When Chuck Guité was found guilty of defrauding Canadian taxpayers for his role in the infamous sponsorship scandal, I got to thinking, “Can white men be trusted?” I mean, all you have to do is look at the track record of us white guys and you start to wonder.

Mr. Guité is just the latest person to be found guilty of fraud (in his case, five counts) and the judge said he can expect jail time when he is sentenced. Paul Coffin was the first. Mr. Coffin was convicted for his part in the scandal when his company Coffin Communications defrauded the Canadian taxpayer for $1.5 million. He has paid back more than $1 million of that and received a sentence of 2 years less a day, however in the community and not in jail. He has also been ordered to speak publicly about his experience to deter others (hmmm).

Jean Brault was next, and he was also the first person to get a jail sentence – in this case 30 months – for taking $1.2 million from the Canadian purse. Other court cases will determine if others will be convicted and jailed for their part.

These findings of corruption come at the same time that former Enron CEOs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were found guilty of various forms of fraud, falsifying information and insider trading. Due to their actions and the actions of others, over $60 billion of market value was wiped out, along with $2.1 billion of pension funds which cost many investors their life savings. It was one of North America’s most notorious examples of corporate greed and fraud.

Canadian companies were affected as they lost millions, and three of Canada’s banks paid dearly for their involvement, including the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce which paid more than $2.5 billion to settle law suits. Depending on the outcome of their appeals, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling might face 20 to 30 years in jail.

But the guilt of prominent white guys doesn’t stop there. Of all the people who have been awarded the prestigious Order of Canada, there have been only two instances in which the Governors General and their Councils have asked for the medal back.

The first one was Alan Eagleson, who was the agent and union boss to some of the greats in professional hockey. In 1998 he was convicted of fraud in the U.S. & Canada, fined $1 million, and served time in jail. He was disbarred from practicing law, resigned from the Hockey Hall of Fame (just days before the Board of Governors was to take action) and was stripped of his Order of Canada.

And then of course, there’s the late David Walsh, former CEO of the Canadian Bre-X Minerals Ltd. gold mining company. In the 1990s Bre-X stock shot up to a total value of $6 billion. It turns out the entire value of the mining claim was a gigantic fraud, bilking millions from small and large investors in Canada and throughout the world. Mr. Walsh and his family, claiming innocence, moved to the Bahamas. He had sold some of his stock before it became worthless and many investors sued him and his company for their losses.

So whether it is business, politics, sports or investing, I think there is one clear message. White men can’t be trusted. What other conclusion can we draw from these examples?

With this kind of information - and many more examples (just check out the business section of the newspapers) – it is clear we must be very wary of doing business with white men.

Yet, if you have to do business with white men, for political reasons, or to make your company look good, then make sure you’re getting someone who’s very competent and who isn’t like other white people – in fact is more like a non-white person. And of course, get someone who will fit in and not rock the boat with concerns about discrimination against white people.

Hmmmm….

Here’s the funny thing about stereotypes. We can take a very few examples of negative behaviours from people with common characteristics and then create a stereotype in our mind that has no basis in fact. Yet, because of those very few examples, people will swear on various religious symbols that their stereotype is true because they’ve seen it with their own eyes.

We all have stereotypes – every person on this planet. And as a result, we all have prejudices – I don’t care who you are – we all do. So don’t feel guilty about the stereotypes that pop into your head. Just make sure you don’t act on those stereotypes. If you do, you’ll miss out on good candidates for jobs, on great opportunities for existing employees and on business prospects for potential clients.

Take a moment and think, despite the examples of corruption and/or greed I noted above, how many times would you actually think, “gosh, I can’t do business with the white man who’s sitting in front of me.” I bet you’ve never thought that. And yet, what are those nagging stereotypes that pop into your head when someone “different” (from you) is sitting in front of you and you need to make a judgement call on him or her?

If you’d never think stereotypical negative thoughts about all “white guys” then consider that the next time you think, “not sure if a woman can do this job”, or “but if I hire this Vietnamese fellow, will he just claim discrimination” or, “we’ve never had an Aboriginal person before, I wonder if he has the skills.”

For all the barriers people face at work, the greatest barrier comes from the thoughts in our mind. We can all help to reduce those barriers by acknowledging our stereotypes, recognizing they don’t apply to everyone, (or even most people) and making sure we don’t act on them.

.