Recently, the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) Annual Conference and Expo in Chicago, on behalf of the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, announced the 3rd ever Fortune-500 CEO chosen to be the Ethical Leader of the Year. We were privileged to bestow this accolade this year to Lowe's CEO, Marvin Ellison.
We've done this twice before, alongside our partners at the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and every year, it is both a privilege and also a message to those perhaps doubtful of the level of ethics and integrity in the modern world of work - Perhaps contrary to popular belief, there are today great leaders who walk the talk of true ethical leadership.
Mr. Ellison joined past Award-winners Charles Lowery, Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, and Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines - two individuals chosen for their adherence to the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund's six core principles of ethical leadership – character, integrity, accountability, empathy, self-awareness, and courage.
Like so many things in life, location was everything. Announcing the Award at the SHRM Expo is most appropriate, an Expo hosted for 76 years now by that organization, one widely recognized as the world’s largest trade association of HR professionals. The event served to be an unrivaled showcase of the modern-day principles of ethical leadership, where HR so often creates the culture of ethics following the lead of the CEO.
Many may not be aware of the critically important role that HR plays within the American economy, nor the sheer human capital propelling its wheels to turn. With nearly 340,000 members across 165 countries, SHRM ends up impacting the lives of more than 235 million workers and families globally.
Three years ago, SHRM partnered with our William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, a private foundation dedicated to furthering the compassionate philanthropy and the ethical leadership of William G. McGowan, the telecommunications entrepreneur who led the campaign to end AT&T’s monopoly in 1984, to create this award.
As part of our commitment to ethical leadership in business, we created nearly two decades ago the McGowan Fellows program, wherein we choose 10 prominent MBA candidates from the nation’s top business schools to be immersed in the six ethical principles of Bill McGowan, in part through coaching by Fellow alumni and through a hands-on interaction in a problem-solving social impact project.
Ethical leaders like those we help manifest, set goals and objectives for their companies, while also developing tactics to achieve those goals and objectives. It is our view that ethics are the commitment true leaders make to their organizations; principle to their greater contributions to society writ large and are adhered to every day in their management and leadership of people, and their establishment of processes.
The Award’s relevance to addressing the challenges facing the modern-day workforce is clear - Studies support the notion that success in talent recruitment and even retention is in many instances dependent upon how leadership establishes a climate of trust and accountability. Contemporary demand must be met with supply in this arena.
And make no mistake - the era of revolutionary societal transformation and innovation in which we live and work (to many, rightly or wrongly) has been deemed inequitable or non-inclusive by the majority workforce populous, leaving many on the sideline.
In response, we chose SHRM2024 as the moment to hold up a national example of ethical leadership in the U.S. C-Suite, highlighting the model they present to the country, a model we find to be highly replicable.
The Ethical Leader of the Year Award spotlights leaders who have ultimately had to persevere through challenges both known and unknown, navigating bottom line growth and as importantly, empowering their critical workforces as part of their commitment to ethical leadership.
No matter the squalls or innovations imposed upon business-as-usual, these leaders remain accountable to their employees, working to build and maintain trust through transparency and inclusivity.
And there could be no better organization for highlighting our 2024 Ethical Leader of the Year Award winner, and the example they set within today’s marketplace, than our great partner SHRM, an organization that represents human resources professionals, where ethical business cultures are born and restructured.
And lastly, in addressing the A.I. elephant in the room, and its ramifications on workers, it's my view that we can't stop such innovation, nor should we.
But you can't automate ethical leadership, either.
At a previous SHRM Expo in Las Vegas, which saw a record crowd of over 20,000 human resource professionals, executives, students, and others in person and another 2,500 virtually, SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr. put it best, when he shared how AI plus human intelligence equals return on investment, adding that “...AI can never, ever replicate your heart. Making each employee feel unique, valued, and heard is something AI will never be able to do. We are the 'human' in human resources.”
He's absolutely right.
I believe that true innovation in the workforce (and in propelling American business in the right direction) lies in the outliers we've selected each year . Those who choose ethics and find bottom line growth as a correlative effect.
