A LASTING IMPACT

Your reach as a values-based leader extends beyond your organization. Regardless of your job or title, you are in a position to make a lasting and meaningful impact on the world. By embracing socially responsible leadership, you become aware of the impact of your actions on the world. You seek to understand more about world issues, engage in dialogue with others, and then, with a balanced perspective, commit to do your part to help the world become a better place.

As you expand your horizon, values-based leadership becomes a lifelong journey. You realize that the more you know, the more you need to know. You see how the four principles of values-based leadership—self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility—make a difference personally, within your organization, and in society. What you learn in one area enhances your leadership in the others, drawing you into a virtuous circle.

Values-based leadership is a lifelong journey no matter how much a person achieves. This point was brought home in a discussion I had a few years ago with Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric. Jeff and I have been friends for many years, going back to the days when I was CEO of Baxter and he was running GE Medical, based in Milwaukee. When I reached out to Jeff at the request of the Kellogg dean to see if he would be the 2008 commencement speaker, he graciously agreed. As we had lunch together before the commencement, I asked him what he saw as the biggest challenge in his role as CEO of GE.

“Harry, I am trying to figure out how I can be a better leader for my GE team around the world,” he told me.

Here was a talented executive who was running a company that at the time generated more than $180 billion in revenues and employed more than three hundred thousand people, yet he was striving to become an even better leader! Jeff was correct, of course. Values-based leadership requires lifelong learning and a continuous process of self-reflection to discover those areas in which we need to grow and develop. We are always traveling toward a forward-moving goal; we never arrive.

Values-based leadership doesn't happen automatically, and it isn't always easy. You will encounter distractions and pressures that can derail the best of intentions. When that happens, return to the four principles and take a moment to pause and reflect. The principles are the beacon that will always guide you home, back to the heart of who you are as a person and as a leader.