I’ve written before about organizational integrity, one of the four critical components we’ve identified in healthy organizations.   But let me offer a real-life example.   The Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company is a humongous  corporation, with reported revenues of $89 billion in 2025. Their reputation has taken some serious—and deserved—hits over the last couple of decades, from consumer fraud settlements to ongoing lawsuits regarding the link between their baby powder and cancer.  ...

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”     Oft attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, this quote exemplifies the activistic nature of passionate leaders: sometimes you just need to do something. Anything.     It’s hard to steer a car when it’s not moving.   This doesn’t sound very spiritual, but often people just want to see their church or organization doing something meaningful.  ...

When my dad died at 56, I had a hard time sleeping.    It wasn't over my own sense of loss, but the sadness of thinking of my mom going to bed alone after decades of marriage.   I kept thinking of how strange and disorienting her deep aloneness must have felt. Perhaps it was a psychogenetic connection? Regardless, it affected me for many months.   Or maybe it was simply empathy.   Too bad, because in the last few years, empathy has taken a beating. Much of that criticism has come from...