“I can’t tell you how glad I am that there are other people out there thinking about this.”
Coro Fellow, New York City

Are the ethics of yesteryear relevant today? Will they be relevant tomorrow?
The Content of Our Character Project is an initiative dedicated to the yet unnamed generations who will occupy, toil amongst, and lead this experiment called America in the years ahead. What can they learn from us, the living generations? What can, or have, we learned from one another? And what do we really know about our American moral fiber?

In anticipation of its National Conversation on Generational Ethics, a conference hosted by The Content of Our Character Project at Duke University in June 2002, and attended by more than one hundred extraordinary civic leaders from across the country, The Content of Our Character Project posed the following questions:

“What core principles, values, and ideals do you associate with your generation? What type of moral leadership can your generation provide America?”

Here are the words and concepts that were repeated among the responses, by generation:
The World War II Generation:
Golden Rule; honor; loyalty; hospitality; minding your own business

The Baby Boomer Generation:
individualistic; independent; self-sufficient; committed to getting things done; skeptical of authority; concerned about justice; tireless; vocal; visionary

Generation X:
respect for cultural diversity; inclusive; flexible; entrepreneurial; sense of urgency; straightforward and honest; pragmatic and objective; post-modern

Here are the responses from five individuals:
This from Kristin Wensing, Director for the Coro Midwestern Center and Gen Xer living in St. Louis:
“Generation X was branded as cynical, hopeless and unmotivated before we had really come of age and, unfortunately, it is a label that has stuck over the years…The truth is that we are different from the generations that preceded us…We have inherited the benefits (and leftover baggage) of the civil rights, women’s rights, and conservation movements, and we are the first generation to be told that we will not be as financially secure or successful as our parents. The list of economic, social and environmental challenges facing our generation of leaders is long, and I believe this has had a sobering effect on us and our attitudes toward governance, democracy and life in general.”

This from Daniel Hall, a surgeon, priest and Gen Xer living in Pittsburgh:
“We are the first generation to come of age in the post-modern world, and in a unique way, we are at ease negotiating the often slippery connections between relativism and realism. We have internalized a more humble epistemology, which rarely makes claims to universal truths. Yet the boldest among us refuse to reject the fact that truth external to ourselves does, in fact, exist.”

This from Gene Tempel, Director of the Center on Philanthropy and a Baby Boomer living in Indianapolis:
“My generation came of age during the 1960s and 70s, known especially for the right of citizens to speak out, to protest the war, and to advocate on behalf of the environment. The core values that drove the activities of my generation were justice, wise use of resources, and concern for others. Those core values have been challenged from time to time as this generation grew older; however, it is clear that those values remain among those of us taking leadership positions.”

This from Ann Medlock, Founder of the Giraffe Heroes Project and a Silent Generation member living in Washington State:
“I’m greatly enjoying the role of elder -- along with the wrinkles has come some level of gravitas -- I’ve seen more than younger people have seen; know things I can convey to them out of those years of experience that are, perhaps, of value. But my generation’s value and our influence on America? I think we’re missing form the national consciousness and have had no discernible influence as a group. We were and are the Silent Generation, children of the Eisenhower era, veterans of the forgotten Korean War, precursors of the Baby Boomers…It seems that the “silent” label was apt and permanent. When I talk to contemporaries, most of them now retired, I’m struck by how quietly they’ve lived their lives, sticking to the personal, barely engaging in civic life, willing to address only those issues that might affect their dividends or benefits.”

This from William Friday, President Emeritus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and part of the Greatest Generation:
“I am of the generation reared during the Great Depression and matured by World War II. We believed in hard work. To serve our community and country was an ingrained commitment. Personal actions were underpinned by rock hard integrity, honor, compassion, civility and caring for our fellow man. These guidelines were sustained by a religious faith deep within us. We believed in the sanctity of marriage and family, and many gave their lives heroically for the freedoms too often taken for granted today. We were not without fault, acknowledging our inability to substantially resolve racial tensions, abject poverty, pervasive illiteracy and economic deprivation. Yet, we made a huge start at these destructive social ills, while fighting wars hot and cold, to preserve liberty and justice for all.”

Is it true, as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, that each age must write its own books? How will others read and perceive our books? This is, and has been, a guiding question for the Content of Our Character Project.

So, what really is the Content of Our Character Project, you might be asking?
Housed at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, The Content of Our Character Project is a nationwide initiative designed to facilitate substantive, public deliberation on ethics and leadership. The initiative was borne with the simple aims of affirming and cultivating a demand for ethical leadership, as well as placing ethics at the forefront of public and private discourse. Igniting dialogue across America, The Content of Our Character Project has provided public spaces for citizens to test ideas and learn from one another, while exploring contemporary ethical challenges. The original and continuing mission remains: to foster dialogue, encourage teaching, and communicate ideas on matters of ethics.

Responding, in part, to public cynicism that Generation X could not rise above its own apathy, the Content of Our Character Project originally brought together a group of young Americans in August 1998, to deliberate about the moral challenges facing American democracy. We gathered to share ideals and develop a vision for ethical leadership. Collectively, over the following months, we outlined guiding principles and celebrated exemplars in politics, markets, civil society, and community life. Our published document, Voices of Generation X, invited all Americans, especially young Americans, to reflect upon, deliberate about, and contribute to our common future. More than 5000 copies of Voices of Generation X were distributed to students, volunteers, and civic leaders. Since 1999, tens, even hundreds of thousands have visited the Project on-line. Moreover, thousands have attend our public events in cities nationwide -- in places like Atlanta, Silicon Valley, New York City, New Haven, and Raleigh-Durham. And we’ve been quoted and misquoted in newspapers such as the Boston Globe and London Financial Times.

Who’s participated?
Companies such as Whole Foods and SEI. Journalists such as Chuck Stone and Bill Raspberry. Organizations such as Coro, FIRST, the Urban League, Youth as Resources, America’s Promise, and Public Allies. Universities such as Indiana, MIT, and Notre Dame. High Schools such as Liberal High School in Kansas, the School of Math and Science in Durham, and North Allegheny High School in Pennsylvania. Politicians such as Massachusetts’ Attorney General and North Carolina’s Lieutenant Governor. Academics such as Jean Bethke Elstain and Johnnetta Cole. Public leaders such as Marian Wright Edelman, and public writers such as Sam Hazo.

We’ve received mail and inquiries from Omaha’s mayor, teens in Texas, consulting firms in New York City, the Center for Creative Leadership, the Pentagon, a Dutch business writer, a metallurgist in India, and a school district in Idaho.

We’ve been quoted in a commencement speech by Cokie Roberts.

We’ve attended and spoken at conferences in Chicago; Washington, DC; North Carolina; Cincinnati; Kansas City; Philadelphia; and Michigan.

We’ve partnered with groups nationwide, such as: People Making a Difference; the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership; and the Indivisible Project.

We’ve received generous financial gifts from anonymous donors; individuals; universities; and foundations, such as Surdna, Grable, and Kellogg.

We’ve signed on as members of the Youth Vote coalition and the Declaration of Independence Project.

We’ve apparently inspired discussion groups in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; television programming in Cambridge, Massachusetts; curricula at the University of Asia and the Pacific; and even T-shirts in Michigan.

And we’ve planned 27 community forums across America, such as:
At Gateway High School in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset neighborhood,
where approximately 50 people, representing organizations such as the Carnegie Foundation, Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church, Stanford’s Ethics in Society Program, the League of Women Voters, and the United Taxicab Workers gathered together for an absorbing public conversation on ethical leadership, and its principles and practice in everyday life;

At Boston’s Faneuil Hall,
where approximately 40 young professionals, volunteers, and students gathered for group discussions facilitated by state legislators and city officials; at MIT, where 80 came together to discuss ethics and local politics; and at Boston’s Landmark Center, where approximately 500 youth participated in pre-presidential debate “ethics hours”;

At North Central High School in Indianapolis,
where about 50 students, community advocates, and young professionals representing groups such as Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, the Islamic Center, and local Boys and Girls Clubs interacted with a theatre troupe and publicly conversed about ethical standards for civic life in central Indiana;

At Washington, DC’s Union Station,
where 90 people enjoyed dinner while wrestling with ethics case studies; and at the University of the District of Columbia, where Washington Post columnist Bob Levey moderated a discussion with panelists from City Year, the Latin American Youth Center,and the Mayor’s Office;

At Philadelphia’s Free Library,
where 60 young professionals and CEOs engaged in conversation about ethical challenges in the workplace, and then initiated monthly breakfast meetings matching seasoned executives as “ethics mentors” to young professionals;

And at Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center,
where approximately 300 citizens participated in a lively community discussion about ethical leadership in that region.

It’s been an extraordinary journey for all of us involved in The Content of Our Character Project.
Quite unexpected, really. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, but I hope we’re quick to note that ours is a modest effort -- entirely volunteer-driven -- and that there is much more to be done.

Clearly, though, we’ve struck some sort of nerve -- among educators, corporate trainers, and service leaders. And we’ve learned that there are a great many of our fellow citizens concerned about, discussing, and attempting to practice ethical leadership.

People sometimes say, dismissively, that ethics is “just talk.”
Yet a lot can be said for thoughtful conversation. Imagine what might have been had Enron’s executives truly discussed what they were doing. Imagine what might have been if the Israelis and the Palestinians had encouraged difficult but meaningful dialogue.

By contrast, consider briefly the example of a Pittsburgh-based company -- Freemarkets -- which has set forth as one of its tenets the ideal of graciousness, whereby clients, fellow employees, vendors, and the like are expected to be treated with graciousness; the principle is part of daily workplace discussions. Or consider South Africa’s Truth Commission, which advanced public dialogue about ethics in that country’s future against the horrors of its past.

Encouraging divergent groups to come together for the purpose of communicating about moral issues, however troublesome that communication may be, holds the key to discerning ethical problems and to building the resources of trust and respect required to address them. Creating opportunities for these conversations and connections to develop, and ultimately to become an established means of working within and across communities, promotes the common good.

In “Lives of Moral Leadership,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Coles wrote the following -- and it seems to be so poignant at this particular moment:
“Each of us plays a role in the moral drama of the world around us; [moral leaders] show by implication how we can play an even greater one, at one time or another, in the course of our lives. We need heroes, people who can inspire us, help shape us morally, spur us on to purposeful action – and from time to time we are called on to be those heroes, leaders for others, either in a small, day-to-day way, or on the world’s larger stage. At this time in America, and in the rest of the world, we seem to need moral leadership especially, but the need for moral inspiration is ever present.”

America’s founders appreciated, and worried, that democracy presupposes a higher degree of virtue. They knew, as their successors knew, and as we now know, that democracy’s health hinges upon the civic virtue of each generation.

From where, however, does our civic virtue arise?
The Content of Our Character Project proposes that such virtue arises most during our moments of public deliberation. If it does, how frequently do we engage one another in reasoned and reasonable public discourse – during which we examine and discuss our common experiences, and do so among and across generations? How reliably do we foster preparation for and participation in that discourse? How often do we ask who benefits from politics without principle, commerce without morality, or education without character? And do we ever honestly ask, “Is ours a community of character?”

We oftentimes, and optimistically, describe The Content of Our Character Project as an effort to bring about what author Malcolm Gladwell describes as the “tipping point.”

How can we give rise to that tipping point where public deliberation about ethical leadership simply and wonderfully transpires?

You have that opportunity to bring about the tipping point in your classes, within your organizations, and among your communities. You, as an established or emerging leader, can educate, train, and inspire America’s generations.

So, begin by asking that first ethical question: “What’s going on?”
The answers will lead you forward.

Gregg S. Behr
Founder and Director
The Content of Our Character Project