“If you just say ‘Save the
world’, it doesn’t help. You have to pick the right specific behaviours” – BJ Fogg 1
What the world needs now …
“What
do you see?” he asks.
“I see myself” mutters the miser.The rabbi steers him to the window and asks, “What do you see now?”
The miser responds, “I see people and trees.”
“The difference” says the rabbi, “is the silver on the mirror”.
This story relates to how we see virtue and vice operating in a commercial
world that is part window ‘out there’ and part mirror ‘in here.’ When we look through the Rabbi’s window what
do we see?
The gap between the rich and poor is getting even wider. 85 individuals have the same wealth as half
the people on our planet.3
We could point out much more, but suffice to say that virtuous business
organisations can make a huge difference. What the world needs now are organisations led
by virtuous leaders.
Our hope is that more organisations will change their strategic
narrative and become forces for good in society, and in this way build their
own sustainability. This requires us to
look in the mirror. Without doing that we cannot reflect, and reflection is a
prelude to change.
Richard Rohr says
that “we mend and renew the world by strengthening inside
ourselves what we seek outside ourselves, and not by demanding it of others or
trying to force it on others”.4
An advocate of ‘inward bound leadership’, Andre van Heerden, Director at the Power of
Integrity New Zealand, says: “The global leadership crisis will never be overcome by skills training,
which merely asks: “what can you do?” It will only be resolved by education which asks: “what sort of
person will you become?”
Developing leadership
character in a needy world is a huge challenge. We’re talking about leaders
and their organisations going beyond legislative compliance, going beyond
tacked-on corporate social responsibility programmes, beyond ‘cause marketing’
for public relations purposes, beyond notions of sustainability programmes as a
competitive edge, beyond ‘doing well and doing good’. We’re talking about business deciding that its
core purpose is to contribute meaningfully to planet, people and profit. About
being a force for good. About operating from a basis of meaningful character virtues.
The process of deciding on specific virtues to be
developed is dependent on each business organisation and its situation. Here
are two models to start your reflection:
The Heartstyles indicator5 encourages
behaviour shifts from ineffective to effective and from personal to other focus
based on the positive character virtues of love and humility. This model is based
on a belief that the quality of one’s life, character and leadership comes from
an attitude of the heart.
It is mirrored by
the 7 da Vinci virtues as described in The
Virtuosa Organisation6, and a twin belief that who we are determines
what and how we do and lead.
·
Engaging the shadow is in order to expose and confront the less desirable side of
ourselves, taking off protective masks, overcoming controlling and other
dysfunctional behaviours, and fears, sources of pride and envy. And thus to develop
our authentic, vulnerable, compassionate selves
·
Curiosity
plays a powerful role in bringing understanding, overcoming fear of the
unknown, obtaining perspective that reduces the scope for pride. Curiosity is
the trigger for transformation through continuous learning
·
Love (of
self and others) is also instrumental in driving out fear, prejudice,
competitive behaviour - enabling us to effectively relate to and seek the
other’s best interests and personal growth
·
Taking Responsibility for our actions, relationships, and the growth of
others drives our own growth and results in the workplace
It’s also easy to
see obvious connections between the models, and virtues and vices identified
over the centuries (as one example - by the Catholic faith7):
·
“Humility is the
virtue that counters pride ... Pride is
a ‘sin’ based on undue and inappropriate appreciation of one’s self worth.
Conversely, the virtue of humility is about modest behavior, selflessness and
the giving of respect.
·
Kindness, or
brotherly love or love for one’s neighbor, is the virtue which counters the sin
of envy. Envy, in contradiction to God’s law of love, is manifest in a person’s
sorrow and distress over the good fortune of another person. Conversely,
kindness and brotherly love is manifest in the unprejudiced, compassionate and
charitable concern for others”.
In short, unless
character virtues undergird knowledge, skill and presence, our leadership
efforts may be misdirected. Unless an
organisation’s vision, strategy, mission and objectives are informed by a virtuous
purpose, it becomes just another entity, and worse – one not contributing to
the common and greater good. Everything is based on virtues.
Miles and miles and miles of heart!
Oh, it's fine to be a genius of course!
But keep that ol' horse before the cart!
First you've got to have heart!
(from the musical Damn Yankees by Richard Adler and Jerry
Ross)
A cautionary note
The leader should be absolutely
convinced that virtues-based leadership is the right way to go. “In
virtuous organizations, employees collectively behave in ways that are
consistent with the best of the human condition and the highest aspirations of
human kind”.8 There
can be no half measures nor confused motives. As Arnold Smit of the University of
Stellenbosch Graduate School of Business says: “ … if a set of agreed-upon
values, as is so often found in business, is not anchored in the hearts and
minds and behaviours of virtuous individuals, they will remain superficial,
surface phenomena. (Virtues, in contrast and by their very nature, are embedded
in the people within whom they manifest)”.9
There is a danger that leaders may adopt ‘good’ behaviours for the
wrong motive. This can be fuelled by promises of better market performance or higher
profitability, for example:
·
Sustainability. “In addition, 31 percent of companies say
sustainability is boosting their profits and 70 percent report that
sustainability has a permanent place on their management agenda”. 10
·
Doing good. The title of an article about Richard Branson’s
book is a giveaway: Screw Business As Usual, And Make Your (Huge Piles Of) Money
By Doing Good.11
·
Operating from a foundation of ideals, values, mission, purpose, deeper
meaning. The sub-title of Grow is the
give-away: “how ideals power growth and
profit at the World’s greatest companies” 12
For
advice on all aspects of what it takes to develop a virtuous organisation, and selecting
and institutionalising virtues appropriate for your organisation, contact:
foxes@icon.co.za
References:
2. Second International Conference on Nutrition
in Rome from 19 to 21 November 2014.
3. Oxfam ‘Even it Up’ report,
2014 http://www.oxfam.org/en/campaigns/even-it-up
4. Rohr, Richard Daily Meditations, Centre for Action
& Contemplation
8. Horne, Amanda Virtuous Organisations
http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/amanda-horne/2012080323377 August, 2012
9.
Smit,
Arnold Virtuous Talent for A Sustainable Future in Human Capital Trends:
Building a Sustainable Organisation ed: Italia Boninelli & Terry
Meyer Knowledge Resources 2011
10. Kho, Jennifer Report:
More Corporations Turn To Sustainability For Competitive Edge and Profits
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferkho/2012/01/24/corporate-sustainability-soars-mit-study/
11. Ferenstein,
Gregory Richard Branson: Screw Business As
Usual, And Make Your (Huge Piles Of) Money By Doing Good
12.
Stengel, Jim Grow: how ideals power
growth and profit at the world’s greatest companies Crown Business NY 2011
