Hello. My name is Joe Holt, a professor in the management and organization department at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. It's my pleasure to welcome you to this online course, leading from within, where we will reflect on ways in which deeply held values and beliefs can enable leaders to make better decisions, to take more effective action, to become overall more effective leaders. I really look forward to spending these four weeks of the course with you. What did it mean to lead from within? It's helpful to get a sense of that. Think about the opposite, leading from without. Think about our political leaders. Think about the last political campaign that you can remember. When you hear politicians talking about the issues that are most important in the campaign, do you get a sense that you're listening to somebody who's thought long and hard about these issues and who is saying what they most deeply think and believe or do you get a sense you're listening to somebody who's putting their finger up in the air to see which way the wind is blowing and what the polls tell them in terms of what they need to get elected? Then think about business leaders. When you hear business leaders talking about ethics, when you hear them talking about caring for the environment or racial justice or other social issues, do you get a sense that you're listening to somebody who's thought long and hard about these issues, who really cares deeply about these issues or you get a sense you're listening to somebody in HR, the legal department told you really need to say something about this issue? The big divide when it comes to leadership is those who are driven from within and those who are driven from without in their words and deeds. There's a lot of talk about values-based leadership. We think about it all leadership is values-based, meaning that leadership for good or for bad, there are things that matter to the person who is leading their values they hold, that if you know them will help you understand why they are saying what they're saying, why they're doing what they're doing. But not all values are good. I mean, Gandhi was a values-based leader, so was Hitler, so was Osama bin Laden. It's just some leaders are motivated by good values, some are motivated by values that are not so good at all. Then also not all good values are deeply held. There are people who really truly are genuinely committed to values and then there are people who get the sense they need to appear to be committed to certain values for various reasons. Those who lead from within are genuinely convicted about these values. Question I'd like to ask you to think about for a moment, when you listen to senior business leaders talk about ethics, talk about environmental and social issues, do you get a sense you're listening to somebody who is motivated from within, from genuine conviction and concern to talk about these issues, or from without, from external pressures or considerations? What do you think? The heart of the difference between leading from within and leading from without is this, when it comes to leading from within, you're talking about somebody who engages in deep reflection about life and about what most matters in life. Because they engage in deep reflection, they have deeply held beliefs and values. Based on those deeply held values and beliefs, they can exercise independent judgment. They can think for themselves about important issues. Because they have deeply held values and beliefs, they're also more likely to display courage. Courage is doing what you think is right, saying what you think is right, even if it might cost you, even if it might be unpopular. You're not going to do that unless the values you hold, you hold really deeply so that you're willing to risk for them. Those who lead from within, because they're courageous and consistent, are also going to be more authentic, more genuine when they talk about ethics and environmental and social issues and they're going to inspire trust in others. When it comes to leading from without, you have shallow reflection, weakly understood values and convictions, dependent judgment. What they think depends on the latest thing they've heard or read. A lack of courage because they're not going to be willing to risk for the sake of values that are really not all that deep and wavering. Then inauthenticity, they're not going to sound genuine when they talk about these issues, and they're going to inspire doubt rather than trust. What we're aiming at in this course is leading from within. In this first module, we're going to talk about some of the big questions in ethics, like, can ethics be taught? Does motive matter? If you're a person of faith, is your faith integrated with your work or not and if so, in what ways? What is the best way to measure success in life? It's important for those who want to lead from within to have thoughtful point of view on these issues. I look forward to reflecting on them with you.