Newhouse’s Leadership Lessons

Britt Newhouse, former chairman of Guy Carpenter, discussed some lessons in leadership from his career and his parents.

“It takes a lifetime to build a reputation for honesty and integrity, and you can ruin it in one day.”

He often recalls things his mother and father told him—truisms for both life and work. “My parents used to say, ‘You don’t have to remember what you said if you never tell a lie,'” he said. “While it’s probably not the best motivation for telling the truth, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation for honesty and integrity, and you can ruin it in one day.”

Another lesson? He said there’s no upside in mistreating and disrespecting people, no matter what position they hold in the companies, clients or vendors you deal with. “Further, you never know who you’re going to meet again down the road—and they might be important to you some day. People don’t like to see people treated disrespectfully, and they remember it.”

And finally, Newhouse offers a piece of business advice: Most of the time, no decision is worse than a bad decision, and make decisions for the good of the company.

See related story: “Former Guy Carpenter Chairman Newhouse Discusses His Career Changing Events.”

“The worst people to work for are people who don’t make decisions, or who make decisions only based on what they think the outcome will be for their career and their next advancement,” he said.

“It’s a simple, simple truism for business. If you try and make a decision based on what’s good for your client, what’s good for your company and what’s good for your colleagues, then you’re generally going to make more good decisions than bad ones,” Newhouse added.