RETURN ON CHARACTER?
IT STILL PAYS TO BE GOOD!
Research reported in Harvard Business Review (HBR) over the last 20 years about the alchemy of exemplary leadership has one thing in common: it largely centers around “leader as a person”–on leader’s character and qualities of the heart.
Do highly principled leaders and their organizations perform especially well, financially?
Yes, reports the HBR 2015 April issue. According to a new study by KRW International, a Minneapolis-based leadership consultancy, the researchers found that CEOs whose employees gave them high marks for character had an average return on assets of 9.35% over a two-year period. That’s nearly five times as much as what those with low character ratings had; their ROA averaged only 1.93%.[1]
Drawing on and sifting through the anthropologist Donald Brown’s classic inventory of about 500 behaviors and characteristics that are recognized and displayed in all human societies, the study identified four moral principles—integrity, responsibility, forgiveness, and compassion—as universal markers of character.
These four pillars can be expressed as four sets of leadership behaviors: do the right thing, work for the common good, rise above mistakes (your own and others’), and be compassionate.
The study found out that leaders who frequently engaged in behaviors that reveal strong character—for instance, standing up for what’s right, expressing concern for the common good, letting go of mistakes (their own and others’), and showing empathy—outperformed their counterparts who lacked these moral values.
The good news is (and research shows it too) that with some inclination and concerted effort, character can be cultivated and honed over time to do the right thing and to act compassionately for the common good.
A CASE IN POINT: STEVE JOBS
He wasn’t a saint. I am not saying that. None of us are. But it’s emphatically untrue that he wasn’t a great human being.[2]
In their recent book about the evolution of Steve Jobs as a visionary leader, Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli quote Tim Cook, Apple CEO, who tells the untold story of his friendship with Steve jobs. Cook notes that Walter Isaacson’s biography[3] did Steve a tremendous disservice by unfairly portraying him a sort of greedy, selfish egomaniac. It didn’t capture his humane side—Steve Jobs, the person.
Tim recalls that when he offered his liver to Steve, ‘No,’ Steve said. ‘I’ll never let you do that. I’ll never do that!’ “Somebody that’s selfish,” Cook recounts, “doesn’t reply like that.”[4]
According to Tim Cook, Steve cared. He cared deeply about things. Yes, he was very passionate about things, and he wanted things to be perfect. And that was what was great about him. He wanted everyone to do their best…A lot of people mistook that passion for arrogance. He wasn’t a saint. I am not saying that. None of us are. But it’s emphatically untrue that he wasn’t a great human being.[5]
Leadership is not about how much you make; it is about what you stand for.
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[1] See Measuring the Return on Character, HBR, April 2015, 20-21.
[2] Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader (New York: Crown Business, 2015), 392.
[3] Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York:Simon & Schuster , 2011), 43; 447.
[4] Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader (New York: Crown Business, 2015), 392.
[5] Ibid., emphasis added.
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