I asked myself that question after attending a recent book launch event by John Taft, CEO of RBC U.S. Wealth Management. John's new and second book, "A Force For Good," on one hand strikes an encouraging note about the potentially positive role that the financial industry can and should play serving society; on the other hand John and contributing authors cogently describe forces that if not altered will prevent the financial industry from fulfilling its promise, and in fact could contribute to society's demise. A Force For Good is a powerful follow-up to John Taft's first book "Stewardship," which offers valuable lessons about stewardship in general, and in particular about opportunities for those in the financial industry to serve as better stewards; I recommend both books.

For me, A Force For Good's authors' aspirations for the financial industry parallel Howard Gardner's concept of "Good Work" in his book by the same name: work that is effective (including profitable,) engaging and ethical. My adaptation of Gardner's premise serves as the foundation for inTEgro's concept of "Triple-E" leadership and organizations; leaders and organizations will be incapable of reaching their potential and fulfilling their promise if overly focused on only one of two "Es" at the cost of the others. Integral, or whole, leaders and organizations conduct their business in ways that effectively achieve their institutional goals, fully engage workers (intellectually, emotionally, physically and spiritually,) and cultivate ethical cultures that benefit their communities.

Here is how I consider the question "Are we a force for good?" through the lens of inTEgro's Organizational Integrity Model, a framework for cultivating "Triple-E" leaders and organizations:

IDENTITY is the foundation of any institution: why it exists, what is stands for, its culture and its aspirations; I call these our "3 Ps:" purpose, principles and priorities. How we define our "3 Ps" sets the stage for either integration of effectiveness, engagement and ethics or their imbalance. A growing chorus justifiably claims that institutions solely in business to generate maximum profits is not sustainable, evidence of engagement's strong correlation with long-term profitability is conclusive, and unfortunately it is easy to find examples of organizations or their CEOs that fail on account of ethical shortcomings. Careful articulation of true values signals how an organization intends to achieve its purpose and priorities, reflects its desired culture, and likewise the attention paid to effectiveness, engagement and ethics.

AUTHENTICITY is about getting real, beginning with the degree that we are true to our purpose, principles and priorities. A recurring theme in both of Taft's books is how many financial industry firms have lost their way, forgetting their original promise of putting clients' interests ahead of their own, and their purpose of wealth creation vs. wealth manipulation. To answer the question of whether we are still a force for good we need to seriously examine the degree that we are true to our stated purpose, principles and priorities.

I've been told that lawyers are coached to "never ask a question they don't know or don't want to hear the answer to." Leaders need the opposite coaching; authenticity means getting real, and that sometimes requires seeking and hearing uncomfortable truths. Forces or intentions for good are thwarted when dangers from outside or within are not confronted.

I find that ALIGNMENT is where many organizations get tripped up. Intentions are good and clear, but staffing practices, pay, recognition, structure or other organizational systems and practices speak so loudly that no one hears anything else. A large prominent bank with an otherwise pretty solid reputation is currently under investigation for credit card fraud. All the right values and compliance procedures were in place, but allegedly credit cards were issued to many who didn't want them and interest charged because sales incentives spoke more loudly.

Staying in alignment with so much changing so quickly requires adaptability and agility; otherwise what was once a force for good may no longer be any kind of force at all. Many non-profits and churches have met their demise by not adapting their message and practices to new realities. Companies with one-time wonderful products and services ('remember Polaroid's "instant camera?") have also gone by the wayside by either not capitalizing on opportunities or reacting to threats quickly enough. To remain a force for good we need to design our organizations and develop leaders for growth, agility and responsiveness. We need to continually evolve how we do things and even what we do without sacrificing who we are.

Being a force for good requires ACCOUNTABILITY: keeping our promises, responsibility, measuring what matters and stewardship. We should be well on our way to keeping our promises if IDENTITY, AUTHENTICITY and ALIGNMENT are in good shape. Beyond that, we need to model and cultivate responsibility and its cousin stewardship. When we take responsibility, we own a goal or promise; we proactively take on whatever is required to achieve it, regardless of our job description. Stewardship may be the closest in meaning by itself to serving as a force for good. Stewardship extends beyond the care of merely physical resources entrusted to us, to include regard for the impact of our decisions and actions many times removed from our immediate sphere. We cannot claim to be a force for good if short-term benefits of our actions are outweighed by negative long-term impacts or hardships for any stakeholders, including future generations.

As the Roman statesman Cicero observed (De Officiis, 44BC,) "Nature has clothed us, as it were, with two natures. One of them is universal... The other is the character bestowed separately on each individual." We are social beings, and our organizations are social institutions; serving as "a force for good" means understanding that we are integrally related to a larger community and world. May we lead our lives and institutions not only in service to our individual, but also our universal natures.