Introduction
I am a former student leader. A large chunk of my
experience in leadership has been for service and volunteering. In my years as
a bachelors’ student, I volunteered to serve students at Strathmore University.
This is a University founded on strong principles of Ethics, Morality and
Faith. I will, therefore, write this article based on my experiences in service
as a voluntary leader within and outside Strathmore University for the period
that I was in leadership within the past 4 years. I will also relate my
experiences to my knowledge and divide the article into 4 subsections characterizing
moral leadership which include:
1.
Culture
2.
Character and
service
3.
Relationship
between Power, Courage and Humility
4.
Altruism
Culture
This is far the most important section of the article.
Culture is the core of a society. It is the basis of influence and persuasion. Culture
is used to convince decisions in most circumstances; at home, work or in
politics. Culture has always been and still is the reference foundation for
persuasion. It, therefore, follows that it is the core of leadership in society too.
My past experiences have taught me that good things do
not happen because of ‘good’ people; nor do bad things happen because of ‘bad’
people. Everything happens because of systems: The social systems we have grown
from our culture. These systems are built by people. We build these systems
ourselves or we adopt to them over time. As a fact, we show it in our decisions,
choices, beliefs, history and relationships. More than often, the culture is
subscribed to by a large number if not all members of the community, as a
result, forming a system that shapes members of the community. Through the system
the society is controlled. In other words, culture gives birth to the system
that runs you in your society. Therefore, it follows that a faulty system will often
produce bad results even with the involvement of ‘good’ people: Similarly, an
excellent system will produce good results even with the involvement of ‘bad’ people.
A system, more than often, become too powerful than individual influence,
except in exceptional cases.
A characteristic of human beings is the ability to
adapt (Ashcroft, 2013) . You adapt easily. You
can create and adapt to systems that you create or have found created. In other
words; the culture of your environment shapes the system in which you operate
under; which little by little moulds your character. This is explained by the
fact that human beings become what they consistently practice and believe in.
What you believe in is often what you learn or what you have been taught. Your
individual effort to integrate certain principles and habits deep into your
nature is limited to your knowledge and experiences. This knowledge and
experience are derived from your environment which informs your desires. This
desire is highly influenced by your environment and what you acquire from it.
Inasmuch as who we are is shaped by what we do, what
we do makes us who we are (Durant, 1991) . Hitherto, what we do is informed by
what we have learnt. This means that to make a new culture, you have to unlearn
the old, learn the new and desire to adopt a new culture. Integrating new
principles and habits will only be made easier by a new desire informed from
new learnings and practising the very habits you desire. Unlearning and
learning, desiring and being, doing and becoming are pairs in a perfect system
of exchange that involves a process of shaping your character and your culture.
You learn by unlearning and you become after desiring. What you do shapes who
you are and who you are determines what you do; the starting point being who
you are. I like to refer to this as practical philosophy; you only get it right
the moment you begin to practice it; until then, it’s always complex. The above
introduction will be a pointer guide to help us understand the soul of this
unique kind of leadership- Moral Leadership.
In the current prevailing world-conception where
individualism is glorified, selfishness is ‘rewarded’ and competition for
profits is admirable, I may not be celebrated as an advocate for ethics, moral
leadership, common good, self-sacrifice and justice. The pattern of behaviors
that were once considered a big success; including in leadership, are the cause
of unending predicaments the world is facing today (A.C.Kapur, 1997) . For example, exploitation through
colonialism nowadays referred to as neocolonialism, divide and rule, ethnic
politics and manipulation of the masses for selfish gain. These are just but
some few examples. However difficult it is for me to write about moral
leadership and get an applause, I will take the risk to tread on that narrow
path; for it is the little things done cumulatively that ultimately result to
the big change we all look for.
Character
and service
Majority of the problems that cripple societies in the
world today are consequence of a fundamental failure in leadership. Corruption,
war, poverty, hunger, climate change and environmental degradation are all
manifestations of the failure. These problems arise when a leader lose the
Agenda of service to others and instead shift their focus to the pursuit of selfish
interest. On the contrary, you will discover that leadership by definition is
centred on others; not oneself. A leader is one who influence, guides and shows
the way by example to a clear intellectual vision greater than himself/herself.
This means that when you enter leadership, the focus shifts from you to the
people you lead; this is where Moral leadership begins.
Leadership without morality is superficial (Covey, 2008) . It is merely a
short lived influence that cannot outlive an individual. Morality is central to
leadership because of the long lasting influence it has compared to personality
which is normally short lived. This means that moral leadership goes beyond an
individual’s mere charisma and rhetoric expressions. It sinks deep into the
heart of a leaders’ authentic character, which is manifested by his/her
behavior. On the face of it, charisma and rhetoric can only be used as a quick
fix to cover for your social image and to protect your temporary social brand (Covey, 2008) . Your personality
appeal cannot withstand the test of character; only your character will do it
for you. As a replacement for seeking the gratification of oneself, Moral leadership
seeks to serve others and to develop their capacity to achieve greater results.
It therefore approaches others with a sense of unconditional worth and value. A
moral leader takes up the duty to help others pursue their own legitimate
interest and goals, treating them as an end in themselves; not as a means to an
end. In that sense, leadership compels the leader to bring out the best from
his followers using his good example.
Power, Courage
and humility
Character is the source of power in moral leadership (Covey, 2008) . It is the moral
authority that earns your influence. Moral leadership has to do with the
conduct of leaders. It is concerned with the nature of a leaders’ behavior and
their virtuousness. It is about the amount of courage they have shown in doing
what is right over that which is easy. Far beyond seeking to be followed, Moral
Leadership aims to achieve a high moral goal, anchored on principal values,
hence characterized by a deep sense of ethics. In a decision making scenario
for example, the choices a leader makes and how they respond in a particular
circumstance is informed and directed by their ethics. It therefore begins from
an individual’s moral transformation to the overall societal transformation,
hence humility is such a key virtue. Rather than seeking self-interest, Moral
leadership guides you to think beyond yourself by prompting moral fiber
continuous improvement process. You will need to understand that you are a
person in progress in order to accept the concept of continuous improvement. Moral
leadership not only places you against a virtuous mirror where you learn and
practice virtue until you begin to become a virtuous person but also builds in
the courage and capacity to transmit those virtues to others using your
influence as a leader. This whole process is gradual and not merely for self-benefit
but for the purpose of achieving a greater goal than yourself. It is solely in
preparation of service to others. You must be a humble person enough to accept
it.
Altruism
Moral leadership gets you exposed to the universal
moral culture which harmonize the fragmentation of values across different
cultures in the world. Unlike Ethical egoism and Utilitarianism, moral
leadership is founded on the virtue based, authentic, transformational
leadership principles of altruism which show concern and interest for others. For
example, a leader who struggles to be honest and transparent is not doing so
for himself but for the sake of the common good of the people who follow after
him. The same applies to a leader who practices humility, justice, truth, love,
respect, self-sacrifice, compassion and philanthropy. The works of Mother
Teresa who gave her life to help the poor is a perfect example of authentic
transformational moral leadership. Rather than seeking to find what is right
outside yourself for your benefit, Moral leadership is about an inner moral
conviction of choosing to do what is right for the benefit of others, amidst
all odds in the prevailing environment. It is the system that will call on you
to take up hard moral decisions to disrupt an immoral system.
Conclusion
Therefore, Moral leadership doesn’t require a
position. It rather requires self-awareness, a moral conviction, the courage to
step up for what is right and committed humility to serve others. This rare
combination can sometimes require you to do things that are unpopular yet
moral. It might sometimes cost you more than you would have predicted. Moral
leadership will test the extent to which you can sacrifice self-interest for
the sake of common good (Community interest). However, it always proves to be
worth the sacrifice. A good example of Moral leadership without position is
civil activism for good governance or justice such as the works of Martin
Luther King Jr, the practice of citizens sharing love and compassion to the
less fortunate through charity activities in the society, volunteering in
community projects and giving back to communities. Some of these moral
leadership practices may be accompanied by risks while others may not, but they
all have a cost that the leader must be willing to pay. A leader who does not
consistently seek to do what is right cannot achieve good in the society which
he leads. If there are no values inside a leader, then there will be deficiency
of the values in the community that follows the leader. So I say, little by
little, a bird builds its nest; chose what is right, do what is moral and
advocate for the truth!
References
A.C.Kapur. (1997). Principles of Political Science.
S Chand Publishing.
Ashcroft, R. (Director). (2013). The four
horsemen [Motion Picture].
Covey, S. (2008). 7 Habits of highly effective
people. Success Magazine.
Durant, W. (1991). The Story of Philosohy.
New York: Pocket Books.
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