By Eleanor Dunfey Freiburger, Southern New Hampshire University Professor Emeritus, professor of ethics and civic engagement; director of the Faculty Center for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching; and co-chair, Global Citizen’s Circle. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, these are Eleanor’s words to the National Cultural Diversity Advisory Council on the anniversary of his assassination, April 4. She recalls the summer of 1968 when the Dunfey family arranged for the King Family  to spend a summer in New Hampshire. WE CONNECT THREE ‘ACTION’ WORDS, IN PARTICULAR, WITH ANY REMEMBRANCE OF DR. KING: REMEMBER / CELEBRATE / ACT – AND I’LL USE THOSE AS THE FRAME OF MY REFLECTION. REMEMBER  TONIGHT, IN A SPECIAL WAY, WE RECALL A YOUNG WIDOW AND HER FOUR CHILDREN.  IN THE... more

by beCause beCause Global Associate Peter Cook, CEO Human Dynamics, – Collaboration is becoming a business as usual model for doing unusually good business in an increasingly connected world. Just consider these examples: For the first time in history, pharmaceutical companies are collaborating to pool their resources and information against consumer demand for greater transparency and the sheer costs of developing life-saving drugs. Social and economic pressure for these changes is enabled by the internet and our ability to process large volumes of data for advances in medical science that ultimately benefit the whole world. Companies as diverse as Coca Cola and Heinz, Corning and Sharp are collaborating to devise products that provide superior benefits for their clients and customers. In... more

by beCause Global Associate Barbara Brooks Kimmel, founder Trust Across America-Trust Around the World™  — There are several frameworks and models of trustworthy leadership. Some describe the “three C’S” of Character, Competence and Consistency, while another substitutes “consistency” for compassion. Randy Conley, the Vice President of Client Services & Trust Practice Leader for The Ken Blanchard Companies, and one of our Alliance members, employs the ABCDs as a model (Able, Believable, Connected, Dependable.) At Trust Across America we like to say that trustworthy leaders are VIPS’s (Values, Integrity and Promises kept.)  Yesterday a colleague shared this Harvard Business Review article discussing the work of behavioral science researchers at Princeton (Amy Cuddy and Susan Fiske) and Lawrence University’s Peter Glick. Simply, the... more

by beCause Global Associate Andrea Learned, Founder LearnedOn — The definition of business leadership has changed, a lot, since the 1950s. The fact that there are many more women in leadership positions these days is rightly getting plenty of coverage now. But, beyond celebrating that women are bringing “it” to the table, what “it” is has yet to be been given its full due. What I’m talking about are relational skills and traits. Things like practicing empathy and understanding communications nuances are the secret sauce for business leadership success. But, while these have long been typed as “women’s ways” or “soft” skills, women are not the only ones who can tap or learn to better use them. So, why does the traditional business... more

by beCause CEO Nadine Hack – I am struck by the wisdom of these deceptively simple words by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel who linked arms with Dr Martin Luther King Jr in the historic 1965 US civil rights march from Selma, Alabama.  They resonate profoundly for me personally and socially.  Six beloved members of my family died in just the last two months, reminding me again to be grateful for every moment as they each are sacred and we never know how many more we have.  For the same reason, I support people throughout the world who yearn “just to be” and “just to live” with greater freedom, dignity and security.  From efforts to end Stand Your Ground / Shoot... more

by beCause CEO Nadine Hack – When Jerry & I visited Madiba at his Soweto home soon after his release from prison. We were privileged to work with Oliver & Adelaide Tambo, Albertina Sisulu, Albie Sachs and other leaders of ANC Executive Committee while Mandela was in prison. Please write tributes to Mandela in comments below!

by beCause CEO Nadine Hack – I am thrilled to live at a time of such rapid and profound changes.  It’s like tectonic plates are shifting and we can scarcely envision how this metamorphosis will unfold even while we try to shape it for positive outcomes.  I tingled listening to Richard Seymour who designs for the future and Anton Musgrave who guides people to prepare for it. And yet, plus ça change: Jennifer Sertl, thought leader on corporate consciousness and author of Strategy, Leadership and the Soul, reminded me the more things change the more they remain the same. After I extolled her impressive work, she said I “stand on your shoulders.”  I told her that we were part of... more

by beCause CEO Nadine Hack – On August 28 at 3:00 pm EST, 50 years to the hour of the exact time and date when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech, the King Center is calling on us to reaffirm Dr. King’s message of “Let Freedom Ring.” Click here to watch speech. The King Center hopes there will be programs in sites globally and they encourage local creativity, like: Arrange to ring the largest bell (and/or as many other bells) in your city, state or nation; Encourage churches, temples, mosques, community centers and schools to ring bells; Create any other activity – small or large – that would have meaning where you live. Please organize some activity... more

by beCause CEO Nadine Hack – In 2009 my friend Suzanne Braun Levine published another one of her great books in which she wrote about being patient with the confusion of the “Fertile Void” we often experience in later adulthood. By remembering that my powerful sense of unknowing what was to come next for my husband Jerry and me actually had a rich fertility within it, I let go of trying so hard to plan it out and surrendered to not knowing and seeing what might germinate. Shortly after, I was invited to become the first woman to serve as Executive-in-Residence at IMD Business School. Who could have imagined how sublimely happy we would become in our new life living... more