The Hidden Force That Makes—or Breaks—Your Business

For the Better comes to you bi-weekly with ideas about how and why to build companies focused on human flourishing and stories of the people who are doing it. Other enthusiasms may occasionally appear.

Ethos is Everything

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about ethos. In purely philosophical terms, it’s one of the three components of Aristotle’s explanation of rhetoric. That may sound abstract and academic, but he was really talking about something very familiar to anyone in business: the power of persuasion. What’s the best way to convince other people we really mean what we’re saying? 

We make mission statements. We come up with lists of values. We build strategies designed (we hope) for success. We aim to create a positive, supportive culture to mesh all of these with day-to-day operations, keeping the whole thing together. It all matters. 

But ethos is something even deeper. It’s a holistic way of doing business that permeates every level of an organization and everything it does. Alongside pathos (emotional appeals) and logos (logic), ethos boosts credibility. (“Let’s be honest: if the audience doesn’t trust you, your logic won’t matter, and your emotional appeal will look manipulative.”) A strong ethos makes acting according to company values and purpose the default for everyone. Without that kind of automatic adherence to organizational ethics, no company can build up the trust necessary for success. As this look at compliance with corporate governance reminds us, ethos is destiny. 

Only trust makes it possible for companies to reach their full financial and societal potential. “The benefits of ethical organizations are well documented: Such organizations are more attractive than others to employees, are less likely to become embroiled in scandals, and are more likely to be rewarded by investors, who increasingly focus on good governance and strong cultures as sources of sustainable value creation.” As this paper on the role of ethics in 21st century companies further notes, “People around the globe seem to be losing trust in business and politics. The increased publicized corruption and the continuous downfall of principles and values have given rise to the urgent need for ethics to be integrated in corporate practice.”

This recent exploration of ethos in conjunction with John Dewey’s “approach to economics, moral life and ethics, particularly on his understanding of habits and forms of valuation.” sounds a rallying cry as well: “While ‘ethics’ is rooted in ‘ethos’, a term with a long and rich history of interdisciplinary research, conceptions of ethos are so far scarcely discussed in business ethics. ….[let’s] explore the potential of a pivot towards business ethics as an ethos-driven practice.” As Aristotle put it, ethos arises from “good sense, good moral character, and goodwill”. Imagine a world in which every company behaved according to those principles. That’s a pivot I’m all in for.

Things I’ve Enjoyed Lately 

🔵 Athena: One of the things I enjoy the most about what I do is that every day is a little different. I meet people building incredible companies and doing great things for the world, do my writing and work, and always reserve time for my family. Athena, which offers executive assistants at affordable rates, shares my belief that the key to making the most of everything life has to offer is keeping it running smoothly. I've partnered with them so you can focus on living your life rather than managing it. More info and a discount offer are here.

🔵 The Urgency of Interpretability

🔵 Bizarro World 

🔵 Trust Is the Only Real Margin