Truth in fiction
For Joseph L. Badaracco, the John Shad Professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business School (HBS), fiction provides a lesson for future business leaders. On his reading list for students is “Blessed Assurance,” a story by Allan Gurganus in which “a young guy is struggling to be a good son, a good sales rep. and person” while at the same time misleading poor people in insurance deals. The character spends much of the story wrestling with his conscience over what’s right. There’s a lot more to leadership than streamlining and spreadsheet analyses, Badaracco says. Running an organization, in his view, is about understanding yourself and being open to the perspectives of others in a way that balances different business and ethical interests. Accordingly, Badaracco for years has been teaching a course that uses literature to help develop leadership skills. He has also made his case in a book, “Questions of Character:...