We’re all familiar with the adage that nice guys finish last. However, a new book finds that CEOs who score highly on characteristics like integrity and compassion actually deliver better results for company shareholders, according to Fortune.

The book, Return on Character: The Real Reason Leaders and Their Companies Win, is the culmination of a seven-year project by Fred Kiel, the founding partner of the executive development firm KRW International. After following 84 CEOs and 8,000 of their employees, Kiel found that leaders who exhibit four specific qualities produce return on assets that are up to five times larger than those of leaders who don’t exhibit those same traits. So, what are those game-changing qualities? In addition to integrity and compassion, Kiel says it’s important for leaders to have the ability to forgive and forget and to be accountable. This allows them to better engage and drum up enthusiasm among staff, which is key, since happy employees work harder.