______________________________________________________________________ Spencer
Preis | Southwire Company
We expect each of our team members not just to follow the law, but to compete fairly and not cut corners, to treat others with respect, to speak up when they see things that are concerning or might create risk for our business
has proved particularly valuable at Southwire, where different markets operate under varying regulatory pressures, making a deep understanding of the business essential for identifying risks and building practical solutions.
Building a culture
Understanding the business answered one question: What are people trying to achieve? Ethics and compliance raised another: How do you pursue those goals while staying true to your organization’ s values? That grounding gave Spencer credibility for his next challenge: shaping how decisions get made across the company.
Southwire’ s culture provided a strong foundation. Founded in 1950 and still privatelyheld and family-owned, the company has built its reputation on long-term stewardship, balancing growth with responsibility.
For Spencer, ethics begins where compliance ends.“ Our team members at Southwire know that following the law is table stakes, something all of them are expected and must do to work here. But they also know that our expectations are high. We expect each of our team members not just to follow the law, but to compete fairly and not cut corners, to treat others with respect, to speak up when they see things that are concerning or might create risk for our business,” he shares.
Building a strong culture never stops. For Spencer, the goal is continuous improvement: reinforcing expectations, sparking conversations, and learning from others in the industry. That mindset led Southwire to participate in Ethisphere’ s assessment process, which the company now uses as a benchmark and a source of insight. The recognition that followed, with three consecutive appearances on Ethisphere’ s World’ s Most Ethical Companies list, matters, but Spencer cares just as much about finding new ways to improve. For example, through learnings from benchmarking, Southwire introduced Ethical Moments, a quarterly program in which managers and teams discuss ethical situations relevant to their work.
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