Last October the “No More Enrons” coalition issued a report claiming that corporate scandals have cost Americans over $200 billion in lost investment savings, jobs, pensions, and tax revenue. The authors estimated that over a million workers lost jobs at affected companies, while executives cashed out billions in stocks.

Intelligent folks of good character don’t respect liars, cheats, and cowards. Self-dealers who violate their trust to employees, shareholders, and neighbors merit disdain, disapproval, and derision. And that’s what they get.

There are, however, exceptions to bad behavior. They merit celebration and emulation. Here are three such examples.

A friend was chairman of a large Seattle-based firm. The company moved its headquarters to Houston and offered its employees opportunities to relocate. Many chose to do so. Shortly thereafter, one community to which many had moved suffered a devastating flood.

The next day, my friend called the company’s head of personnel, telling him to advise the employees that the company would cover flood losses. He, a former Marine, believed: “You don’t leave the wounded. Bring them out or die with them.”

Two days later he checked back wondering how employees received his offer. The head of personnel responded that he had checked with the legal department before making the announcement and was told that potential liabilities made such a rash promise too expensive.

“What did you do?” I asked my friend.

“I promise he’ll never forget my response,” was all he said.

I don’t know the fate of that personnel head, but I wouldn’t guarantee his unemployment benefits. That’s how I’d like the corporate world to work; putting people before short-term profits.

Here’s a current example from my favorite grocery chain, Albertsons. I noted Chairman and CEO Larry Johnson’s statement of core values in their annual report. It included a “commitment to community citizenship...sharing with those in need our time & our resources.”

OK, if that’s an Albertsons core value, how do they treat employees who are military reservists called to active duty? Here is their policy as distributed to personnel.

“In support of our country’s current military involvement, Albertsons has amended its...provision for Reservists...called to active duty.... Albertsons makes up the difference between the regular average salary and military pay for a period of up to 6 months. Supplemental benefits are in place including the maintenance of health insurance for the family members.”

The Albertsons announcement goes on to guarantee profit sharing contributions, 401(k) contributions, deferral of loans, and other benefits. Military service is counted toward vesting and benefit accrual purposes.

This policy no doubt costs Albertsons in the short run, as did my friend’s decision to cover flood losses. These decisions may be financially irrational aberrations from normal corporate behavior. Such actions require a principled CEO who thinks toward the future and considers company morale and public perception.

The oil and gas industry has long been subject to severe criticism, some deserved, much not. I have served on the National Petroleum Council and worked closely with senior oil company executives. Hence, I was not surprised when the Sinclair Oil Company served notice that it would pull the franchise when the Buffalo Station became a strip club. This is from senior management at Sinclair: “We have given verbal and written notice to our distributor (Hi Noon) that we would be removing our signs if their dealer didn’t discontinue the strip club at Buffalo Station.”

The community was pleased when our former neighbor bought the Glacier Mountain Cheese Factory. Many were delighted by his promise to convert this derelict building into an attractive convenience store, a significant upgrade for the Gallatin Gateway neighborhood. I was, however, quite surprised by his recent decision to convert the store to a strip club.

Mobster Tony Soprano of HBO fame, like the owner of the Buffalo Station, lives in an exclusive neighborhood. But even Tony conducts his business in a topless bar, which has only half the nudity of a strip club.

We normally expect neighbors to be sensitive to their negative spillovers. However, the leaders of a national oil company behaved more responsibly than a member of our community. Here’s the lesson from these three examples. In organizations large and small, this truth is inescapable: Character counts.