Lessons in Lifecircle Leadership: A Practical Guide to Pragmatic Altruism

By Dr. Kimberly Townsend

A simple, yet powerful truth-most problems have a solution that benefits all parties. That is pragmatic altruism.

Drawing on her experiences as a healthcare managem

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Loretto Foundation
• Release date: Jan 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781953865014

Dr. Kimberly Townsend

Dr. Kimberly Townsend is President and CEO of Loretto Management Corporation in Syracuse, NY. She is an expert in the fields of healthcare management, board governance, and leadership. Dr. Townsend is a prolific speaker and writer whose work has been published in industry journals and business publications. Her book, Lifecircle Leadership: How Exceptional People Make Every Day Extraordinary, was released in 2018.

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Praise for

Lifecircle Leadership

Dr. Townsend’s work is a wonderfully unique blend of her philosophy, education, and experience as an attorney, CEO, mentor, parent, and visionary. The mission of her work is an invitation to all people to contrast sameness and differences in today’s impulse society and to treat everyone with respect and care. She calls on everyone in the business world to utilize compassion and empathy in all relationships, regardless of corporate rank. When applied to all aspects of business (talent acquisition/development, reorganization, management, etc.), her work integrates the philosophy of working for the collective good in direct contrast to every man (woman) for himself. In my opinion, Dr. Townsend’s Lifecircle Leadership is a work for everyone. We can apply her call to action daily in pursuit of meaning and purpose outside of ourselves.

DR. NICK MOLINARO

Principal, Champion’s Mind

Dr. Kim Townsend has synthesized insights from her diverse professional experiences into an important book on leadership. A must-read for leaders.

JOHN CAPASSO

Executive Vice President, Continuing Care Group, Trinity Health

Kimberly Townsend has written a must-read book for anyone who wants to live their best life and have a positive mental attitude daily. Read this book—and learn from one of the best.

PHYLLIS W. NEWHOUSE

Chief Executive Officer, Xtreme Solutions

Lessons in

Lifecircle Leadership

Copyright © 2020 Dr. Kimberly Townsend 

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below.

ISBN: 978-1-953865-00-7(Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-953865-01-4 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-953865-02-1(Audiobook)

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Lessons in

Lifecircle Leadership

A Practical Guide to Pragmatic Altruism

Dr. Kimberly Townsend

Contents

INTRODUCTION

1: Why Lessons in Lifecircle Leadership?

2: The Work-Life Balance Myth

3: Determining Your Essentials

4: Problem Solving: Root Cause Analysis

5: Data Overwhelm

6: Expectation-Setting Around Unsolvable Problems

7: Releasing Attachment to Outcomes to Broaden Perspective

8: Multigenerational Management

9: Creating a Sense of Shared Purpose

10: Maslow’s Hierarchy

11: Balancing the Common Good and Business Success

12: Partnerships on Board for Your Vision

13: Communicating Effectively in a Continuous Communications World

14: Catalyzing Vision into Action

Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Society is changing.

The generations that now make up the majority of the employees, voters, and consumers want to see businesses do something more than making money. A report by American Express titled Redefining the C-Suite: Business the Millennial Way found that 78 percent of millennials believe it is important that the values of their employer match their own.¹ These individuals are passionate about their causes, and they want to see the corporations, businesses, and organizations that they support have goals that go above and beyond simply the bottom line. What are they looking for? They want to see businesses create impact on the social and political causes that are important to them. To be successful in today’s market, businesses need to embrace this change.

While many causes are unavoidably entwined with politics, a business does not have to choose from causes that are strictly political. Topics like climate change, equal pay, and women’s health are popular headlines today. If one of those topics is a part of your desired business culture, then you have found your answer. If, on the other hand, the thought of making a public statement associating your brand with one of these deeply polarizing social issues feels too bold for what you want in your company culture, it is possible to choose something that is not at the front of the political discussion. Cleaning up the environment, providing nutrition to the less fortunate, and many others can be worthy causes that the majority of people will support.

Businesses are starting to see the light and recognize that they now have a broader role to play in society than simply maximizing value for their shareholders. Since 1972, the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of America’s leading companies, has been working to promote a thriving economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans through sound public policy. The organization is made up of employers from every state who, together, lead companies with more than fifteen million employees and more than seven trillion dollars in annual revenue combined—impressive numbers, making the association clearly a force in the business world.² I mention them, specifically, because the Business Roundtable recently changed its statement on the purpose of a corporation. Instead of solely focusing on maximizing shareholder benefits, the statement now encourages business leaders to commit to leading their companies to benefit all stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders.³ According to their news release covering announcing change, several executives from notable companies including JP Morgan Chase & Co., Vanguard, Progressive Corporation, and Ford, are quoted saying the new statement exemplifies a shared focus on building long-term value for all.

I designed this book to help you do the same: to take action to build long-term value in both your organization and your community.

An understanding of pragmatic altruism—the philosophy behind my first book, Lifecircle Leadership: How Exceptional People Make Every Day Extraordinary—combined with the practical applications contained within this book are principles that need to be embraced by businesses and individuals. These are things that matter to customers, employees and the public today. I’ve designed this book with questions and tips at the end of each chapter to make sure you feel confident in your ability to take the insight I have provided here and turn it into action within your business and your community.

My first book, Lifecircle Leadership, sparked a curiosity from readers that I could not have anticipated. I talked to many people who read the book and expressed further interest in learning more about the practical application of pragmatic altruism. To many at first, pragmatic altruism seems counterintuitive—the thought that doing good can be good for business. But Lifecircle Leadership lays out the philosophical and rational arguments for the philosophy.

Lessons in Lifecircle Leadership isn’t necessarily an extension of the information in the first book, but it does build on many of the themes that were introduced. So, if you have not yet read Lifecircle Leadership, I encourage you to do so before diving into this book. Here, I’m going to explore new material, as it is helpful to understand both the philosophy of pragmatic altruism and the practical application as a leader in the world today.

As the reader, you may be asking yourself at this point: So, she’s established that the topic is relevant and important, but what qualifies her to write a book?

Pragmatic altruism has been an area of passion for me throughout my entire career. I initially applied these principles in a for-profit environment. During my time at Welch Allyn, a for-profit enterprise, I witnessed the impact of philanthropically minded individuals. At the time, the family who owned the company did a lot of great work in the community through the business. The company was willing to explore expanding into non-traditional markets, like the federally qualified health center space (which serves thirteen million Medicaid-eligible individuals every year). Customers in this market are not recognized for having a great amount of money to buy premium medical equipment. Additionally, in Mexico, Welch Allyn partnered with the Carlos Slim Foundation, a non-profit focusing on improving the quality of life of people of all ages and creating opportunities that foster the development of individuals and their communities. This partnership brought rural health initiatives to Mexico.

So, early on in my career, I witnessed firsthand how the passions and philanthropic mindset of people in one family influenced their business, and how doing things that other people often saw as counterintuitive to profitability could not only impact the lives of the individuals served, but also increase sales and market share for the business. It was solid proof that you can positively impact a community while also contributing to the bottom line.

Now I am applying these principles as the president and chief executive officer of Loretto, a non-profit organization. I have taken that same approach and partnered with others in the community to make it happen. All by thinking outside the box. I refuse to believe that something is not possible just because someone else has not already done it. After all, just because a market is underserved does not mean it is not worth serving.

It is clear to me that pragmatic altruism can work in any setting, and I have written both Lifecircle Leadership and Lessons in Lifecircle Leadership to show how.

After each chapter of this book, you will find a series of questions and/or tips to help you implement the information and lessons. These questions and tips are meant to give you an opportunity to reflect and apply the principles in this book in your work and life.

Together we can change the world. Let’s get started.

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1 Anne Field, Millennials Want Companies Mixing Mission And Money, Forbes, December 11, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2017/12/11/millennials-want-companies-mixing-mission-and-money/#4658cc69bf2c.

2 About Us, Business Roundtable, accessed September 20, 2020, https://www.businessroundtable.org/about-us.

3 Business Roundtable Redefines the Purpose of a Corporation to Promote ‘An Economy That Serves All Americans,’ Business Roundtable, August 19, 2019, https://www.businessroundtable.org/business-roundtable-redefines-the-purpose-of-a-corporation-to-promote-an-economy-that-serves-all-americans.