“The world changes when people start enforcing different rules.” That’s the wisdom offered by Glennon Doyle, American author and activist, in her recent We Can Do Hard Things podcast episode: “The Episode that Wasn’t.” We thought we’d share a bit about this discussion, as it illustrates something we want to help bring to life in the financial services industry.

The corporate world can be cutthroat, and it’s said that doing business requires a thick skin. It’s a world that is based on aggressive competition, and sometimes aggressive behavior. That’s how Doyle’s podcast begins, with aggressive behavior from a podcast guest that resulted in the guest being uninvited from the episode — hence, the “episode that wasn’t.” In the subsequent discussion, the team examines the event, trying to better understand why aggression has become acceptable — or at least tolerated — and how leaders might begin to change that. To, as they say in the episode, “show up with grace and poise and demonstrate the kind of leadership it takes to protect someone on the team.”

The poet Maya Angelou said that people will forget what you said and did, but they will remember how you made them feel. It seems time to build a business culture that recognizes the importance of setting boundaries that make aggression and hostility less acceptable. Doyle’s podcast co-hosts note that business leaders of the past have worked and lived by standard set for them by others, rather than creating and embodying their own standards. Our task, particularly in this industry, is to set new standards that don’t make excuses for poor behavior and that do elevate values like integrity, honor, and respect.

“When you’re a person in power, you cannot judge people by how they treat you, ever,” says Doyle. “You always have to assess people by how they treat the people around them with equal or less power.” To change the rules means to apply them toward protecting those without power, helping to level the field rather than using power and status to exonerate mistreatment of others.

As leaders in the industry, we are setting the stage for the next generation of financial services firms; the rules and guidelines we choose will be the foundation for them. At Arnerich Massena, we are committed to crafting new rules and standards, to become a better business culture.

If you are interested in listening to the We Can Do Hard Things podcast episode: “The Episode that Wasn’t,” you can find it at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-can-do-hard-things-with-glennon-doyle/id1564530722?i=1000584881409