What makes a modern-day leader?

Amid corporate scandals and the volatile state of the world, does anyone know what the role of a leader is? What drives their decisions? How much moral responsibility do they have?

A mere 47 percent of employees view leaders of corporations with high regard, said Gurcharan Das, former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, at the 9th annual International Business Forum Tuesday morning. He added that only 34 percent of employees feel a sense of loyalty to their company.

“I expect the system will right itself over time,” he said.

The School of Business and Center for Public Policy invited Das and four other panelists to the forum to talk about modern-day leaders. Roughly 200 students, professors and members of the area’s business community came to this year’s forum, Profiling the 21st Century Global Business Leader: Key Characteristics for Survival and Growth, which was funded by a generous grant from Universal Corporation.

Corporate Leaders

While moral dilemmas don’t have easy answers, leaders need to step up and take responsibility, Das said. The dilemmas should be debated in an open, public forum.

Using the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Indian book, as a frame of mind, Das said the self creates problems. A leader should not focus solely on the bottom line because a company, after all, exists within a social space, meaning there is more than one person in the company or the community in which it resides.

“You don’t serve customers by serving yourself,” he said.

David Love II, vice president and geographic leader at A.T. Kearney Executive Search, echoed the importance of not placing too much emphasis on a CEO when he described a leader as “achieving greatness with a team.”

One person doesn’t have all the answers, said Allan Cohen, the Edward A. Madden Distinguished Professor of Global Leadership and Director of Corporate Entrepreneurship at Babson College.

“Heroic models of leadership don’t work anymore,” he said, adding that every person has the possibility for leadership. “What I believe in is a much wider share of responsibility.”

A good leader, Love said, should have strong intellectual qualities, be inspiring and willing to take risks. A company should have constant recruitment and rewards for top performers. Clients expect a leader of a corporation to “get the right people on their bus,” he said.

Cohen added that a leader of a company should be judged on their new and innovative ideas, not just the orders that they carry out.

“There are times…when leaders need to take stands in opposition to the people who work for them,” he said.

While nobody in the business world should be afraid to speak up, Love said it is important that people respect the judgment of those they respect.

Addressing the students in the audience, he gave some tips to the future business leaders. Love said everyone should have what he referred to as an elevator speech, which is a 35-to-40 second speech used to sell yourself to a potential employer. It also never hurts to carry business cards.

“The most important thing you will ever sell is yourself,” he said, adding that you never know whom it might benefit you to network with.

First impressions are also important, said Love. Networking can occur outside of the corporate setting so he suggested students join some type of civic organization as well.

“Once you are hired, under promise and over perform,” he said.

Love also encouraged the students to take advantage of spending time with companies that are abroad.

Helping the forum run smoothly behind the scenes was Andrew McIlvaine, a senior studying business, who was in close contact with the panelists before the discussion began. He said he appreciated Love’s tips, although they might have come a little too late.

“I really didn’t sell myself that well,” he said.

The human condition is flawed with evil selfishness, said Emory Thomas, the Regents professor of history at the University of Georgia. However, when leaders practice self-control and follow rules, they can be freed from their innateness.

CEO’s should create a balance between their shareholders and their customers in order to maintain ethical business practices, Das suggested.

Cohen said that it would also be best to separate the job of chairman of the board and CEO.

“Even the best CEOs should answer to somebody once in a while,” he said.

Also in regard to corruption at the corporate level, Das said, “You gave stock options to the very people who would have performed without them.”

Adam Miller, an economics major, said he is concerned about scandals such as the one that occurred at Enron.

“I hope that they can turn (the business world) around,” he said. “If it was easy they would have done it by now.”

Political Leaders

Touching on the leaders of the world, John Harris, a journalist for The Washington Post, told the audience about his research of the different leadership styles of President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton. He described Bush as a hedgehog, or one who gravitates to simplicity.

“(He strives to) restore honor and dignity to the White House,” Harris said, adding that Bush sees things in black or white and wrong or right.

Clinton on the other hand, is a fox, he said. The former president gravitates to complexity and sees problems in shades of gray.

Das added that while “Bush stands for doing your duty,” Clinton might have taken a harder look at the consequences of his actions.

The leaders’ stances fall along party leadership lines. Conservatives, Harris said, think people are motivated by fear, while liberals think the public is motivated by sympathy.

Although the two leaders have philosophical and leadership differences, Harris said, they are linked.

In order for leaders to be better leaders, Thomas said, they must first be better people.

“We act out of our experience,” he said.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, he said, led by example. Thomas told a story about when the general granted soldiers in Northern Virginia furlough during Christmas simply because two young girls sent him a letter requesting he do so in hopes that their friend would be home for the holidays.