Aaron Beam is a public speaker with a diverse background in business. His success and infamy as the former co-founder and CFO of the medical company HealthSouth have informed his unique keynote speeches. By unpacking his flawed decision-making and weaving in research insights, Aaron educates and inspires audiences to do better. His anecdotes showcase how knowledge of business ethics can help individuals avoid compromising circumstances. As Aaron continues his legacy of public speaking, he hopes that companies and individuals recognize business ethics’ critical role in today’s world.
After co-founding HealthSouth, and becoming the CFO, Aaron Beam was living in luxury. His entrepreneurial efforts made him very wealthy. These blessings were positive in the beginning, but Aaron slowly lost sight of what was important in life. Once HealthSouth went public, the pressure to remain competitive and please stakeholders became overwhelming. Bad decisions, toxic company culture, and overbearing executives were just a few reasons why the HealthSouth accounting fraud occurred. When Aaron pled guilty to corporate fraud in 2003, he realized how flawed his judgment had been. Serving time in Federal prison forced him to see his mistakes and atone for the remainder of his life.
Aaron entered public speaking to remind others about the importance of business ethics. Most people are unaware of the situations where ethics becomes pivotal for avoiding jeopardizing circumstances. As a result, they are very surprised when Aaron describes the situation he found himself in. Whether they’re seasoned executives or university students, his audiences assume that people are good or bad. If humans were that simple, ethics would be less of a concern in business. In reality, people’s behaviors largely depend on how frequently they are reminded to have integrity. In Aaron’s guidebook Ethics Playbook: Winning Ethically in Business, he teaches readers this fact. “Being ethical is an acquired skill that takes discipline,” Aaron says. “Building business ethics should be an important part of university curriculums in educating business students. I am working to educate people about this topic so that we can reduce negative events happening in society.”
Aaron has given more than 1,000 speeches to universities, healthcare groups, accounting associations, and other corporations. His performances are deeply touching to audiences because he unveils the nuanced circumstances that lead to fraud. Aaron details the seemingly innocent actions that were the driving force behind a multi-billion dollar fraud for almost 20 years. After listening to his story, audiences understand how fundamental trust is for business, and how quickly it can be lost due to unethical practices.
Aaron wants to continue speaking to audiences–particularly university students–about how business ethics are essential for creating positive company cultures and improving society. In his podcast, Aaron addresses current and future dilemmas surrounding the lack of solutions and aims to raise the profile of this issue. On June 25, he will be speaking at the Healthcare Financial Managers Conference in Las Vegas. This event will be the perfect opportunity to bring ethics to the forefront of business discussions.
Media Contact
Name: Aaron Beam
Email: [email protected]
