In Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance & Leadership Success (Wharton School Publishing), Doug Lennick and Fred Kiel look at the connection between strong moral principles and business success. Using original research, the authors show how the best performing companies have leaders who are able to promote moral intelligence throughout their organizations, despite the fact that the business world all too often seems to reward bad behavior, at least in the short run. Included in their book is what the authors call their Moral Competency Inventory, a metric that can help leaders assess where they and their organization currently stand. Below is an excerpt from the first chapter of Moral Intelligence.
Chapter One: Good Business
Gary O'Hagen is a division president of International Management Group, the world's largest sports marketing and talent representation agency. Gary is an intense, competitive, and imposing man who looks like the football player he once was. As a young man, he was drafted and then cut by the San Francisco 49ers, then picked up and cut by the New York Jets. Gary was devastated but determined to find another route to high achievement. He got a job as a financial trader with Salomon Brothers and attended law-school classes every weekday night. When his grandfather died, Gary was expected to attend the wake, the funeral, and a host of other family gatherings. Gary was anxious about falling behind at work and school, so he thought he could attend the funeral, make a quick appearance at the after-funeral lunch, after which he'd head back to work. But when he got to the restaurant, the significance of his family's loss finally registered, and Gary realized that his priorities were out of whack. He called his boss and told him he wasn't coming in to work. His boss was concerned and upset, but Gary stayed. He knew that if he didn't have the compassion to help his family in that moment, he would never amount to much either personally or professionally.
[continue]
Page 1 of 12
> >>