Sander A. Flaum
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Each year, scores of books are published on the subject of leadership. They're written by academic giants like Noel Tichy
and Warren Bennis, great CEOs such as A.G. Lafley, and by sports legends like Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.
I wrote a bestseller called The 100 Mile Walk...A Father and Son on a Quest to Find the Essence of Leadership. Those of us who aspire to be better can learn something from any of these books. But there's one thing that's so simple
it's often overlooked in even the best leadership tomes.
The one defining characteristic I've seen in all great leaders is that they strive to do the right thing. For instance, Sir
Harry Evans, editor-at-large of The Week, and his wife Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, persuaded the owners of the RMS Queen Mary 2 to host a benefit for the American Institute of Stuttering. Some famous stutterers were invited, including Jack Welch of
GE, John Stossel of 20/20, singer Carly Simon, and Kenyon Martin of the Denver Nuggets. For months, Evans and Brown worked
tirelessly to make certain the event was a success. Together they raised $1 million for the study and treatment of stuttering.
It's More than Just Giving
As time marches on, chances to do the right thing come and go. We cross paths with people who are down and out; we see strangers
who need directions; we encounter family, friends, and employees seeking our help. Leaders come across these moments as often
as everyone else; it's what they make of these quotidian opportunities that shapes leadership.
For illustration, compare two recent instances of philanthropy. In July, The New York Times reported that the late hotel heiress Leona Helmsley not only left millions more to her dog than to her grandchildren, she
also left the bulk of her fortune—estimated at $5 billion to $8 billion—to dog care. Such an arrangement doesn't fit the definition
of "Leaders do the right thing." Money can be used to do great things (see above). But merely giving money is not a hallmark
of greatness. Allowing a vast estate to "go to the dogs" (literally) is not especially admirable.
On the other hand, Bill Gates, once the world's richest man, has given more than half of his net worth to the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation, which is working to wipe out polio, HIV, and other devastating illnesses around the globe. (By the way,
that's $29 billion given, and still counting.) Investor Warren Buffett followed suit, donating $37 billion to the Gates Foundation—the
single largest charitable donation in history.
"Mr. Gates said it was Mr. Buffett's support for philanthropy which had persuaded him to set up the foundation in the first
place," reported the BBC. Not only did these two men—two of the richest in the world—inspire each other to the greatest levels
of personal benevolence ever seen, they also have an ongoing interest in how the Foundation's work will be carried forward.
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