What It Means to Be a Conscientious Leader

What It Means to Be a Moral Leader 22 Sep 2023 --- Remember when leaders could sidestep taking a stand on sensitive political or societal issues by saying, “The business of business is business”? That aloof neutrality no longer works, says Dov Seidman, founder and chairman of The HOW Institute for Society. “I think the business of business is society,” he says. “It's community, and how we relate to whatever comes our way and how thoughtfully and principled we are.” A leader standing up for what’s right is the new expectation of employees, customers, and other stakeholders. Not to mention relatives at the Thanksgiving dinner table. As AI ramps up and challenges humans’ monopoly on intelligence, purely human skills like moral judgment and empathy become even more crucial for leaders. While machines can be taught to do things right, Seidman says, only people can lead others to do the right things. For this episode of our video series “The New World of Work”, HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius sat down with Seidman, who’s also the author of How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything, to discuss: • How to let your principles guide you as a leader • The importance of taking a pause in order to reflect on, reconnect with, rethink, and reimagine your mission • Which human traits and abilities will grow in value as AI grows in raw intelligence This interview part of a series called “The New World of Work,” which explores how top-tier executives see the future and how their companies are trying to set themselves up for success. Each week, Adi will interview a leader on LinkedIn Live — and then share an inside look at those conversations and solicit questions for future discussions in a newsletter just for HBR subscribers. If you’re a subscriber, you can sign up for the newsletter here: https://hbr.org/my-library/preferences?movetile=newworldofwork. Follow us: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #NewWorldofWork #Leadership #AI #Morality #Life #Career #YourCareer #Work #Business #Harvard Copyright © 2023 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices