Leadership Matters to Capitalism
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Capitalism is not inherently evil, as many may claim.
Neither is capitalism an agnostic system run by some “invisible hand” as so many have been misled to believe. Rather, as Prof. Kenneth Barnes has concisely stated, “The capitalism we have is the capitalism we have created.”
Like any construct or human creation, leadership matters. Indeed, where humans are involved it’s beyond reasonable debate whether leadership matters. Leadership matters in our homes, schools, businesses, culture, and politics. Failure of leadership in any of these dimensions quickly becomes painfully obvious. You know this. If you have enough life experience, you’ve suffered under poor leadership.
As with every construct, capitalism is driven and impacted by leadership. As Barnes insightfully observes in his Redeeming Capitalism, “Capitalism is not an artificial construct devised by clever minds but an economic system that has evolved over centuries. It is the cumulative effect of countless individual and corporate decisions, a multitude of effects brought about by a multitude of causes, a complex constellation of institutions, organizations, and processes devoid of a master plan” (p. 21).
AI image generated by Nano Banana
While capitalism may be devoid of a master plan, it is not devoid of leaders. Behind every one of those countless individual and corporate decisions, multitude of causes, and constellations of institutions, organizations, and processes is a leader making a decision. What is the quality of our leadership but the quality of our leaders? Taking a step further to its core element, “What is the quality of our capitalism but the quality of our leaders?”
Time to boldly face our collective reality. For us to experience a better capitalism – a capitalism that most people feel isn’t stacked against them, that the great majority of people can thrive under, and that creates more benefit than damage – we need better leaders.
How do we grow better leaders in support of a better capitalism? I have a two-prong answer.
First, we – individually and collectively – have to become better at choosing and accepting those we privilege to be leaders. As a threshold matter, those we privilege to be leaders need to be trustworthy. Trustworthiness is not a quality any of us can typically determine about another on short notice. I do, however, have a litmus test that’s an excellent indicator of whether or not someone is likely to be trustworthy and therefore worth taking a next step with (e.g., to do business with, or work for, or vote for, etc.):
Is this person transparent with me?
Does this person have my interest at heart? (This doesn’t mean they’re going to do what I want; but do they genuinely have my interest at heart and take it into consideration?)
Does this person usually make good decisions?
If the other person can’t check all three of these boxes, then they’ve failed our litmus test and they’ve got a very heavy lift to prove they’re trustworthy. Of course, the same is true of us as others evaluate these same qualities.
Tom Gryp: Image Credit NDFCU
Second, wannabe leaders need to become better people. Simple as that. With 16 years of continuous growth at the helm of Notre Dame Federal Credit Union (currently $2B in assets under management, 250 employees, and 15 locations), CEO and President Tom Gryp has earned the creditability to speak about leadership. Here is Tom’s guidance for building wannabe leaders.
I have learned the hard way that all difficult issues must be broken down to their lowest common denominator. Unless you can deconstruct complex topics to their core elements, permanent solutions can never be achieved. Otherwise, all fixes will be superficial and fleeting.
Want to be a good and inspiring leader? Then be a good and inspiring person. That is the lowest common denominator. Stand for something, do something, be something. Lead with your hands and your feet, not with your mouth.
How does all this translate into the business world? Create business scenarios that not only make money, but also positively impact members, employees and your community. These efforts are not mutually exclusive. In fact, this approach will actually generate cumulative benefits far beyond what traditional business tactics can produce!
Yes, it takes personal courage. Do you have it? Do you have what it takes to change your own thinking as to what your professional purpose actually is? Do you have the commitment to get up when you get knocked down? Are you prepared to be criticized for taking a different path?
Consider those who have passed before you. In every case, those destined for inspiring leadership encountered and persevered through hardships and setbacks deeper and darker than their now-anonymous peers. You see, commitment and perseverance is the price of admission to becoming a good and inspiring leader.
What’s the Risk? I think you already know. For starters, how about lack of promotions, higher job turnover and a myriad of others things deemed by conventional thinking to be professional failures. In short, all the risks you are taught to avoid in order to advance your career!
Looking at the topic of leadership with this perspective, does it now start to make sense why nothing ever seems to improve? The answer is obvious - it’s too risky. That is why true leadership is so hard to find, in spite of all the books and seminars and blogs.
Once people actually understand what becoming a genuinely good and inspirational leader really means, most prefer just to talk about it. “Being a Good Leader” is a feel good topic, like so many other things in our society today. Unless you are willing to think about leadership through the prism of how you live your own life and make fundamental improvements there, everything else will just be another “feel good” exercise.
Simple, but not easy. And Tom’s guidance isn’t limited to the business world. Better leaders are what our business, culture and political worlds so desperately need today. So does our capitalism. Again, at its core, “What is the quality of our capitalism but the quality of our leaders?”
I advocate for rejecting those who strive to be leaders without first being trustworthy people. Whether in business, as cultural influencers, or in elected office, we can’t give these people the space and support they need in order to exert their damage. Instead, we need to give space and support to those who have shown themselves to be trustworthy by being transparent, by having the common good at heart, and by typically making good decisions.
Obviously, no individual is perfect, and I am not holding up perfection as a leadership standard. But given how far the quality of leadership has digressed over the past several decades, it’s past time to demand and receive better. Not just for our homes, schools, businesses, culture, and politics, but for capitalism itself.
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