Fred Goff, CEO of Jobcase, a firm devoted to helping people without college degrees find work, says success in business is all about applying the Golden Rule.
Despite the assumptions of many people, the Golden Rule – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” – does not actually appear in the Bible. Nevertheless, it accurately reflects Jesus’ admonition, quoting Leviticus 19:18, that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.
Whatever its source, Goff says it is simply good business – especially for CEOs.
Concern for others is the foundation of Jobcase. Goff launched the company after he concluded that LinkedIn, the web network for professionals, had abandoned people without college educations. He decided that they deserved their own network to help them find jobs and advance on the job.
They must agree with him. Today Jobcase has over 50 million registered members.
You might not expect that sort of vision and concern from a former stock trader and CEO of a hedge fund who can wax eloquently about the value of big data in developing an individual’s gifts and an organization’s assets.
Nevertheless, here are a few comments from a wide-ranging interview with him by The American CEO:
“Get the people and culture right. Ensure clarity of mission and metrics of success are known to everyone ... Make sure your people have the resources they need to succeed. Be authentic. And think of the role more like a Conductor of an Orchestra than some old-fashioned “boss” model.”
“Create a culture that includes the golden rule, full transparency, consistently triaging the most important things to work on, data-centric and meritocracy. This works for our business because change is so frequent and unpredictable. But perhaps other businesses or other people embrace different aspects that allow them to be authentic in their leadership.”
“You must realize – it all comes down to people. So many of us go through business training focusing on marketing and finance classes, and then we get a few years under our belt and realize that the people part – organizational behavior classes – was the only thing that mattered!”
READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW WITH FRED GOFF, JOBCASE CEO