The JUST Report: The Rising Importance of Moral Leadership
Perhaps the most surprising result from our most recent survey was the rise in importance of ethical leadership. The American people, it seems, are craving more morality from their leaders. Doubtless many of you are immediately drawn to think about politics and government, but the importance of moral leadership in business is clearly just as vital.
What does it mean to lead with morality? Probably best to ask Perplexity or Chat GPT. The word itself derives from the Latin ‘moralitas’, meaning manner, character, or proper behavior. Applied to companies, the American people associate it with being transparent, honest, taking responsibility for wrongdoings and in a wider sense, doing right by all stakeholders. The HOW Institute for Society, founded and led by our good friend Dov Seidman, has examined the issue in great detail and comes to a similar conclusion that moral leaders seek truth, uphold ethical standards, and demonstrate humility (among other principles). In their most recent report, they highlight character and trust as being central to “outbehaving” the competition and, in turn, outperforming them, and detail a structure for measuring and scaling such leadership.
In today’s hyper-turbulent world, morality also represents a fixed point by which business leaders can navigate. Such was obvious last week, when we presented the JUST Capital inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Enrique Lores, President and CEO of HP, Inc. Read more here. In Enrique’s words, “As business leaders, we have a choice. We can follow – or we can lead. We can react to change – or we can shape it. At HP, we are choosing to lead…companies that lead with purpose don’t just endure. They thrive.”
Just leaders have this philosophy in common: they serve a set of consistent, foundational values that guide them over the long term, through good times and bad, through fair weather and foul. We hope you are as inspired by Enrique’s leadership as we are.
Be well,
Martin
PS. If you’re looking for an exploration of morality in a modern context, I’d recommend the BBC’s Moral Maze podcast (it has grappled with morality in business many times).
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
(Photo by Adam Hamer)
“When corporate leaders prioritize responsible investment for all stakeholders, like job creation, workforce development like veterans hiring and apprenticeships, and training programs, they contribute to addressing critical challenges such as underemployment, income inequality, and healthcare access, so fewer Americans have to rely on “Renting Tires”.
- JUST Capital board member Roosevelt Giles speaking to the crowd at our 10th Anniversary Gala, referencing a conversation he had with an American who was renting tires for his vehicle week-to-week as a result of low wages and high cost of living.
JUST AI
Axios reports that recent studies are showing that AI is driving a major wedge between the c-suite and employees. Why? Beyond the fears of AI job replacement, many execs are forcing employees to adopt AI tools that workers themselves find aren’t suited to the job, in many cases providing inaccurate answers that require a significant amount of time to correct. Read the full story here.
Business Insider looks at how a push to “dominate AI” across the tech industry is drastically changing the culture of a sector once known for its job security.
MUST READS
HR Brew unveils their DEI tracker, which is keeping a pulse on how companies are rethinking, rebranding, or rolling back their initiatives. Meanwhile, Inc. looks at why small businesses are actually having greater success with their DEI initiatives.
The Wall Street Journal reports that consumer spending is weakening across both rich and poor, luxuries and necessities, at the same time.
CHART OF THE WEEK
This chart comes from The Wall Street Journal, and shows the salary increases that were previously common with a job switch have dropped to their lowest level in years, providing little more income for most people than their current job. Explore the data here.
