By Bert Zethof

Only 48 percent of Canadians respect business executives as a profession (Angus Reid Strategies, August 2009).

This level of respect is lower than for accountants (74 percent) and actors/artists (60 percent), but higher than for politicians (30 percent) and car salesmen (23 percent), which is the least respected.

The most respected professions are nurses (97 percent), farmers (95 percent) and doctors (94 percent).

I view the result for business executives as totally unacceptable. I know there are many wonderful business executives that make tremendous contributions to our communities.

Unfortunately, there are always some bad apples, both in Canada and abroad, whose bad behaviour tarnishes the whole profession.

It could also be the case that the good business executives are too modest to tell the world about their work. They are quietly leading from behind the scenes.

Let me be so bold as to set a goal for business executives to have the respect of 75 percent of Canadians by 2015. And even higher in years thereafter. With higher respect comes greater possibilities.

For this goal to be achieved, business executives must truly think of their work as a profession with its own standards of excellence and best practices to learn and apply. At The Surge Strategies Group, we are honoured to be working with such executives in our Business Innovator Labs and in our coaching and consulting relationships.