Stories, strategies and science steer inaugural leadership conference

Four years ago, Stephanie Matthews went from working as a professional photographer and creative producer to executive director of the Columbus-based nonprofit A Tribe for Jazz.

She describes her move from artist to leader as an “interesting and unexpected path.” She now heads a small staff and works with contractors, musicians and therapists in preserving and advancing the legacy of jazz through community programs, education and special events. 

“It took some time, but I’ve found the work that truly aligns with my purpose. Creative leadership is what I’m meant to do,” she said.

Her drive and enthusiasm to lead creatively ­― and thoughtfully ― brought her to Fisher’s inaugural Conference on Principled Leadership. Held in partnership with the Fisher Leadership Initiative (FLI), the event connected Matthews with more than 200 other professionals at the Fawcett Center for a daylong event featuring dynamic keynote presentations, honest panel discussions and analysis of a science-based assessment of attendees’ leadership skills. 

Matthews attended with friends Carmen Willis, an Ohio State alumna and incident manager for JPMorganChase, and Yashmine Boston, an IT change manager for Chase. They were joined at the table by Joseph Begeny, mayor of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and other professionals who wanted to take a deeper dive into the traits, responsibilities and impact of values-driven leaders.

“Leadership has been part of our university’s pedigree going all the way back to the 1940s with the creation of something called the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ),” said Trevor Brown, interim dean at Fisher. “LBDQ was considered a seminal measure of leadership behavior, specifically effective and ineffective leadership styles.”

The tool and subsequent studies concluded that leaders display observable, teachable behaviors.

“It meant that leadership could be developed and nurtured in anyone, not just those who were born with certain characteristics,” said Brown.

Building on the scientific legacy of the LBDQ and as part of Fisher’s mission to advance principled leaders, the FLI developed its Principled Leadership Assessment, which conference attendees completed prior to the event. The goal was to provide them with a science-based glimpse into how their values, behaviors and decisions align with the qualities of effective and ethical leaders.

Ben Tepper, the Abramowitz Memorial Professor and executive director of FLI, and Hun Lee, the Richard and Martha Denman Scholar of Leadership Studies and director of research for FLI, created the assessment to measure behaviors that distinguish principled leaders. 

While designed to look at one moment in time, Tepper told the audience that when completed multiple times over a longer period, the assessment can offer insight into a leader’s strengths and areas for growth as they relate to four core dimensions of principled leadership: moral attentiveness, flexibility, sustainability and responsibility. 

“We wanted to measure to see if principled leadership matters or is valuable,” said Lee. “We found that it is.”

FLI’s initial research revealed that principled leaders more often inspired their teams to create new ideas and establish goals, improved their company’s sustainability and succession, and saw reduced conflict among their teams.

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Conference attendees who took the assessment gained a holistic view of their leadership profile and a chance to see how they compared to average users who had previously completed the assessment with FLI. Conference presenters and panelists also addressed many of the core dimensions of principled leadership, offering the audience ideas and solutions for creating efficient and value-centered work environments.

“It’s always helpful to have a different lens,” said Eric Schumacher, DO, director of the Division of Hospital Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine at the Wexner Medical Center, who thought the assessment accurately captured his leadership style and offered valuable insights.

Schumacher (EMBA ’10) and 10 members of his leadership cabinet used the conference as their quarterly retreat. The group shared notes and nuggets of inspiration from the day’s speakers over WhatsApp.

“There are a lot of things we will be taking back. I’m thinking about how we can incorporate the advice of Theresa Glomb, both for our work life and home life,” he said.

Glomb, who holds the Toro Company-David M. Lilly Chair in Organizational Behavior at the University of Minnesota, engaged attendees with evidence-based micro-interventions and best practices to increase productivity and decrease stress.

A researcher of workplace moods, she summarized her findings and advice with four stacked phrases on a PowerPoint slide: Work Hard. Have Fun. Choose Kind. Be Present. She talked about the benefits of creating routines, focusing on “good things,” engaging in acts of kindness and practicing mindfulness.

Her message resonated with Sam McCoy (BSBA ’11, MAcc ’12), owner of the wealth management firm Tenacity Private Wealth.

“I’m being pulled in so many different directions by so many different people and entities,” he said. “It’s a very busy time of life right now with family, work and volunteer opportunities."

Glomb’s advice to start the day with a task rather than email, to make work time less fractured and meetings more efficient, to be present for teams and for family, and to practice mindfulness offered important tactics for McCoy and others. 

“To continue to be mindful and present is the biggest challenge,” said McCoy.

Other participants shared similar experiences and challenges in a panel discussion about courage and responsibility moderated by John Hrusovsky (BSBA ’86), managing director of Synexis Consulting. Eric Lenard (BSBA ’97, MBA ’97), vice president for Johnson & Johnson’s Global Services Finance; Jo Ann Quinif (BSBA ’99), president and chief client officer for Diamond Hill; and Parag Shah (BSBA ’97), chief ethics officer at Nationwide talked about situations in which they, as leaders, faced challenges and uncharted territory. 

The panelists not only explored what it means to be courageous leaders, but ethical leaders, a theme that continued throughout the conference.

Angus Fletcher, professor of story science at Ohio State, engaged participants in a lively discussion about ethics, the impact of moral injury in business and the importance of personal narratives in forming principled leaders.

While some believe you can develop character by sharing stories about “good people” and asking leaders to emulate those people, research has found that highly effective people spend more time reflecting on their own narrative, said Fletcher, who received the U.S. Army’s Public Service Commendation medal for training special operations personnel in leadership.

“The story that is most important is your story,” he said. “We need to shift focus and encourage people to reflect on their own story, so they start to develop their own character from within.”

He engaged conference participants in an exercise about story by having them recall a time when they were proud of how they acted and then asked them to share that story with others around their table. 

“When people are faced with moral challenges, they immediately remember other times when they were faced with moral challenges,” he said. “The more you come up with those, the more you build your moral integrity.”

Sincere and impactful stories about values-driven leadership concluded with a panel discussion about sustaining principled leadership moderated by Raj Ramachandran (BS ’96), senior partner, leadership advisory at WittKieffer. Panelists speaking from their own experiences included Corrine Burger (BSBA ’85), recently retired managing director for JPMorganChase; Jimmy Reid (BS ’89), executive vice president, head of workplace solutions at Lincoln Financial Group; and Jerome Revish (BSBA ’98), senior vice president/chief technology officer at Cardinal Health.

As she continues to grow as a leader, Matthews appreciated the conference’s honest conversations about principled leadership and attention to science-inspired ideas.

“Gaining insight into what’s happening in the brain and body — and how small adjustments can make us stronger, more effective leaders — was incredibly powerful,” said Matthews. “The range of speakers and topics was refreshingly diverse and holistic, with a thoughtful balance of data-driven insights and real-world perspectives. It exceeded my expectations.”