| In an interview this week, Academy-Award winning actor Jared Leto shared the following about his approach to working on movie sets:
“I like to stay as focused and committed as possible. My job is to do whatever I can to show up and contribute something meaningful to the actors, the studio, and the crew. Also, it’s my job to be a pleasure to work with. To not be a pain in the [butt]. To be generous and kind to all involved. That to me is as important as the other stuff.” In other words, he strives to be a decent human being who plays well with others. When I helped a Chief People Officer identify her company’s key leadership attributes recently, our final list was strikingly similar to Jared Leto’s approach! The CPO and her team interviewed executives, directors, and employees to curate an inventory of ideal characteristics, actions, behaviors, and expectations for anyone who endeavors to call themselves a leader in the organization. The list was extensive, but a few essential themes surfaced:
No one submitted the word “decency” specifically. They proposed qualities like honesty, integrity, goodness, dignity, grace, empathy, compassion, kindness, patience, civility, and positivity. But we ultimately chose “decency” because of its all-encompassing reminder of our humanity. Some executives lobbied for the word “collaboration,” but I pushed back on that overused business buzzword. It’s impossible to collaborate if we’re not first committed to solving problems, communicating to contribute, growing and learning, being decisive, and demonstrating decency. Does “decency” feel too soft? Let’s strengthen it with a few statistics:
Decency counts…at work, at home, and in the world. Build Better Bosses and the Circle of Excellence © 2021. Ann Tardy and Mentor Lead. www.mentorlead.com | www.anntardy.com |
