Moral Foundations of Leadership What

Moral Foundations of Leadership

What would you do to strengthen the moral foundation of your leadership base and of the leadership base of your organization?

The moral foundation of a leadership base is one of the most important aspects of a moral, successful organization. Morality and success are not separate entities, even though in many companies they seem to be diametrically apart. The recent occurrences of business failures and questionable activities of companies such as Countrywide Mortgage and Enron are specific examples of these occurrences that have lead to legal charges, bankruptcy, and loss of faith in the entire business community. One expert writes, "There was a time, not long ago, when Enron, Kenneth Lay, and Jeffrey Skilling were Olympian symbols of successful leadership. Now, a few short years later, the leaders of Enron have come to represent self-serving executive greed, excess, and arrogance at their worst" (Thompson). To strengthen the moral foundation of my leadership base and the base of my organization takes first, a deep understanding of what is moral and ethical in my business world, and then applying those principles to a solid leadership foundation.

Ethical and effective leaders always tell the truth. To lie is to lose face with one's peers and staff, but to lie is to also throw doubt on the entire organization, which can eventually lead to failure and organizational collapse. An organization with leaders who are not trustworthy will eventually become an "Enron" and no one will be able to save it. Thus, leadership requires honesty, it is the moral foundation of leadership, and of the organization as well.

In the same vein, a moral leader who tells the truth also keeps his/her promises. This ties in with honesty, but it is just as important because a leader who makes false promises will falter and begin to fail the organization, and others will come to learn they cannot depend on this leader to keep his/her word. That means they may eventually lose faith in the leader, and in his department, staff, or organization in general. A leader who cannot keep promises is probably disorganized or under some type of pressure as well, and these lost promises can add up, creating more pressure, confusion, and mistrust. A good, moral leader tells the truth, and part of that truth is not making promises they cannot keep.

A moral leader must be leading a staff or group inside an organization to be considered a leader, and their moral foundation includes how they treat the people they lead. They must treat others fairly, otherwise they will develop a reputation of being difficult to please or work with, or they will begin to shed staff if they continue to treat their peers and staff unfairly. A moral leader is not only concerned with the overall organization, he/she is concerned with the individuals that make up the organization, because without them, there really is no organization. A leader who does not recognize this, and treats staff unfairly, such as taking credit for others' work, poor reviews and staff encouragement, lack of support in difficulty, and negative feedback and criticism will eventually force people away from their department or area, and they will begin to develop a bad reputation within the organization. They will lose experienced people, putting additional pressure on the rest of the staff, and they will find their staff accomplishes less and is more dissatisfied with their situation. These are very negative traits inside any organization that can help lead to discontent and eventual failure. A bad attitude can spread like wildfire, and the moral leader knows this and treats everyone fairly, no matter where they are in the organizational structure. It is the moral thing to do, but it also makes for a much healthier and happier organization.

Studies indicate that trust and respect play a major role in the function of organizations. Another writer notes, "The results indicated that the combined levels of trust and respect accounted for about three-fourths, yes 75%, of the variance in the amount of learning in a relationship" (Clawson). Thus, trust and respect play a major role in how leaders teach and impart knowledge in an organization, as well, and this is a vital piece of the leadership puzzle. Leaders have to pass on their knowledge, and as they move through the organization, their leadership skills, as they progress, and trust, respect, and honesty are all part of that communication process. A leader who is not trustworthy will not be respected, and neither will the knowledge they attempt to impart, so there will be impediments to learning and carrying out new tasks and skills.