Setting an Example
Parson Weems’ Fable by Grant Wood, 1939 (public domain - Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas)
“History has shown us that character counts. Character above all.”
― David McCullough, 2008
Leaders — of businesses, countries, local scouting groups, — leaders of organizations of all types and sizes are always being watched.
The very concept of leadership means that people are following (I would hope). And if you want people to follow, you should be compelling. You should set an example worthy of being followed.
Yet how many instances of corporate leaders have we seen in recent years where their examples have been anything but exemplary?
The aggressive and predatory lending of Wells Fargo.
The nonexistent technology at Theranos.
The dieselgate scandal of Volkswagen.
In every one of those cases, there were leaders who chose to ignore behavior that was underhanded. People who had a chance to speak up and do what was right, but who chose profit over principle.
We hear stories like that all too often, it seems. People love hearing about a villain or someone who gets their comeuppance; the bad behavior garners headlines — and, quite frankly, appeals to more eyeballs.
The stories of ethical behavior, where integrity saves the day, are less common. In fact, they’re downright rare.
Which is tragic.
Because we need our future leaders to understand that integrity should be celebrated.
We need to make a big deal out of people doing the right thing — as boring and mundane as it is.
“Public virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private Virtue, and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.”
— John Adams, 1776
In September 1888, Frederick Douglass, then 70 years old, spoke of the looming presidential election. His words indicated that he understood the power of example in such a high-profile figure:
“In a Presidential canvass three things are always in order: First, we have to consider the character of the candidate…A man in the presidential chair should stand for something more than a lucky and successful politician. He should be one among millions—a model man; one to whom the sons of after-coming generations can be referred as an example to them.”
Imagine that. A president who is a man of substance and character. Of decency and empathy. Of optimism and courage. Of wisdom and integrity.
At the corporate level, people prefer to be associated with upstanding examples. According to a 2006 study by LRN, 82 percent of the respondents said they would prefer to be paid less and work for a company with ethical business practices than receive higher pay at a company with questionable ethics.
Leadership and board members have an opportunity to recognize and embrace this reality in the decisions they make regularly.
In a recent episode of Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast, former Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier told the story of his withdrawal from President Trump’s business advisory council in the wake of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017:
I called my board, and I said I intended to step down from the president’s council. I was actually advised by my PR people to do it quietly. I said “No.” … I said I’m going to withdraw, and it’s going to be a noisy withdrawal, and I’m going to put out a statement, and I’m going to say why I’m withdrawing.
And I said to my board: “I do recognize that I have a responsibility to the company. And so the question I’m asking you is, in my statement, do you want me to say I’m withdrawing as a matter of personal conscience? Or do you want me to say I’m withdrawing because of our company’s values?” And I’m happy to say that unanimously, they said we want you to speak to the company’s values. No debate whatsoever.
When you’ve built a reputation, personally or professionally, and you act in a way that is in direct opposition to what you’ve said you stand for, you’ve just ruined your integrity.
And you can only lose your integrity once.
There’s so much to learn,
