Enron. Arthur Anderson. Tyco. WorldCom. Their leaders were highly touted, considered the most talented, the best and the brightest. And yet, these and others business disasters represent the largest business failures in modern business history. And all of them were caused not by disruptive technology, superior competition, unforeseen shifts in the marketplace, but by the lack of character on the part of the leaders. In the final analysis, character can take out a company faster than incompetence or competition.
“Before and after everything, companies are about character.”
“Before the first idea, the first money, the first employees, the first distributor, retailer and customer, before the creation of the company itself, there is the character of the founders.”Michael S. Malone, Infinite Loop
The gurus and the books would tell us that great enterprises begin with the great vision of the leader, what the leader sees “out there” or the previously unimagined breakthrough that he sees. This vision is what he communicates to rally people and resources to his mission. But ultimately the very soul and survival of the enterprise depends upon a very different kind of vision. It is the vision of what the leader sees when he looks inside his own soul.
We know how to build strategic plans, business plans and project plans to accomplish our vision, our dream. But how do we build our own inner life? How do we start? How is character formed? When we look into our own heart, what do we see? When was the last time we looked? And do we realize that it is from inside the heart that the real accomplishments and consequences of life and business are shaped?
I think that this is where the cutting edge of business training and education must go. This is more than understanding ethics. It is grasping the fundamental importance of character. When will our business curriculums and corporate training embrace the challenge of building character?
“Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.”
Proverbs 4:23 The Message
