90 Days to Level Up Your Leadership

Week 12Following Your True North as a Moral Leader

Benchmark goal: Become a moral leader.

In this final week of your 90-Day Plan, I propose a challenge for your leadership: to be a moral leader who upholds your values, exemplifies integrity, and demonstrates courage to make a positive impact on the world.

Aristotle postulated three qualities of great communicators: logos, ethos, and pathos. Though logic and empathy are required characteristics of today's leaders, what is most necessary is ethos, or morality.

Moral leaders are driven by purpose and animated by courage and patience as they wrestle with issues of right and wrong and inspire others. Moral authority must be earned by who you are and how you lead. No longer can you have power over people; you only can have power through people.

Chip Bergh: Levi's Moral Leader

When Chip Bergh took over at CEO of Levi Strauss in 2011, Levi's had declining sales, high debt, and a weakened 168-year-old brand that was losing its relevance. Never one to flinch from challenges, Chip believed he could reinvigorate the brand and restore the company's financial strength by leading through his humanitarian values and principles. In 2019, he brought the company back to public markets after 39 years of private ownership. In 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company reported multi-decade record revenues and profitability.

Chip believed Levi's iconic brand stands for authenticity, and that must be reflected in its leadership and employees. ...