundamental beliefs and examine them for contradictions. Contradictions don’t exist in reality."

Allison’s compelling argument developed to include the values of independent thinking, productivity, honesty, integrity, justice, pride, self-esteem, and teamwork. Each concept was linked to personal issues as well as business situations.

Freshman student David Cencula was thrilled to hear Allison speak, and he was pleased that the topic was so relevant to his academic studies. "Mr. Allison reinforced everything that I have learned so far at the Smith School," Cencula said. "He relayed the idea that the core values of a company should always be considered when making a business decision."

Kevin Cencula, also a freshman student, was pleased with Allison’s stress on how "doing good" is a part of running a profitable business. "One valuable lesson from the event", Cencula said, "is that corporate social responsibility is not necessarily selfless or done out of the good of one's heart. Often times, it is just good business."

Students, faculty, and a group of BB&T employees in attendance were visibly excited to hear from such a prominent leader in the banking industry. They were further pleased to hear from such a reliable source, that business success goes beyond the standard functions of marketing and finance. Lasting success, Allison reminded them, comes from "making the world a better place with your work."

Timothy D. Lewis, MBA Candidate 2010