Dr. Larry Bacow, former President, Harvard University

[Archive Interview from May 23, 2022]As the leader of the oldest university in the U.S. and one of the most prestigious schools in the world, Dr. Larry Bacow, the President of Harvard University, has had to make his share of difficult decisions using moral authority. To guide him, he has a strong but simple values-based leadership framework, “Do the right thing, it is usually not that difficult to figure out. It is often excruciatingly difficult to do. And that’s when you really need to do it.”   We were honored to welcome Larry for a new episode of HOW Conversations with the HOW Institute Founder and Executive Chairman, Dov Seidman. In their wide-ranging discussion Larry spoke about values of a leader, Harvard’s recently released report, Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, and why he believes, “we bear a moral responsibility to address the persistent corrosive effects” of slavery. They also discussed Larry’s principled leadership for taking a stand on societal issues and leading a large university through a pandemic.  “You cannot lead unless you can persuade people the future is going to be better than the present,” he told Dov in the latest edition of our leadership video series, HOW Conversations. READY TO START YOUR MORAL LEADERSHIP JOURNEY? Moral leadership is more imperative today than ever before. The HOW Institute for Society was founded on the belief that those in positions of formal authority should also have moral authority.  We are creating the tools leaders need to make principled, ethical and values-based decisions.  We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a world rooted in deep human values and trust in our social fabric. The Institute channels philosophical reasoning to address modern problems. Today, HOW we do what we do matters more than ever and in ways it never has before.  Learn more at https://thehowinstitute.org/