Since the foundation of the firm, Legatum has taken a distinctive values-focused, character-based approach to leadership. Over the years, Legatum invested in internal and external leadership through relational coaching, annual leadership retreats, and workshops.

In 2020, the Legatum partners initiated a project to codify Legatum’s core leadership beliefs and approach, called character-based leadership. This project aimed to share Legatum’s leadership experience and learnings externally, highlighting the importance of character and virtues in leadership and life.

During a landscaping exercise on character-based leadership, an opportunity arose to bolster an existing online course developed by Dr. Ed Brooks of the Oxford Character project, Dr. Matt Lee of the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, and Dr. Katy Granville-Chapman and Emmie Bidston of Wellington College. A collaboration resulted with the aim to develop a world-class, open access leadership course that supports the development of character-based leadership to further human flourishing globally. A global working group of scholar-practitioners informed the course design and Leading with Character was born.

Character-based leadership is about leading from who we are which includes our values, purpose, beliefs, habits and dispositions as revealed in our behaviours and actions. A central goal of leadership is to act congruently with espoused beliefs and to cultivate key virtues in our leadership such as courage, love, and hope.

Being a good leader, who helps others to flourish and to also become leaders, requires intentional reflection and habit development and is part of our lifelong journey to become a better person and leader. We believe that better leadership is foundational to building a more prosperous society.