Making Leader Character Your Competitive Advantage

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Oct 19, 2022, 08:01 ET

Research indicates companies can measure, identify, and leverage leader character as a strategic asset

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to research released today in MIT Sloan Management Review, companies that measure, identify, and leverage leader character have a competitive advantage and can foster a culture where character is valued equally alongside competence, resulting in better decisions, well-being, and outcomes.

"Over more than a decade of investigating leader character in organizations from border services to banking to professional sports, we've found that leaders largely underestimate and misunderstand the concept of character," said Mary Crossan, professor of strategic leadership at the Ivey Business School.

"They marginalize it as just being about ethics rather than recognizing that the critical underpinning is its impact on judgment and the choices we make minute by minute, day in and day out — the micro-moments between stimulus and response. It is this character-based judgment that supports superior performance, and its lack that explains both misconduct and poor decision-making."

Crossan and the team of researchers at Ivey set out to address the underlying science of leader character: what it is (and is not), why it matters, how it can be developed, and how it is manifested in people's actions and thereby into organizational culture.

Their Leader Character Framework examines how 10 separate character dimensions (such as drive, humility, temperance, accountability) interact with an 11th, central quality of judgment. They identify that any dimension can be problematic in both excess or deficiency and confirm that character is a habit and can objectively be observed, assessed, and developed like other human behaviors.

Building upon the Framework, organizations can begin a strategic approach to implementing leader character development and enhancing policies and practices across the company, from risk management and culture change to selection and diversity, equity, and inclusion. By contributing directly to these important initiatives, leaders can make character into a strategic asset while also promoting well-being.

"The most immediate and practical approach for organizations that seek to tap the power of leader character is to simply start the conversation," added coauthor Bill Furlong, executive in residence at Ivey Business School. "In the turbulent times we live in, elevating character alongside competence is not only a strategic imperative but also a social responsibility."

The MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) article "Make Leader Character Your Competitive Edge" publishes at 8 a.m. EDT on Oct. 19.

About the Authors

Mary Crossan is a professor of strategic leadership at the Ivey Business School. Bill Furlong is executive in residence at the Ivey Business School. Robert D. Austin is a professor of information systems at the Ivey Business School. Ivey Business School at Western University is Canada's leading provider of real-world, case-based business education. For seven of the last eight years, Bloomberg Businessweek has ranked Ivey the No. 1 MBA program in Canada (2014-2019, 2022). Renowned for its case method of learning, Ivey Business School is one of the most important producers of business cases in the world.

About MIT Sloan Management Review

MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) is an independent, research-based magazine and digital platform for business leaders, published at the MIT Sloan School of Management. MIT SMR explores how leadership and management are transforming in a disruptive world. We help thoughtful leaders capture the exciting opportunities — and face down the challenges — created as technological, societal, and environmental forces reshape how organizations operate, compete, and create value.

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SOURCE MIT Sloan Management Review