Responsible Leadership: Base Your Leadership on Spiritual Roots William C. Miller, Co-Founder, Global Dharma Center

From Executive Excellence, Vol. 18 No. 5, May 2001

“You might think that the world is just not ready for spiritual-based leadership, even if it is practical, but the evidence is compelling”  

People everywhere are starving for leadership... starving to connect with leaders who are believable, trustworthy, and capable of actualizing constructive changes.  We need leaders who can transform the character of organizations and curtail the exploitation of people and natural resources, inequalities of educational and economic access, and stress from an impossible pursuit of happiness through unlimited desires and acquisitiveness.

People are looking for business leaders to exercise true leadership. We expect more than high quality products and services from corporations. We are concerned about the environment. We worry about the gulf between the ‘have’s’ and the ‘have not’s.’ We want corporations to demonstrate higher values.

This is more than a call for "visionary" leaders. True leaders must inspire courage, integrity, trust, and personal brilliance in their colleagues. Their leadership must be based on their personal character, and must build integrity and character throughout the organization.

The benefits of high-integrity and high-responsibility business fall into three arenas: (1) At the individual level, it is simply soul-satisfying, an exercise of our inherently spiritual nature; (2) At the corporate and community level, it leads to attracting more investors, more business, and more talented people; (3) At the society level, it increases our confidence and competence in the power of goodness

For example, high integrity business attracts investors. Socially responsible investing has surged impressively. The assets in screened portfolios – portfolios that exclude, for instance, tobacco and weapons companies or firms that are criticized for their labor practices – rose 227% in two years, from $162 billion to $529 billion. That’s impressive, considering that during the same period the overall market grew only 84%.

For example, Charles Schwab saw that Wall Street brokers were in an untenable conflict of interest: they were supposed to look out for their customers’ investment interests, yet they made more commissions by convincing their customers to make more trades. So he set up a transaction company for informed investors. Its reputation for integrity attracts both customers who seek trustworthiness and employees who value character.

The Call for Spiritually-Based Leadership

I believe that business is ready for spiritually-based leadership. When I worked with Motorola. Chairman Bob Galvin described the primary job of leaders as “inspiring acts of faith, meaning things are do-able that are not provable, spreading hope, and building trust.”

Peter Drucker stated that leaders should lead not only through knowledge and skill but through courage, responsibility, and integrity."^[1] A study by the Stanford Research Institute gives the real weighting: only 12% of effective leadership is based on knowledge and vision; the other 88% is dealing appropriately with people!^[2]

Character impacts the leader’s effectiveness with both vision and people. Character expands our horizons to include the interests of those beyond ourselves; thus it can illumine knowledge and convert it into wiser and more compelling visions. Character also creates resonance between the leader and others; by this the leader moves beyond "compliance" and inspires inner commitment. A true leader inspires people to take the initiative, based on their own intrinsic values, to implement a noble vision.

Can leaders of character succeed in the business world? William George, CEO of Medtronic, states: “If we serve our customers well, provide products and services of unsurpassed quality, and empower our employees to fulfill themselves and the company's mission, we will provide an outstanding return for our shareholders.” Their stock has gained more than a 25% annual, compounded growth over 40 years.

“We are all spiritual beings. Unleashing  the whole capability of the individual -- mind, body, and spirit -- gives enormous power to the organization. Spirituality  unlocks the real sense of significance of the organization's purpose. People of many faiths, or no faith at all, can join together in a common cause of service to others through their work.^[3]

Love as the Basis for High Integrity Reputations

Spirituality evokes or expresses divine love -- love that is fearless, unconditional, and selfless. Love is the basis for all other spiritual values and for character. For example, love in speech is truth, love in behavior is right, responsible action, love in thought is inner peace, and love in understanding/wisdom is non-violence. These core values, found in all spiritual traditions, are "built in" to our spiritual nature and may be expressed on an individual and organizational level.

Individually, a person would do his or her best quality work, even if no one were watching. A professional would tell the truth about errors or delays, even if it meant a reprimand. An executive would find creative new ways to deliver goods faster, without costly delays to customers. A sales person would neither over-promise nor overcharge. A manager would seek to serve people.

Demonstrating the impact of these values on organizations is an ongoing study of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.” Fortune magazine assesses corporations based on five dimensions: credibility/trustworthiness, respect, fairness, meaning of work, sense of family and community. These 100 companies that adhere firmly to high-integrity character have an average growth rate more than 50% higher than their industries! Love, and related values, can be synonymous, and synchronous, with business success. Indeed, the reputations for living by noble values help attract top talent, who then contribute to outstanding growth and performance.

By living these values, we gain the moral authority to bring people, even divisive factions, together to heal conflict and enrich community. We find the spiritual common ground amidst the diversity.

Spirituality is essential to health, trust, creativity, commitment, ethical behavior, and productivity. Spirituality tends to ground us in a greater good beyond the self, helps us value other people, and creates in us more depth and sensitivity.

Any company that successfully integrates performance and responsibility will thrive. When leadership is firmly grounded in spiritual principles, business skills are applied with excellence, and people strive to apply high values to its products, its communications, and internal management practices – then the brands of that company take on an allure to anyone interested in high integrity. That reputation will return multiple dividends in terms of greater investment, greater growth, and greater talent. And we all gain greater confidence in the power of love and character to provide for our material as well as spiritual well-being.

When we exercise leadership based on spiritual values, we build the character and reputation required for growth.                        

© 2002-2004 Global Dharma Center From Executive Excellence, Vol. 18 No. 5, May 2001 Used with permission from http://www.globaldharma.org/sbl-publications.htm

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