The Ethical Intelligence for a New Millennium Project
Although the Ethical Intelligence for a New Millennium project just turned ten years old, it’s been in the making for more than four decades. During my four-decades-long-business career — I know I don’t look nearly old enough! I got an early start! But I digress. — I’ve witnessed careers and lives flourish and then fall apart because of senselessly harmful ethical judgments, including some of my own. So, when I entered academia and returned to graduate school to finish my doctorate, I decided it was time to find out why this was happening.
Sitting in a Phoenix hotel room late the night before my second doctoral residency was to begin in May 2006, I was deciding upon my research topic for my doctoral dissertation. I was slated to present my proposal to a committee of faculty and fellow students early the next morning. Yes, sometimes my work is “just-in-time!” Please don’t tell my students!
As I sat there pondering what to research, the term “ethical intelligence” flashed through my mind. My ever-present guardian angel told me that was my topic! So, I dutifully Googled the term and found very few references that didn’t involve spying and espionage. I think I only got about 300 hits. Essentially, there was almost nothing written about the subject. I quickly assembled a PowerPoint presentation, which I enthusiastically unveiled to my committee the next morning.
The response was less than optimal — well, perhaps, “are you insane?” would be a better description! I was given all the standard reasons why it was a terrible idea. “The subject is too broad. There is little prior research to build upon. It will take far too long. We already know why these things happen — they’re all a bunch of greedy bastards! The subject is way too complex. You’re never going to get CEO’s to talk to you about such delicate matters. Finding a dissertation chair could take years.” Well, they were right on that last point. It took over a year and a half to find someone brave enough to chair my dissertation committee!
That Doubting-Thomas meeting began a quest that ended with the publication of my dissertation on ethical intelligence in 2012. During those six years, I combed through 45 centuries of ethical intelligence literature (more than 9,000 works). I garnered exclusive interviews about developing leadership skills with CEOs and other C-Suite executives from the Fortune 1000 (more than a year of outreach), and I analyzed a massive amount of data. The books featured on this website are products of that work.
We’ve sowed the seeds of a new millennium of ethical intelligence thought, research, and education. It’s a millennium within which an ancient legacy — the birthright of human beings — our ethical intelligence will again come to infuse human conduct, soothing and healing the aching wounds of conflict. Join with us. Explore our leadership consultant services. Become part of the solution.
