Upstanding. Frank A. Calderoni

has on organizations, including Adobe.

Being CEO at Adobe has reinforced for me the importance of a company's character. This was clearly the case when, nearly a decade ago, we set in motion how to transform our business from a profitable packaged software company to one of the software industry's largest and fastest-growing subscription businesses. We knew we had to pivot our strategy and business model to achieve strong long-term growth, but we also knew it would not be easy. Without our employees' belief and commitment in our transformational vision, it would not have been possible. Adobe's sincere and encouraging culture played a critical role in bringing people along, and supporting our character built the bridges of trust needed to carry us through the transition—igniting our passion and determination to succeed.

      Frank is right in stating that now more than ever, a company's success is not only defined by its financial performance, but by the role it plays in making the world a better place. A company's social purpose, ethics, and commitment to sustainability, diversity, and inclusion are as important as the products it makes. Companies must consider and support all constituents—employees, customers, partners, investors, and the communities in which they operate.

      Dynasties are built when great people are rallied around a great mission, culture, and values. The confluence of these factors enables innovation to thrive, businesses to succeed, and the world to move forward.

      I hope you'll enjoy Upstanding as much as I did.

      Shantanu Narayen

      Adobe Chairman and CEO

Introduction

       “Sometimes the longest journey we make is the sixteen inches from our heads to our hearts.”

       —Elena Avila

Upstanding company character is essential to achieving and sustaining peak performance.

      I've learned more in the last 18 months than in 35 years in business. The combinations of a global pandemic, recession, and social justice movements are unlike anything we've experienced in our lifetime, and we're all dealing with the heightened expectations that employees, customers, and investors have of the business sector to lead the way through daily change. But these conditions have accelerated a huge shift that demands action if you and your business want to remain relevant.

      How you show up, what you stand for, and what actions you take to that end—as an individual and as a leader in your organization—are now gating factors to lasting success. Today, the degree to which what you say and what you do are tightly aligned will often be a stronger success indicator than traditional professional or business fundamentals. There was a time when we separated our personal and professional personas, leaving opinions unrelated to work at home. Those days are gone.

People are holding companies accountable for societal, environmental, and governance practices with little to no patience for inaction. Growing and protecting brand value, whether it's for consumers or business-to-business, is contingent on organizations navigating uncharted waters of social change in hyperpolarized communities. And every one of us is making choices about what to buy from whom, driven not only by product or service quality, but by whose values align with our own and speak to a shared purpose.

      The year 2020 was a moment of truth for character. And I'm proud of how the employees at Anaplan—the company I lead—persevered. Our ongoing emotional investment in living our values enabled shared resilience. Resilience that fueled our leaders and teams through the worst of circumstances. What we drew on was an upstanding character that we knowingly—and sometimes unknowingly—created to guide us with clarity and cohesion.

      While the multiple crises of 2020 underscored the renewed and urgent relevance of company character, the cumulative factors, previously outlined, which affect all businesses and have led to this moment. To help navigate our shared experience, I wrote this book drawing on the artifacts and experiences I've cultivated as a leader. I've assembled wisdom from experts and peers in my network, included notable stories from business headlines, and shared methods to develop your own versions of upstanding character for your organizations. As a result, this book offers ways to think about company character, culture, and actions you and your teams can take to lead effectively now.

      I definitely don't have all the answers, and I don't get it right all the time. But I am willing to keep trying. It's imperative we all do.

      How I Got Here

      I'll never forget my first real job. I was 20 years old during the summer between my sophomore and junior years at Fordham University, where I was working on a degree in accounting and finance. I applied to IBM for a position as a summer intern, went through a pretty rigorous round of interviews, and was accepted. Little did I know at the time what an impact this temporary summer job would have on my future. And never could I even imagine it shaping my views as a future CEO.

Getting hired by IBM, even for just a few months, was a really big deal for me and my family. At the time, IBM was still the 800-pound gorilla of the computer industry, and the company was well known as one of the most successful corporations in American business. In 1979, the company was ranked No. 7 on the Fortune 500 with annual revenues of more than $21 billion and profits of more than $3 billion. By way of comparison, then No. 1 General Motors had three times more annual revenue—$63.2 billion—but “just” $3.5 billion in profit.¹

I repeated my internship with IBM the following summer, and when I graduated, I accepted a full-time position with the company. I ended up working at IBM for 21 years, building a career that helped me get established at Cisco Systems and set the stage for my future growth as a leader. And while I have worked for—and led—some amazing companies in the years since, IBM and Cisco both made a tremendous impression on me, and I have carried a piece of each with me.

      Let me start with IBM. The overarching mantra at IBM when I was there was a deep and abiding respect for the individual and the community. And not just for those who were employed by IBM, but respect for individuals who were part of our business ecosystem—partners, vendors, and customers—and respect for the people who lived and worked in the communities in which we did business. As new employees, we were taught about the history of this great company, and we were steeped in its values and culture. In fact, there was a company song we knew called “Ever Onward,” the official IBM rally song.

      IBM's culture was built on a firm foundation of what it called the Basic Beliefs, introduced by then-CEO Thomas J. Watson Jr. in 1962:

       Respect for the individual;

       The best customer service in the world; and

       Excellence.²

      I quickly came to appreciate this remarkably deep, people-focused culture. I learned at IBM how pivotal a clear, pervasive culture is to the success of any business—no matter what industry it's in, where it's located, or how large or small it might be—and how hard it is to sustain performance when times get tough in the absence of strong shared core values.

My experience at IBM also taught me what can happen when leaders fail to honor, promote, and renew a company's culture. IBM faced a very real crisis of confidence in the 1980s as the computer market shifted from the large mainframes that provided most of the company's revenues and profits to small desktops. In 1986, earnings declined 27 percent and revenues dropped precipitously. During the course of six years, 170,000 employees were laid off or retired, budgets were cut, business lines were discontinued, and the pension program was slashed.³ As IBM's business results became more challenged, new people were brought in to run the operation, and