Moral Leadership by Example

Today?s market environment is based on meeting short-termexpectations rather than long-term performance. Shareholders, investors andboards often have unrealistic expectations for executives, sending companyleaders into survival mode.

This behavior manifests itself as a focus on short-termfinancial gain?rather than the company?s long-term health?as the executivesstrive to increase company value and preserve their own careers. As a result,these companies often sacrifice customer service, product quality and employeesatisfaction.

When it comes to leadership, today?s business executives arethe most highly qualified professionals we?ve ever seen. But with so manycorporate scandals in the news, business ethics and morals are being closelyexamined. Research has shown that companies whose leaders demonstrate morallyresponsible behavior surpass their competitors in overall performance. 

Despite the morally compromised executives we have readabout, there are many morally courageous leaders to inspire us. Although theseleaders make mistakes occasionally, they?ve learned the importance of moralintelligence, which they practice in their workplaces, communities and personallives.

 

Moral Development

Morality is nurtured in our formative years by our family,friends and caregivers, and is later influenced by associates and superiors inthe workplace. We develop a moral compass defined by the principles, values andbeliefs that shape our goals and behaviors. Moral leaders live in alignmentwith those values and beliefs.

A leader?s moral compass begins with self-awareness (Whatare your values?); self-disclosure (Share your values with your directreports.); and discovery of others (Discover the values of those who report toyou.).

Through this reflection and realignment, leaders candiscover the adjustments necessary for more effective leadership. This shouldlead to moral intelligence, which requires:

? effective management of yourself, which begins with self-awarenessand ends with living in alignment;

? effective leadership of others; and

? living in alignment, which requires aligning personalreality (thoughts, emotions and actions) with organizational and individualgoals and the ideals represented in our moral compass (principles, values andbeliefs).

Moral leaders constantly realign their moral compass bymaking conscience choices about how they think, act and respond in everysituation. This can be challenging, particularly when a leader is out of alignment.Leaders, there-fore, must be mentally focused to achieve alignment byside-stepping obstacles, distractions and external pressures.

 

Living in Alignment

We may embrace the principles?meaning we?re morallyintelligent?but we may not always live up to them. Neverthe-less, as we focuson our choices, we can enhance our competencies. To do that, we need toconsider these four qualities:

? Integrity: acting consistently with principles, values andbeliefs; telling the truth; standing up for what?s right; and keeping promises;

? Responsibility: taking responsibility for personalchoices; admitting mistakes and failures; and embracing responsibility forserving others;

? Compassion: actively caring about others; and

? Forgiveness: letting go of one?s own mistakes and alsoletting go of the mistakes of others.

We can choose our thoughts, words and actions to betterreflect our moral principles. If we?re out of alignment, we must change thosethoughts, words and actions. Whether you?re in alignment or not, you?re alwaysinfluencing those around you, and positively influencing others is whateffective leadership is all about. Leaders? actions and reactions are analyzedand interpreted by everyone in their sphere of influence.

The example of leaders in alignment with a highly respectedmoral compass will reverberate throughout the company. The reverse is alsotrue. Morally corrupt leaders will have a negative effect on the firm,employees and other key stakeholders.

Leaders who are skilled in all the moral competencies canuse their position of influence to produce positive results. They inspire theirfollowers to be compassionate, respectful and loyal. Moral leadership practicestend to carry over into an organization?s community with three key principles:do no harm, add current value and add future value.

Mark Twain once said, ?It is curious that physical courageshould be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.? It?s time formoral courage to take center stage in business, and for businesses to acceptthe responsibility that comes with their prominent position in the world.

 

Doug Lennick is CEO and co-founder of theLennick Aberman Group, a performance-enhancement consulting firm. Fred Kiel,Ph.D., is co-founder of KRW International. Their latest book is MoralIntelligence 2.0, Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success.