Pro Humanitate in the Marketplace | Washington, D.C.

A group of Wake Foresters gathered over dinner in Washington, D.C. on November 5, 2018 to discuss Pro Humanitate in the Marketplace.

Overview and highlights of our Call to Conversation:

• We were all enriched by all sharing precise themes of selflessness and integrity that we see as necessary in the market. Everyone at the table shared personal examples of how they have witnessed the Pro Humanitate spirit through bosses, coworkers and even the head of a major financial firm. We were challenged to understand the importance of selflessness while exploring how self interest through the free market can lead to massive wealth creation and innovation.
• Our group demonstrated that it is sometimes hard to situate business and the marketplace as forces for good in today’s context. But, we were all clear eyed in recognizing that our country is enormously fortunate to have the private sector activity vibrant and growing at this time.
• As we dove into more of the discussion about modeling the right behaviors to produce character, we realized respect is necessary in all interactions and character takes practice. We also received a great word of wisdom that it is important to discover one’s own inner passion and quickly discern how it aligns with a company’s goals in order to achieve remarkable success. It was within this theme of purpose that we were able to reflect on how Wake Forest may be uniquely positioned to instill deeper values within her students as they prepare their own personal convictions for the marketplace.
• We discussed how selflessness and self interest can have a very strong overlap which leads to both personal and corporate success. We all agreed that the idealism of a student is good and necessary, but the diligence to do a job, each detail of it, well is far more important.