HOW Conversations

[Archive Interview from Apr 26, 2023] Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield knows that making a difficult decision is never easy, but when done with thought and care, it is an opportunity to learn and grow, “Being a moral leader is being a leader who is willing to engage ethically in self-reflection and also in a broader conversation about how and why we are doing things.” Rear Admiral Chatfield is the...

[Archive Interview from Mar 15, 2023] “Why? Why not? And where’s the data?” These are the three questions Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones asks every day. “They’re simple questions,”  she says, but they show, “the holes, assumptions and…also the data that we’re not collecting.” Honorable Jones is the former Under Secretary of the Air Force. She joined HOW Fellow, Dana Born, for a new episode of HOW Conv...

[Archive Interview from Jan 24, 2023] Bill George has a challenge for the next generation — lead with authenticity. “We need you as leaders to step up now and hear the call.”  Bill is a professor at Harvard Business School, a best-selling author and the former CEO of Medtronic.  On this new episode of HOW Conversations Bill spoke with Dov Seidman, Founder and Chairman of The HOW Institute, about w...

[Archive Interview from May 23, 2022] As the leader of the oldest university in the U.S. and one of the most prestigious schools in the world, Dr. Larry Bacow, the President of Harvard University, has had to make his share of difficult decisions using moral authority. To guide him, he has a strong but simple values-based leadership framework, “Do the right thing, it is usually not that difficult t...

[Archive Interview from Apr 29, 2022] “The companies that stay true to their purpose, they have better performance... it's like a compass, it's telling you what is important, what is not important, in everything that you do.” Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla believes strong company morals and vision can make or break a company. Dr. Bourla joined Dov Seidman for an episode of HOW Conversation...

[Archive Interview from Mar 17, 2022] “An empathetic leader can tolerate friction. The empathetic leader doesn't see friction or pushback or disagreement as a sign of personal failure, but a sign that he or she is dealing with human beings.” MIT professor and The Empathy Diaries author Dr. Sherry Turkle believes the last two years of pandemic isolation has prepared us for empathy, mutuality a...

[Archive Interview from Feb 24, 2022] Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of Anti-Defamation League, doesn't like what he sees.  Hate -- of all kinds -- is on the rise.  In his new book, It Could Happen Here, Why America is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable – And How We Can Stop It, Jonathan explains what’s at risk if we don’t confront hatred head-on but also why he is hopeful; he believes that decen...

 [Archive Interview from Feb 24, 2022 ] CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, knows what it's like to have moral authority but doesn't believe everyone needs it to make principled decisions.  "The most important question of our time is also the simplest, 'Now what?  I’m upset what do I do?' Many of us have the moral capacity to lead and people are looking...

[Archive Interview from Jul 13, 2021] The pandemic was a time when people in all spheres of society were being called up to be leaders.  “You have to take that role and responsibilities very seriously. It’s not just about yourself it’s about your community,”  Dr. David Agus tells Dov Seidman on part two of their HOW Conversation.  “As a leader, your behavior influences many, many others. We all ha...

[Archive Interview from Jul 6, 2021] Dr. David Agus believes leaders have a moral responsibility to be transparent and accurate, especially during a pandemic, “We saw people just talking and not thinking of the ramifications of their words and of their actions. There weren't people stepping up to really normalize the right ideas, the right behavior and it became more about a belief system tha...

[Archive Interview from Jun 28, 2021] Sondra Samuels has been admirably leading her North Minneapolis community through challenges for more than 20 years.  Last year, the founder and CEO of the Northside Achievement Zone - known as NAZ --  relied on her values-based leadership frameworks when the pandemic hit her neighborhood hard followed by the murder of George Floyd just a few miles away.  Sond...

[Archive Interview from Jun 17, 2021] Jennifer Musisi has been threatened by men with machetes and once found a grenade under her car.  Both encounters occurred while she was serving as the Executive Director of Kampala, Uganda, a position similar to a big city mayor.   “It was scary, some of us were attacked, some of my staff were physically beaten up,”  Jennifer Musisi tells Dana Born, HOW Insti...

[Archive Interview from Jun 10, 2021] "We all are leaders, we can't just criticize what's going on out there without taking some responsibility for in here, in our hearts."  Senator Cory Booker joined Dov Seidman on a new episode of HOW Conversations. It's not often we hear the words 'love' and 'politics' in the same conversation but Senator Booker, a D...

[Archive Interview from Jun 3, 2021] Dr. Heather Wilson knows a thing or two about leadership, she’s had an incredibly varied and impressive career.  Dr. Wilson graduated from the Air Force Academy and went on to start her own company.  She has been an advisor to U.S. national laboratories on nuclear weapons and non-proliferation, a cabinet secretary in New Mexico’s state government, a U.S. Congre...

[Archive interview from May 27, 2021] “I believe that businesses cannot prosper in a failing world,” Ajay Banga, the Executive Chairman of Mastercard, tells The HOW Institute Founder, Dov Seidman, on a new episode of HOW Conversations.  Ajay explains why he thinks capitalism as we know it needs an overhaul and why business is in need of values-based leadership. “This [wealth] inequality, this clim...

[Archive Interview from March 12, 2021] Angela Ahrendts believes success comes from putting others first and utilizing values-based leadership frameworks, “My definition of moral leadership is always doing what’s best for the greater good of the whole, not yourself, not your boss, not your board.” Angela, a HOW Institute Board Member and the Chair of Save the Children International, spoke with Dov...

[Archive Interview from March 4, 2021] “Deep values help build deep trust. Deep trust empowers individuals. And it unites groups of people, ordinary people, to collectively do extraordinary things,” says Angela Ahrendts, a member of the Board of The HOW Institute and the Chair of the Board of Save the Children International.  Angela spoke with Dov Seidman, Founder and Chairman of The HOW Institute...

[Archive Interview Feb 25, 2021] When leaders invest in others it drives their own success forward says Paul Polman, member of the Board of The HOW Institute.  Paul spoke with Dov Seidman, Founder and Chairman of The HOW Institute in Part Two of their HOW Conversations.   If investing in others works for individuals then, “it must be true for companies as well, because companies are a collective o...

[Archive Interview Feb 18, 2021] “COVID has been a rude awakening for most of us. For the first time we have seen that our current system isn't really working as well as we intended,” says Paul Polman a HOW Institute Board Member and the former CEO of Unilever. Paul spoke with Dov Seidman, Founder of The HOW Institute, in this episode of HOW Conversations about the challenges and the opportun...

[Archive Interview Feb 4, 2021] The first time Ellen Ochoa applied to NASA’s space program she wasn’t selected but she saw her rejection as an opportunity, “Sometimes people ask, ‘Well, how did you cope with that failure?’ But I didn’t really see it as a failure. I knew the odds were low, and I had the chance to go to Johnson Space Center to meet other astronauts and get some ideas of what might m...

[Archive Interview from Jan 28, 2021] “There's no one right way to lead,” says retired General Janet Wolfenbarger, a trailblazing leader in the U.S. military.  In 1980, she graduated from the Air Force Academy in the first class of women and went on to become the first woman in the Air Force to receive four stars.  Janet says although there are many paths to moral leadership, watching and lis...

[Archive Interview Jan 14, 2021] “One of the things that I think is important to any moral leader is the ability to do self-reflection and be honest with yourself,” says retired Chief Master Sergeant Kaleth O. Wright.  Kaleth was the highest-ranking enlisted man in the Air Force when he retired last year and is now the CEO of the Air Force Aid Society.   He spoke with Dana Born, HOW Institute Fell...

[Archive Interview from Dec 17, 2020] Moral leaders must have a strong sense of purpose and must be willing to put personal desires aside to achieve shared goals, says retired General Stanley McChrystal. “Things only matter if they link to a purpose that we've all looked at and we've all accepted, and we are committed to.  As a leader I have to keep pointing where we want to be going,” S...

[Archive Interview from Dec 3, 2020] "We’re never going back to life as it was in January 2020," says Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation. Darren spoke with Dov Seidman, the Founder and Chairman of the HOW Institute for Society on this episode of HOW Conversations. In a post-COVID world, “moral leaders see themselves as part of something bigger than themselves,” says Darren....

[Archive Interview from Nov 19, 2020]  Retired Air Force General David Goldfein says,  “The higher you go in rank and responsibility the harder the decisions are, and they should be.” Dave spoke with HOW Institute Fellow, Dana H. Born, in the latest episode of HOW Conversations.   Dave tells Dana he’s learned it can be lonely at the top because when it comes to moral dilemmas and making tough deci...