Edward Brooks is director of the Programme for Global Leadership at the University of Oxford and executive director of the Oxford Character Project
According to a survey by the World Economic Forum, 39 per cent of core job skills will change by 2030. The implications for education are evident, but they are only half the story. Skills are empty without character — the deep dispositions that guide thought, feeling and action; provide direction; and enable leaders to build trust. As Aristotle put it, virtues of character elevate skills into human excellence.
Character is not a “nice to have”; it is a core driver of personal and business success. Try managing complexity without adaptability, patience and open-mindedness. Or building collaboration without honesty, empathy and respect. Or cultivating trust without truthfulness. Technical knowledge and functional competence take you only so far. Yet this year’s Edelman Trust Barometer — a survey of public trust in business, government, media and NGOs — shows an unprecedented global decline in trust of employers, and fear that leaders lie is at an all-time high.
Some of the most influential business thinkers and leaders agree on the importance of character. Nitin Nohria, former dean of Harvard Business School, has argued that business should add value to society and business leaders should be known as trusted professionals. “We mean people who embody a certain type of competence and character,” he said.
