Values needed in corporate America leadership
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| Frank and Barbara Outhier, left, greet Nancy and Archie Dykes and Lipscomb University President Steve Flatt during a reception before Edmond Outhier Leadership Lecture Series. The series is named in memory of the Outhers' late son. |
A "serious threat" to the U.S. economic system exists today because of a lack of values among corporate leaders who were educated at the "elite of the elite" institutions in America.
That was the assertion of Archie Dykes, former chancellor of The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, as he spoke to Lipscomb University students during the Edmond Outhier Leader Lecture series March 26.
"What is it that is missing in the lives of these people?" Dykes asked. "It is the absence of a firm system of values on which to base their actions as individuals and on which to base their lives."
He said the combination of academic excellence and emphasis on values at Lipscomb "creates an educational environment that is unparalleled."
"A school such as Lipscomb and the distinguished graduates it produces through the years plays an important role in what happens in our world," Dykes said. "There is a great difference in the kind of education you receive and the kind I've received in public education because of the emphasis on values, concern for integrity, honor, goodness, and obligation to a higher power."
He said that public education "has lost its way" because even with remarkable intellectual talent, it focuses solely on the intellectual pursuit.
"There is no higher goal than to seek a value system on which you can build your lives," Dykes said.
He noted that Lipscomb students benefit by having professional faculty, who are committed to undergraduate education, teaching their classes. In contrast, teaching assistants often teach undergraduate classes at public institutions, he said.
"You are fortunate you see faculty in your classroom every day, "Dykes said. "The values you receive are also important, and one with out the other is a miscarriage of education."
He encouraged students to see learning as a lifelong process, and to use their education to improve the lives of others.
"As you go through your educational program here, try to be a better person. Try to do good things for others. Remember that others are not as fortunate, and use your education to improve their quality of life.
"Learn as much as you can from this distinguished faculty, and make the determination to always give your best," he said.
Dykes was recently named non-executive chairman of the board of Fleming Companies Inc. In December, he stepped down as chairman of the board of PepsiAmericas Inc., the second-largest Pepsi Cola bottler, but remains on the board as lead director.
He formerly served as chancellor of The University of Tennessee-Martin, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and the University of Kansas. He left Kansas in 1980 to become chairman, president and CEO of the Security Benefit Group of Companies, and returned to Tennessee in 1988 to form his own company, Capital City Holdings Inc.
The Edmond Outhier Leadership Lecture Series is presented annually by the Lipscomb University Center for Leadership Excellence. It is named in memory of the late Edmond Outhier, a Lipscomb graduate, and honors his service and leadership by bringing to the Lipscomb campus nationally renowned men and women who have demonstrated outstanding servant leadership in their particular spheres of accomplishment.