There were always suspicions about Lance Armstrong and his use of doping, but the recent release of the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s report on doping in the sport has been nothing short of ground breaking. The scale, complexity and endemic nature of doping in cycling is quite remarkable.
But what has surprised me most, following the release of the USADA's report, has been the silence of the cycling teams. Until today not one of the cycling teams (many of which must have known something about the doping that was going on in the profession, if not in their own team) had come out publicly to say what their role was in this shocking situation or what they will do differently to clean up the sport.
Today, finally, a team put its head above the parapet and made a statement about what it was going to do differently. Team Sky has committed to making all its riders and management declare that they have never doped.
"We will ask everyone to sign up to a written policy, confirming that they have no past or present involvement in doping," said Team Sky. "Should anyone choose not to sign up, they will have to leave the team."
Making a clear statement like this and wearing your values on your sleeve is something that takes courage. What Team Sky will do if it finds any doping within its own team will allow us to see how serious it is. However, it’s commitments like this, and hopefully the actions that support it, that will play a key role in cleaning up the sport.
Interestingly I feel there is something of an analogy to be drawn between cycling’s predicament and what we are seeing in the banking sector. Here we have a sector that for too long has been riddled with cheating and manipulation (just look at the recent scandals on PPI and Libor, or back to the sub-prime mortgages) very much like the world of cycling. But those teams (banks), much like most of the cycling teams, that have been implicit in the corruption have yet to stand up and say what they’re going to do differently.
Sure we have seen a few CEOs (not many) come out and say how sorry they are and how what has been perpetrated by the banking sector has been unacceptable. But what has actually changed. Most are waiting for regulation to force any changes. We have the Vickers Report that, according to the Conservatives, will be implemented in full. But today we read that Paul Volker (the former chief of the US Federal Reserve and architect of the Volcker rule on America's regulatory reforms of banks) believes Britain is running the risk of bankers chipping away at the recommended reforms until they are rendered useless. The banks and their lobbyists are determined to see no change.
This all means we have yet to see any of the big banks put its head above the parapet and make a genuine statement about what it stands for and what it will do differently as a result of all the recent scandals.
As with the cycling world, if banks really want to regain the trust of consumers they need to take leadership. They need to demonstrate how things have changed and how they are genuinely committed to doing things differently.
And there in lies an opportunity for differentiation in the banking sector.
We need to see a Team Sky in the banking world making a statement about how what has been going on is unacceptable. And then we need to see that team (bank) show what it is going to do differently. It may seem simplistic but could Team Sky have the seed of a first step that a bank (or the sector) could do – introduce a code or ethical standard (similar to the Hippocratic Oath signed by doctors) for all banking employees.
It’s not a new idea, but perhaps it’s one that can start to help rebuild trust in the banking sector.
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