Skill, Will, Thrill, Until: Insights from Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan
Over the past 12 months, I have been making the case for new approaches to leadership of complex hospital organizations. With hospitals facing unprecedented legislative and regulatory obstacles, along with intensified operating pressures, I believe that the difference between hospitals that perform at a high and successful level and those that perform below that level will be the quality of organizational leadership. The most pressing question I have been pursuing is the precise types and characteristics of leadership that will be necessary.
To that end, I have been looking at examples of leaders—some likely familiar to my readers and some possibly less so—who have truly unique and relevant things to say about what constitutes effective leadership in challenging circumstances.
One such leader is Brian Moynihan. Moynihan took over as Bank of America’s CEO, his first CEO role, at one of the most challenging times for banking in many decades—shortly after the 2008 financial crisis, during which Bank of America suffered billions of dollars in losses.
From there, Moynihan guided Bank of America to its current status as one of the world’s leading financial institutions, with 210,000 employees and serving almost 70 million consumer and business clients. In 2025, the company was named one of TIME Magazine’s World’s Best Companies, Forbes magazine’s list for World’s Best Employers, and Fortune magazine’s lists of World’s Most Admired Companies and Best Companies to Work For.
Moynihan has been called a plain-spoken, low-key leader. “I just try to get stuff done,” he said in a 2022 interview. He amplified that concept in a 2023 interview, saying, “be clear, be simple, be straightforward, have the honesty and the courage of convictions.” Moynihan’s understated approach to leadership, according to Warren Buffett, contains the sound character and judgment essential to leading a large, complex organization in a volatile industry.
A review of numerous recent interviews with Moynihan fleshes out his common-sense approach to leadership under pressure. (Interviews consulted are from the Fortune Leadership Next podcast, the In Good Company podcast, the Leadership Matters podcast, and Face the Nation.)
Be an energy giver, not an energy taker
At times of pressure, it is natural for leaders to feel what Moynihan characterizes as nervous energy, or even panic. “You may wonder in the middle of night what the heck is going on.” However, he says, this kind of nervousness “takes energy out of the room,” which is the last thing employees at an organization want from leaders when the external environment is ominous. “What I look for in people,” Moynihan says, “and I try to be, is an energy giver.” And how do you give energy? “Be calm at a point of attack,” he says. “You watch the great professional athletes…when times get tough, they slow the world down.” This kind of mental focus, which, Moynihan says, is core to preparation and yields “calmness of thought,” which allows a leader to be “confident in your message.”
Pay attention to the trade-offs
Moynihan reminds us that the leadership team has the unique perspective—and the unique responsibility—to assess the broad effect of business decisions and to assess the tradeoffs of those decisions among all constituencies. “Everybody else runs the business,” he says, “but the team at the top [must] have all the constituencies in mind and how you trade off between the customer, the shareholder, the teammate, the communities.” Inherent in this concept is the notion that, viewed within the limited context of an individual strategic or operational decision, not every constituency will be fully satisfied, not every constituency will benefit, and some groups and individuals may feel ill effects. The leadership responsibility is to deeply understand the potential effects on all stakeholders and to have a strong enough strategic and moral compass to balance these tradeoffs within the context of the ultimate purpose and goals of the organization.
In times of crisis, focus on purpose
Purpose, says Moynihan, can seem to “bounce around with the environment around you, and you have to put it back on course.” Moynihan believes strongly that profit and purpose can ride together. “In the depths of crisis…you have to make money, and you have to make good returns…and you have to do it with purpose.” That purpose, according to Moynihan, is “the people you’re here for—which is your teammates, your clients, your customers, your communities.” Moynihan points out that Bank of America “flipped our statement of who we are from being about wanting to be the best, most admired company in the world, which is about us, to…help[ing] clients live their purpose.”
Make decisions from outside-in
Moynihan illustrates the concept of outside-in leadership with a story. A group of leaders, he recalls, “were in some intellectual discussion…laying out these grand ideas about how we’re going to redo this business,” and a teammate said, “Look, we shouldn’t do anything at this table unless we understand how the person who actually has to do it is going to do it.” Moynihan notes that the person who made this comment had risen from a teller to running a private bank, and so she knew what it was like at the point of implementation. “That always stuck with me,” Moynihan says. “Ideas are easy. Getting them implemented is hard…you have to start every decision from what it’s going to be at that last node.”
Avoid curation
A foundational principle for Moynihan is listening and learning. “The best attribute of people who are going to be successful longer term is people who can maintain their curiosity level.” But that curiosity comes with this caution: “You have to avoid curation.” He explains, “The world closes you in a room. The walls come in and everything is channeling to specialization. So, I may know more about banking regulation than any human being should, but that isn’t going to make me smarter and figure out a problem that one of my teammates brings me.” Moynihan attributes this desire for diverse perspectives to his family dinners growing up, which involved bringing together eight bright children; Moynihan’s mother, a high-energy insurance executive; and his father, a “thoughtful, probative” researcher. “Those days are tougher to hold onto now,” he says, “but that was, I think, a part of how we learned to get along, react to everybody, learn about other people’s knowledge, and be curious.”
Respect context
A history major as an undergraduate, Moynihan repeatedly reminds leaders to think of their roles, particularly at times of the greatest pressure, in historical context, which leads inevitably to the humility that is Moynihan’s trademark.
“The oldest parts of our company go back to 1784. Even though this is my fourteenth year, I’m like a whisper of time across the history of this company. So, what you’re trying to do is make sure you improve it and leave more wood on the woodpile, so to speak, and drive it….We all have to be humble about the fact that it takes 200,000-some people, [almost 70] million customers, and tens of thousands of commercial customers to make this all work.”
The Bank of America mantra for leaders
As good as any summary of Moynihan’s combination of pragmatism, thoughtfulness, and drive for purpose and results is the refrain to which leaders at Bank of America are asked to commit. I can think of no better commitment checklist for any leader facing today’s challenges.
Skill, Will, Thrill, Until
Skill. Is our board and management team skilled enough for the challenge ahead?
Will. As an organization, are we dedicated enough and working hard enough to meet the challenge?
Thrill. As a board and management team, do we still love what we do? Are we dedicated to the moment?
Until. Are key board members and key members of management here for the time it will take to succeed?
There clearly is no one way to lead complex and essential organizations. But the one constant is that high-quality leadership is never accidental. It’s purposeful. Brian Moynihan’s approach to leadership represents the high level of thought process, constant consideration of personal and organizational values, and broad understanding of leadership responsibilities and effects that are demanded by this kind of exceptional and purposeful leadership.
Ken Kaufman is co-founder and Managing Director of Kaufman Hall.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Kaufman, Hall & Associates, LLC, Vizient, Inc., or their affiliates.