Growing in Character

We’re excited by this new venture. It’s been a tough year for all parts of our economy, but there’s no better time for taking stock and building stronger organizations – companies, schools and nonprofits more resistant to ethical lapses, lapses that are not just morally reprehensible but also economically unviable, certainly in the long run. Bob and I are particularly excited to be working on this project with Betty Siegel. She is unique in her ability not just to think broadly and deeply, but also to be able to communicate profound moral and ethical concepts in an accessible and inspiring way. 

I read a short HBR piece this morning by James O’Toole and Warren Bennis on the recent work of Philip Zimbardo, the social psychologist who famously discovered, in his 1971 Stanford prison experiment, that famed experiment on what happens to good people within bad systems. College students were randomly assigned to be guards or prisoners. The experiment was designed to last two weeks, but had to be aborted after only six days because the “guards” became abusive. Zimbardo has written a new book, The Lucifer Effect, relating the findings to what happened in such places as Abu Ghraib and My Lai.

 O’Toole and Bennis conclude from Zimbardo’s work that ethical problems don’t “originate with ‘a few bad apples’ but with the ‘barrel makers’ – the leaders who, wittingly or not, create and maintain the systems in which participants are encouraged to do wrong. 

We believe that ethical behavior in organizations is a product not just of the system but also the product of individual moral development, especially the development of leaders. “Invitation to Ethical Leadership” starts with the “barrel-makers,” and our goal is to work with them on two fronts. First, how can every organization create systems within the organization – a “barrel” – that promotes and encourages ethical behavior? See our Code, Character, and Conversation article to see additional thoughts on that front. Second, how do we promote growth in leaders to a higher level of character? This blog will be devoted to thoughts on those two fronts – creating the right “barrel” and growing individually in character. 

We use two models of character development. First, our Leadership Character Model is a model of the kind of character we believe all leaders – and ultimately all organization members – need to lead effectively. Secondly, we believe Robert Kegan’s model of adult development, which Karl Kuhnert has converted to levels of leadership, is the best description of how adults grow in character. 

The Leadership Character Model is depicted as a set of scales, with INTEGRITY as the base, balancing RESPECT on one side and RESPONSIBILITY on the other. Each side of the scale has four qualities. On the Respect side: Empathy, Emotional Mastery, Lack of Blame, and Humility. On the Responsibility side: Accountability, Self Confidence, Courage, and Focus on the Whole. I’ll talk briefly about how to develop one quality on the Respect side of the scale: Emotional Mastery; and one quality on the Responsibility side of the scale: Confidence. 

Heraclitis said, “Character is Destiny,” and that is as true today as it was 3000 years ago when Heraclitus lived. Character affects your personal destiny and your organization’s destiny. We often begin working with executives in their 40s and 50s who say – “I’m cooked” I’m who I am. “I can’t change.”We respond: it may be true that your personality is formed by your early 20s, but as leaders, we need to be working on our character every day of our lives. Our goal is to help all of us do that better.

Lyn Turknett

Comments

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[Julius]

You must first agree to operate from the understanding that the three-dimensionality of your characters is not created magically. Talent equals discipline multiplied by time and you must practice (daily) the art of developing your characters.

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