- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to Dov Seidman about the state of moral leadership among CEOs.
- The big story: It’s Day One of Trump 2.0.
- The markets: Moving up
- Analyst notes from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Wedbush.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning from Davos, Switzerland, where we’ll bring you insights this week from global leaders at the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum. It’s also Martin Luther King Day in the U.S. and inauguration day for incoming President Donald Trump. He’s a billionaire president who’s put a team of fellow billionaires in key seats of power. The three richest people in the world are expected to attend today’s ceremony.
Outgoing president Joe Biden called it an “oligarchy” but the issue isn’t so much wealth as power, and how it will be deployed. Will we create smart regulation to reduce risk and promote innovation amid seismic technological change? Do we want our tech infrastructure in the hands of a mighty few? Will public institutions bend to private gain? Can we mourn the death of an innocent man and understand public resentment against his company, which led its industry in rejecting healthcare claims and overcharged some cancer patients for drugs by over 1,000%?
So let’s discuss the state of moral leadership in business. That’s an annual study of leader behaviors and practices by the HOW Institute for Society. I spoke with founder and chairman Dov Seidman last week, who noted that “we are talking about behaviors: How do you wield authority? How do you make decisions?”
Only 9% of CEOs and 11% of managers ranked in the highest tier of moral leadership in this year’s study, which is based on extensive feedback from 2,500 U.S.-based respondents. And 95% of those respondents reported that the need for moral leadership in business is more urgent than ever. “Everyone wants a deeper source of connection,” said Seidman. People want to be inspired and treated fairly. But Seidman says he’s “seeing people in high places doing harmful things with impunity” in business and “autocracy in national politics.”
So where does he see moral leadership in practice? Seidman points to football powerhouse Notre Dame, which faces off today against the daunting (and likely equally morally-led) Ohio State in college football’s national championship. “You see it in how the coach treats players, in how the teammates hold each other accountable.”
“In this human age, we can hire for rage and callousness and whatever,” said Seidman. “I think we’re entering an era where we will have to elevate at scale what makes us human at our best.”
He quotes Dr. King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
More news below.
Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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