Mission & Moral Imperatives

The HOW Institute for Society seeks to build and nurture a culture of moral leadership, principled decision-making and values-based behavior that enables individuals and institutions to meet the profound social, economic, and technological changes of the 21st Century to elevate humanity.

The world is being reshaped faster than we have yet been able to reshape our institutions, our leadership and ourselves. A future that includes dynamic capitalism, vibrant democracy, healthy communities and free societies depends on the rise of moral leadership and values-based behavior and practices.
The HOW Institute for Society is committed to building a world that is rooted in deep human values and noble ideals.  The Institute is animated by an in-depth knowledge of moral philosophy, experience applying philosophical reasoning to modern problems and a belief in the urgent imperative of HOW. Today, HOW we do what we do matters more than ever and in ways it never has before.

Our work builds on seven imperatives

  1. Institutions must be guided by values and shaped by moral leaders.
  1. Moral authority and formal authority must be united to create meaningful and enduring impact.
  1. Individuals must be guided by moral principles and frameworks.
  1. Trust and shared truths are essential to bringing people together as communities, organizations and collaborators.
  1. Business and society must shift focus from “how much” to HOW we behave and HOW we can work together to build something greater than ourselves.
  1. Healthy values-inspired communities are the building blocks of a better society. We must learn what makes them work and create models to scale their success.
  1. Leaders must frame paths ahead as journeys of significance, embracing the inevitable ups and downs, but remaining resilient and committed.

Our work is focused in five critical areas

  1. Educating and inspiring established and emerging leaders to create a new wave of moral leadership and to ensure that positions of formal authority across sectors are occupied by leaders with moral authority
  1. Building moral frameworks and tools to guide principled decision-making and behaviors for institutions and individuals
  1. Developing new metrics that measure the HOW of moral qualities and behaviors, and the impact of HOW on “how much”
  1. Bringing together leaders from all sectors to champion the importance of moral leadership and to amplify its impact
  1. Promoting meaningful conversations about critical issues in business, society, technology, politics, sports, education, media, the environment and more through the lens of values and moral leadership