Character:
What Contemporary Leaders Can Teach Us about Building a More Just, Prosperous, and Sustainable Future
About the Book
Character is something intrinsic to us all; it forms and reveals who we are. Unbeknownst to many, character is foundational to our judgment, behavior, and leadership. As we tackle the grand challenges of our time, strength of character guides us to make better decisions, creates greater well-being, and contributes to human flourishing. For those who lead ― whether in the public, private, not for profit, or education sectors ― a greater understanding of character will challenge your thinking, inspire new ideas, and elevate your personal and professional performance.
Character: What Contemporary Leaders Can Teach Us about Building a More Just, Prosperous, and Sustainable Future provides an exceptional opportunity to become a better leader by applying the extraordinary yet down-to-earth insights from the authors’ accessible scholarship and interviews with truly distinguished leaders whose lessons on building stronger societies through character-based leadership are moving, powerful, and evergreen.
Leader Interviews
- Cameron Bailey – CEO, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
- Erika Cheung – Theranos Whistleblower, and Co-Founder and Executive Director of Ethics in Entrepreneurship
- Joan Chittister, O.S.B. – American Benedictine nun, theologian, author, and speaker
- Lyse Doucet – Chief International Correspondent, BBC
- Tracy Edwards, MBE – International Sailor and Founder, The Maiden Factor
- Lady Brenda Hale – Baroness Hale of Richmond, President (retired) of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom & Julia Hoggett – CEO, London Stock Exchange
- Alan Jope – CEO (retired), Unilever
- Adam Kahane – Director of Reos Partners & Bruce Lourie – President, Ivey Foundation
- David Kipping – Associate Professor of Astronomy, and Principal Investigator of the Cool Worlds Lab, Columbia University
- Benn Lamm - Co-founder and CEO, Colossal Biosciences
- Gennadiy Mokhnenko - Pastor of the Church of Good Changes and member of the Chaplains’ Battalion, Ukraine
- Maria Ressa – CEO of Rappler, Journalist, Author, Freedom Advocate, and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
- Mary Robinson – Chair of The Elders, former president of Ireland, and former UN High Commissioner on for Human Rights
- The Honourable Murray Sinclair – Senator of Canada (retired), Chief Commissioner of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- Neil deGrasse Tyson – Astrophysicist, Author, and Broadcaster
This book is published by ECW Press.
"Character lies at the very heart of leadership and its absence has never mattered more than it does today, in our uncertain, high-stakes world. If you want to be a better leader, this book should be at the top of your reading list"
- Amy C. Edmonson, Novartis Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School, and author of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well
About the Authors
Gerard Seijts is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the Ivey Business School. He received his PhD from the University of Toronto. He lives in London, Ontario.
Kimberley Young Milani is the Director of the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership at the Ivey Business School. Kimberley is a graduate of the University of Toronto and University of Oxford. She lives in London, Ontario.
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