RECHTER FELLOWS 2022 PROJECT ON POSITIVE LEADERSHIP
On December 1, 2021, the Project on Positive
Leadership announced the latest cohort of the
Sam and Bonnie Rechter Fellowships in Positive Leadership. Since 2020, Rechter Fellows have developed tools and conducted research that supports the advancement of virtue and excellence in leadership. The Rechter Family Trust generously funds the fellowships, bestowing up to $5,000 for each project. The 2022 recipients include:
INGA CARBONI, PhD
JASON CHEN, PhD
Inga Carboni, PhD (associate professor, Mason School of Business) and Jason Chen, PhD (associate professor of Educational Psychology), The College of William & Mary Project Description: DEI Strategies: Profiles in Leadership will identify leaders’ strategies to advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through the qualitative analysis of a unique dataset. Data were gathered by asking 30 senior business school leaders to participate in three online avatarbased simulations. The simulations were designed to provide practice and feedback on having difficult conversations related to DEI. Voiced by live actors, the simulations offer a realistic experience in a lowrisk, confidential environment. Drs. Carboni and Chen will submit transcripts of the recorded simulations to a qualitative analysis to identify specific and concrete leadership action steps that promote DEI and those that do not. Through publication in selected outlets, the goal is to share the profiles of successful and 24
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PROJECT ON POSITIVE LEADERSHIP
unsuccessful DEI strategies with other leaders to help them select the strategies that will work best for them in a given situation.
Kellie Cummings, MAPP (founder of Wellbeing Wisdom, adjunct faculty, Master of Arts in Communication program), Johns Hopkins University Project Description: An instructional tool called “Anchor Relationships” will be developed to enable leaders to KELLIE CUMMINGS, MAPP recognize and strengthen the virtuous relationships in their lives to help them stay true to themselves when navigating conflicts of interest. The research for developing this tool is based on a study completed in 2019 using the exemplar methodology to uncover behaviors of leaders who met a set of criteria to qualify as moral exemplars. The finding showed that when moral exemplars face a conflict of interest, they seek affirmation and clarity from key relationships in their lives. Special connections are referred to as anchor relationships because they remind people of who they are and how they want to behave. Aristotle claimed that eudaimonia, loosely translated as human flourishing, is experienced through virtuous friendships, which he distinguished from transactional or pleasure-seeking friendships. He also claimed that the desire to sustain these virtuous relationships is the chief reason why people act ethically. Ronit Kark, PhD (full professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology, Department of Psychology), Bar-Ilan University, Israel
RONIT KARK, PhD
Project Description: In recent years, both scholars and executives