Dov Seidman: Thought Leader, Author & Founder of HOW

When you press the pause button on a machine, it stops... But when you press the pause button on human beings, they start.
Dov Seidman

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Dov Seidman

Dov Seidman is a globally recognized thought leader, author, and founder of the The HOW Institute for Society. HOW is about elevating humanity by building a culture of moral leadership, principled decision-making and values-based behavior.

For over two decades, Dov has been at the forefront of transforming cultures and inspiring leaders to embrace the power of values-driven behavior in a world that demands more transparency and accountability than ever before. His groundbreaking book, HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything, explores the profound idea that the way we lead, work, and interact matters more than ever—and has been celebrated by leaders and changemakers worldwide.

With an unwavering belief in the power of ethical leadership, Dov Seidman has partnered with Fortune 500 companies, governments, and non-profits to create meaningful change by putting humanity and integrity at the heart of how they operate. Through the HOW Philosophy, Dov helps organizations unlock their full potential by fostering cultures of trust, innovation, and shared purpose.

Dov's Journey

Building and scaling

Institutions

Dov Seidman works with and advises business leaders. He builds institutions committed to scaling shared and sustainable human values, and not just shared interests, as central to how they lead and operate.

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Mission-aligned

Affiliations

Dov Seidman is meaningfully involved in and supports organizations pursuing aligned missions of significance and seeking to inspire positive change in our world.

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Inspiring the NEXT GENERATION OF

Leaders

Dov Seidman helps to educate and develop the next generation to become inspirational, moral leaders and principled decision-makers.

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HOW

Our world is not just rapidly changing, it’s being dramatically reshaped. Unprecedented and unfamiliar social, technological, environmental forces are reshaping our world faster than we have yet been able to reshape ourselves, our institutions, and our leadership. There is an urgent need to devote time and energy to the how of human conduct. In this world, HOW we do anything means everything.

The HOW Philosophy

Dov Seidman is so obsessed with the HOW that he created The HOW Institute for Society as a non-profit to build and nurture a culture of moral leadership, principled decision-making, and values-based behavior. The Institute seeks to enable individuals and institutions to meet the profound social, economic, and technological changes of the 21st Century.

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Dov Seidman founded LRN, the leading ethics and compliance management and education company, with a purpose to “help people around the world do the right thing” and mission of “inspiring principled performance in business.” Dov was CEO for 25 years and currently serves as chairman.

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Dov Seidman wrote The New York Times best-seller, HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything. But HOW is much more than a book; HOW is a philosophical framework for changing the role of behavior, governance, culture and leadership in contemporary society.

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Featured Insights

Dov writes for The New York Times and Fortune Magazine, among others. He has been referred to as “One of the Top Thought Leaders of the Past Decade.” He speaks at leading private and public sector events such as The World Economic Forum, The Time-Fortune Global CEO Forum and The World Business Forum.

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BehaviorCommunityCultureFrameworksHumanityInnovationJourneysLeadershipMetricsMission and PurposeThe HOW InstituteTrustValues

The State of Moral Leadership in Business 2025

The 2025 State of Moral Leadership in Business report is the latest in an ongoing study of the presence of moral leadership and how, when present, it inspires elevated behavior in people, shapes values-based organizational cultures, strengthens performance, and builds stronger links to society and communities.

BehaviorLeadershipMetricsTrustValues

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Moral leadership among CEOs is declining, even as more people demand it

Dov Seidman, who runs the HOW Institute for Society, has a new survey out assessing the “State of Moral Leadership in Business.”

Tom Friedman Column

We Are Opening the Lids on Two Giant Pandora’s Boxes

Let’s face it, we did not understand how much social networks would be used to undermine the twin pillars of any free society — truth and trust. So if we approach generative A.I. just as heedlessly — if we again go along with Mark Zuckerberg’s reckless mantra at the dawn of social networks, “move fast and break things” — oh, baby, we are going to break things faster, harder and deeper than anyone can imagine

Tom Friedman Column

We Need Great Leadership Now, and Here’s What It Looks Like

These times are testing leaders from the schoolhouse to the White House, from city halls to corporate suites.

AIBehaviorCapitalismCommunityCultureEconomyESGFrameworksHumanityInnovationJourneysLeadershipMission and PurposeTechnologyTrustValues

UNGA

Courageous Leadership at UN75

Dov Seidman, founder and chairman of The HOW Institute for Society spoke at the opening session of the UNGA 75 Private Sector Forum on September 22, 2020. Dov shared his thoughts on what it means to lead with courage in our rapidly reshaped world.

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Harvard Kennedy School

Why HOW Matters Most

Dov Seidman, Founder and Chairman of The HOW Institute for Society, joined Harvard as a Hauser Leader in the Fall of 2022. Throughout his time on campus, Dov drew students into deep, provoking conversations about frameworks and models of leadership and explored with students their own leadership journeys and how they can be guided by their deepest beliefs. Dov spoke with us about his experience engaging with students at CPL.

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