Are we living our daily lives by the principles of the Golden Rule?
Whether it is helping others, thanking others or even when speaking kindly to others, the underlying principle is the Golden Rule. That’s the time when we live by the Golden Rule.
Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. This is the Golden Rule. It is short and precise; yet powerful. It is highly effective in personal and professional life.
Here are three real-life examples of how the different aspects of this rule were put into practice by the leaders of well-known companies; and how it has worked well for their own success, and for the success of the organizations they represented.
1) James E. Burke and the 100 Million Dollar Crisis of Johnson & Johnson
More than three decades ago, Johnson & Johnson was in a serious crisis after an unfortunate incident. Two convicts tampered its Tylenol capsule containers and mixed cyanide with it. This incident claimed seven lives.
Many at that time believed that the crisis was a death blow to the reputation of the company and the existence of the company itself.
But the immediate response from the company was to remove Tylenol capsules from every store all over the world. Tylenol capsules worth more than 100 million dollars were taken back.
This decision drew heavy criticism from the industry experts. They saw it as a massive overreaction from the company.
But for Johnson & Johnson, this move resulted in one of its major financial problems ever.
Despite the financial crisis, the decision to put people over profits helped the company to earn the trust of the public. Eventually, this helped the business to thrive by weathering the crisis.
The man behind this big decision was James E. Burke, the then CEO of the company.
Years later, Burke recalled this crisis management efforts in these words: "Whenever we cared for the customer in a profound and spiritual way, profits were never a problem."
2) Indra Nooyi and 400 Thank-You Letters a Year from PepsiCo
Before Indra Nooyi became the CEO of PepsiCo in 2006, the company had a distinct culture of thanking employees by way of hand-written notes for a job well done.
After Nooyi took charge, she started writing to the parents of the executives saying, ‘Thank you for raising your son/daughter.’ These letters had a tremendous impact on the employees and their satisfaction levels in working for PepsiCo.
Later this practice went a step further. Nooyi decided to send thank-you letters to the spouses of the executives. As a result, more than 400 letters went out from her office to the employees’ spouses and parents each year.
Nooyi recommends this practice to the people who lead others, as she had some of the most meaningful experiences out of this practice.
A quote on gratitude says, “Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.” Expressing gratitude is also good for your heart, soul and body.
3) Jeff Weiner and the Exponential Growth of LinkedIn
This story is from a job interview taken by the former CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, who is renowned for his compassionate leadership.
Toshiro Yaginuma (name changed) who was the interviewee, had never worked for a non-Japanese company, never lived outside Japan, nor was confident enough to communicate well in English.
During the interview, Jeff made it a point to speak slowly and patiently with him. Toshiro tells of this experience as a time when he really touched compassion.
As a new recruit, Toshiro also had an opportunity to spend half an hour with Jeff to showcase his non-work related talents. Toshiro’s ability to play drums impressed Jeff. Eventually, Toshiro taught Jeff how to play drums during their brief session.
Under the leadership of Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn has grown from 338 employees to 16,000 employees, and its revenue from $78 million to $7.9 billion. It is worthwhile to weigh the part of compassionate leadership in this remarkable success.
We all take for granted the people who are closest to us. But Jeff had his family relationship also transformed by following the compassion principle. Instead of trying hard to be compassionate at the office and returning home tired, he finds time to help his wife who also has a busy day.
This way, compassion is reflected in all facets of his life. In short, it's looking forward to going to work in the morning, and looking forward to coming home at night, is what makes him happy.
Jeff gives this advice to all, which he started practicing himself. Be compassionate, we’ll all be better off because of it.
No doubt, these people had great leadership skills which made them successful. But practicing one or the other aspect of the Golden Rule gave them a definite advantage in their pathway to success.
“Each time you live up to the Golden Rule, your reputation is enhanced; each time you fail, it is diminished. And the mathematics of long-term financial success—revenues, profits, cash flow—square perfectly with this scorecard,” wrote Fred Reichheldin an article in Harvard Business Review.
The Golden Rule helps organizations to grow and succeed, and individuals to achieve professional success. But the benefits of following the Golden Rule are not only in business and profession, but it also helps in our personal life.
Perhaps, this indirect benefit is the greatest reward we reap by following the Golden Rule.
A confidence and personal satisfaction that comes from within, when we know that we have treated every fellow human being, who crossed our path, just the way we would want others to treat us.
At the end of the day, this peace and tranquility matter a lot for our well-being and happiness.
Thank you for reading!
References:
1) What I’ve learned from a decade of being PepsiCo’s CEO - Indra Nooyi
2) Be Compassionate - Wharton Undergraduate Commencement Speech, 2018 - Jeff Weiner
