W.T. “Bill” McKibben
"The Ethics Guru"
Bill McKibben has a history of building Ethical Business Models. Through his career in broadcasting as a successful radio & television station manager and owner, he developed a reputation for choosing and inspiring talented individuals. Many of whom went on to make a mark in broadcasting and other fields.
He went on to head a Public Relations Marketing company where his team helped a number clients achieve dramatic growth. His agency created an advertisement that recorded the highest readership levels of any ad published in a print medium. His communications counsel followed the high road that his business model set. He was known as “Our Corporate Conscience” by a number of his clients.
In recent years he has maintained a solo practice, using an extensive network of talented freelance associates to carry out assignments. A chance set of circumstances beginning in 2005 led him to turn his focus and writing skills to the support of his long held belief in the ethical business model. A series of his pieces on the subject appeared in various publications and he was urged to write a book.
While he has been writing from childhood, he never saw a book in his future. He considers himself an essayist, he is comfortable at the 500-to- 1000-word level. However, the business ethics cause seemed worth the effort and Play Nice, Make Money, published in July 2007, was the result. It makes the case that an Ethical Business Model will produce more profit than any alternative.
The book traces the history of ethical businesses from the late 1700s to the last few years. He mixes case histories with personal experiences and some of his recent ethics pieces along with those written by others. He reviews several books that support the Ethical Business Model and takes on recent dissenters who see business in a different light.
Over the years McKibben has served on many national and local boards and committees. He was active in the civil rights movement, and in broadcast industry affairs serving on the National Association of Broadcasters Board of Directors as well as the NAB task force that developed a special education program with the Harvard Business School, and as a member of the All Industry Broadcast Ratings Task Force that set the foundation for broadcast listener research.
He lives with his wife, Carolyn, a book editor, in Buffalo, NY.
