Several students across the business school and the University had a special opportunity to hear about leadership, from a well-regarded former leader of a Fortune 500 company.
On Thursday, April 16, Jack Krol, retired chairman and CEO of DuPont, shared insights and perspectives regarding ethical leadership with a group of students across multiple programs and majors, as well as within the classroom of a Dynamics in Organizations class.
When asked his key takeaway, senior Business and Enterprise Management major, Walker Ranson said, “you must surround yourself with competent people with high character.”
Cara Huskey, senior economics and Chinese double major, shared the following as her key points learned from the session:
- Seeing the real-life consequences of unethical leadership and a loss of integrity in a company gives students a better understanding of how to spot and avoid this type of leadership. Namely, understanding that a person/leader does not start unethically, but may slowly become unethical as success gets to his/her head.
- In the long-term, integrity in the workplace will take you far and will be noticed.
- The leadership styles that our generation will thrive under may be different than previous generations. Valued traits of leaders: accessibility, humility, and flexibility.
When asked her thoughts of the session, Sam Sells, philosophy/politics and international affairs double major, said: “My main takeaway was the importance of finding the right people and putting them in the right places. His emphasis on integrity was refreshing in this era of corporate scandal and financial misdeeds.”
The Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character seeks to facilitate the integration of leadership and character development in the School of Business. The Center works towards this goal by building strategic alliances and welcoming business leaders to the school with proven track records of ethical leadership to share their experiences with our students.