James E. Loehr - Leading with Character

In 2018 after the Parkland shooting in Florida, we decided to take a stand to end gun violence in America. Every day, 100 people in this country die as a result of tragic gun violence. Every death is a sad one. Almost everyone knows someone who has died as a result of gun violence. Our children today practice lockdown drills at school, just like we practiced “duck and cover” drills to protect us from nuclear bombs from the Soviet Union when I was a kid. However, unlike the nuclear bombs from the Soviet Union, which never happened, our kids know that school shootings are a real threat – they see it on the news and they know that it happens. Their lives have been forever impacted by school shootings and lockdown drills. It is one of the most contentious issues of our day – but staying silent on the issue longer was not an option for us.

Our goal is not to repeal the Second Amendment. It is to end senseless, needless gun violence, which is possible. In January of 2019, we wrote a letter to the House of Representatives to support HR 8, which called for universal background checks, a proven measure that a majority of gun owners support, to reduce guns getting into the wrong hands. The legislation passed with bipartisan support. The letter to the House had three CEO signatures on it, besides mine. Later, in September 2019, we sent a similar letter to the Senate, to get the Senate to move on its counterpart bill. That letter had over 160 CEO signatures. By being the point of the spear along with three other CEOs in January, we have built a movement of business leaders to make a difference in ending tragic gun violence in this country. We are not done with our work – but election season is upon us, and we are not giving up.

I will end where I started. The COVID pandemic has wiped out much of the financial progress we've made as a company. As proud as I am of the turnaround, I now know that my legacy as a CEO will be around HOW we navigate the pandemic and residual crises around it. Our 3100 retail stores around the world and most of our wholesale customers’ stores have been closed for over two months. Our revenues, like many retailers, have taken a hit, and I suspect the recovery, and our return to $6 billion in sales, will take time. We are navigating the most uncertain time I've ever faced in my career. People have been working from home for nearly three months now. Uncertainty and volatility are our daily challenges.

But through it all, I continue to be guided to make the hard decisions in the grey area by following our values and committing to “do the harder right over the easier wrong” at every step. It's not easy, balancing all of the critical stakeholders in the business: shareholders (including family members – descendants of Levi Strauss), employees, retirees, partners, suppliers, and customers. It is a fragile ecosystem with massive uncertainty, and weighing it all requires a strong moral compass and a conviction, above all else, to do what is right.

I can draw a direct line from much of this to the time I've spent with Jim and the lessons and exercises he discusses in the pages that follow. They have been a fantastic resource for me over my career, and I know they can benefit you, too. Leading with Character can help you sharpen and define your potential legacy and in the course of doing that, will make you a better leader in all aspects of your life.

Chip Bergh,

President and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co

Eleven years ago, I was incredibly fortunate to be a student of Dr. Jim Loehr's, as I attended training he led at the Human Performance Institute (HPI), which he co-founded with Dr. Jack Groppel 25 years ago. The experience at HPI in Orlando, Florida, was life changing. Jim guided me through the difficult and important work of facing the truth about how I was managing my energy, and who and what was getting the best of it; and he pushed me to engage in soul-searching to define my purpose and life mission. I had to rewrite “my story,” identify strategies to become more physically energized and mentally and emotionally resilient, and lay out a plan to ensure that when I depart this Earth, I will leave a legacy I can be proud of, measured by my impact on the people who mean the most to me.

Since then, I have been blessed to call Jim a dear friend, mentor, and colleague who continues to profoundly impact my life. His work was foundational to the Premier Executive Leadership™ program, which I was honored to have the opportunity to build for the Human Performance Institute in 2016 and continue to lead. This first-of-a-kind executive development and well-being program takes a whole-person, whole-life approach to helping leaders thrive in an increasingly complex, nonstop, stressful world. It leverages an integrated three-coach approach (executive coach, exercise physiologist, and registered dietitian), 360 stakeholder interviews, family engagement and training to create an ecosystem of support, a comprehensive executive health assessment, and assessments in energy, well-being, resilience, and character strength. The assessment and training on building character strength is one of the unique components of this program. While other leadership training has focused on leadership authenticity (which is different from character) and the media are beginning to focus on the character of the company, few if any focus on the leader's personal character, which is the content of one's legacy. It is a “muscle” that can be strengthened and is arguably the most important component of this training.

I am incredibly honored to have the opportunity to contribute to this book and share what we learned through our work with some of the many global leaders who have passed through the Institute; through intimate engagements with our Premier clients that provide a rare view of the complex and personal struggles leaders face today; through my one-on-one coaching and engagement with executive clients; and our ongoing research into how best to unleash potential for leaders and others who want to become the best possible versions of themselves, in the most meaningful areas of their lives.

And there has never been a more important time to focus on character – not only because leadership dismissals due to ethical lapses are at an all-time high, but because the complexity and stakes are now larger than ever due to the increasing demands, scrutiny, and expectations placed on leaders today. The current COVID-19 pandemic provides a perfect example of the intense moral dilemma faced by business, government, and healthcare leaders throughout the world. But this goes beyond being a business, political, or healthcare issue. It's a moral issue, deeply connected to our families, our jobs, our welfare – with life or death consequences. Leaders have to choose between stakeholder health and well-being and shareholder financial rights … between abiding by mandatory government shut-down of all non-essential businesses to prevent the spread of the virus and honoring civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights … between saving lives by the enforced closing of businesses and the loss of jobs that force some into bankruptcy and poverty … between who gets prioritized medical attention and access to a life-saving ventilator that is in short supply … and who is left to die. The pandemic descended upon us like a tidal wave with no preparation or playbook. The fast-moving, unpredictable, and deadly virus required swift daily decision-making despite multiple unknowns, no easy answers, and the fact that any and every decision would have painful consequences. While many of us are fortunate to not have been in the position to make some of the heart-wrenching decisions related to the pandemic, we will continually be called upon to make difficult choices in our lives that have an impact on others and the world around us – often in a very profound way. The good news is that we now have the opportunity to develop our own playbook and moral compass so that we are prepared for the inevitable storms and dilemmas that will test, tempt, and challenge us – and lead with character, confidence, and a strong connection to our deepest values. But we must first do the work.