John A. Allison, the chairman and chief executive officer of BB&T Corporation, offered students lots of advice this week as the 2008 Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Ethics Speaker. Top on his list? Find purpose in life by doing something that betters the world, but make it an activity you enjoy.
“Even if you don’t see yourself as a leader, you have to lead yourself,” Allison said. He later commented on the issue of integrity, one of the principles on his list. “Integrity is the harmony between what you believe and what you do.”
The 10 principles that BB&T espouses include the following:
1.) Acknowledge reality (facts), and don’t hide from them.
2.) Rely on reason, not emotions.
3.) Think independently.
4.) Be productive.
5.) Always be honest.
6.) Act with integrity.
7.) Be just and fair to others.
8.) Take pride in yourself.
9.) Grow your self-esteem through self-motivation.
10.) Work together as a team and learn from teammates.
“We try to run our business with a long-term perspective,” Allison said. “Just like organizations need a set of principles, so do you … If you don’t have any purpose or meaning to your work, you’re going to waste a lot of what your life is all about.”
Allison is a native of Charlotte, N.C. He began his career with BB&T in 1971 and took over as president in 1987. He was elected chairman and CEO two years later. When he retires as CEO at the end of 2008, he will leave a bank with more than 1,400 branches in 12 states.
Allison earned his undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his MBA from Duke University. He also attended the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University.