Moral
Leadership: Raising the Bar
Are
you one who chooses to lead your life in a way that serves mankind or are you
one who is consumed with selfishness and greed, only choosing to makes choices
that benefit yourself? Can you wake up
in the morning and be proud to look in the mirror and smile at the reflection
staring back at you? These are questions
that I ask myself on a daily basis. For
me, it is important to self-reflect and make sure that the decisions I am
making stand by my values of honesty, integrity, and the greater good. If one chooses to lead by example, they are
creating their future and setting expectations for others. When one leads in a way, to act as role
models for others, they can create an environment of unity and collaboration
where others are transformed into leaders with moral standards and good
personal character that they feel confident to pass onto others. One must choose to lead their own lives in
positive ways before they will have the ability to lead others. Self-control and self-reflection is a huge
aspect when one wants to lead their own lives.
They must exhibit control, not over others, but over their own actions
and behaviors. With this, comes
confidence, in yourself to stand by choices that you make. BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD!
If
one chooses to be a moral leader, they must learn to act and expect higher
standards, both, from themselves and others.
They must be a good judge between what is right and wrong, and what is
fair and just. If one is going to be a
moral leader, they must exhibit the same character traits in all situations
whether it be work, life, love, family, and relationships. The fact is that moral integrity argues for
one ethical standard, applicable in personal, social, economic, and all other
aspects of life. Inner leaders provide
that moral standard. Their task is to
create it in themselves first, then bring it out in their followers.(1) Moral leaders tend to be self-sacrificing and
stand up against the majority, if they feel as though their moral integrity is
being compromised or it is for the greater good of the people.
Morals
and ethics go hand in hand. Ethics shows
that one can make wise decisions, and choose to do the right thing. Morals are the core values in a person that
shows that a person has good integrity.
Showing good morals means a person is doing the ethical thing. The single most important factor in ethical
decision making in organizations is whether leaders show a commitment to ethics
in their talk and especially their behavior.(2)
There have been several times, on the job, where I have been put in a
position where I felt that people were being treated unfairly, and I know that
it is in my character to speak up about these actions, if I did not I would be
compromising my morals. There have been
times when I have feared the consequences of opening my mouth, but for me, it
is more important to stand up for what is right. I am the one who has to look myself in the
mirror, and it is extremely important for me to know that I stand up for my beliefs. No one knows you better than you know
yourself, and through my self-reflection, I have come to know myself pretty
well. I am honest, faithful, and
trustworthy; therefore, I feel confident in standing by who I am as well as my
decisions. I know that my heart is in
the right place and that I care deeply for my friends, coworkers, family,
people in general, my mission, and the work that I do and with this love comes
passion to make things better for ALL, and the alignment with my morals helps
me to have the confidence I need to take on those who act immorally or not in
the best interest of the people. I know
that I do not serve any self-serving bias when my mission is to create peace
and unity with the people who surround me even if it leaves me without a job or
chances of advancement. I choose to
stand tall in the face of opposition, in hopes that my actions will somehow
create a greater sense of pride in the work that we do, and be of inspiration
for others to stand by their morals and values with courage. For an individual to become a moral person
he/she must possess certain capabilities that empower him/her to perform moral
and ethical actions. To know what is moral
and ethical is not enough. To become a
moral person, the individual must put this knowledge into action. Thus, the capabilities that empower the
individual to know and to act morally are primary importance in developing
moral leadership.(3)
There
are three stages of moral development.
The first stage is preconvention stage.
These people follow rules to avoid punishment; therefore, they are
acting in their own interests. The
second stage is the conventional stage.
These persons live up to expectations of others, fulfills duties and
obligations of the social system, and upholds laws. The third level is the postconventional
level. These people follow internalized
principles of justice and right, balances concern for self with concern for
others and the common good, and acts in an independent and ethical manner
regardless of expectations of others.(2)
I believe that I have reached the postconventional level because I am
not one to follow the crowd, as I have my own sets of standards. I stand by my beliefs even when it means
going against my parents and their beliefs or people of authority, if I feel
that they are wrong. I will also be the
first to speak up when someone is being put down or gossiped about, causing
them to rethink their words, and hopefully making them think twice about if
what they are doing is “okay” by moral standards.
Moral
leadership is about holding yourself accountable for your actions, whether
wrong or right, and having the courage to speak up when things are wrong. Courage is the ability o step forward through
fear.() In many organizations, the main thing
is to get along, fit in, and do whatever brings promotions or pay raises. These organizations may or may not thrive,
but lack change that could possibly make an organization an exceptional place
to work that creates an invaluable product or service for others. In my case, working with at risk youth, I
have come across incidences where I felt like children were being treated bad
or unfairly such as verbal abuse, unneeded restraints, or restraints where the
person put in an extra jab or unneeded physical abuse. I did not have to think twice to intervene in
the situation and take the kid out of it because I knew in my heart in was
wrong. Afterwards I would reflect on the
issue, and come to the conclusion that what I did was right but it did cause
stress in my life because now coworkers were rude to me, supervisors acted like
I shouldn’t have intervened in front of other children, or I am in no position
to question the actions of coworkers and I should have left it up to them.
Moral
leadership and transformational leadership go hand in hand. When a person exhibits moral leadership, they
hope to transform others into leaders, to guide and support them and help them
grow so that they are then able to be a leader who will also help transform
others. As people see qualities in
others that they value, ones that make them trust and admire this person; the
values are more easily transferred from the leader to the follower. One thing that I cannot stand is a
hypocrite. How can one expect something
from others that they are not willing to do themselves? If a person exhibits selfishness and greed,
how can they be angry when others exhibit the same? I try my hardest not to be a hypocrite in the
work that I do. In fact, working with
these children has helped to mold me into the person that I am today. There have been times when I have not asked
my children to do specific things or act in a certain way because I know that
these were things that I was doing myself.
Later, after reflecting, I realized that if I didn’t want these youth to
do these things, it is for a reason, so I shouldn’t be doing them either. That made it easy to make changes and become
a better person. I started living my
life in a way where I didn’t behave in ways that I would not want my youth
behaving. First and foremost, how can we
tell these children not to gossip or talk bad about others, to not yell or
scream, or not to use physical violence yet the people who are telling them these
things are doing it themselves. I try to
point this out to my co-workers when I notice such things happening. A few of them have changed their ways, and
act in ways that are being of a role model to these youth, and others just blow
me off like I should mind my own business.
This goes with ethics. Never is
it right to put others down, hurt them, or make them feel bad. They need role models who can show the
positive effects of love, understanding, teamwork, and compromise. Only then will they be inspired to want to
change. I am not saying that we all
should act in any one specific way, and I realize and appreciate all different
personality types and ways of handling conflict; therefore, I can appreciate
both the authitarian leadership styles and the relationship building leadership
styles. I know that different situations
calls for different styles but I also know that when you are hindering growth
or hurting others, than something must be changed. The whole idea is to make people first into
leaders over their own lives, not dependent on others, and then they will
foster independence and courage to become leaders themselves.
Upon
doing my research on leadership, I came across a text that completely hit home
with me. It pretty much sums up
everything that I believe about leadership and its effects: A prerequisite for moral leadership is the
spirit of service- service to one’s family, community, and nation. This spirit of service does not in any way
negotiate individual drive or initiative, nor does it stifle individual
creativity. Rather, it calls for a model
of leadership which will release the potential of the individual while
safeguarding the wellbeing of the whole.
Those who emerge as leaders would likely combine a spirit of service
with a drive for excellence. The
institutions which would emerge from a service-centered leadership would
promote the well-being of the whole community while safeguarding the rights,
freedoms, and initiatives of each individual.
These institutions would preserve human honor which would lead to a
civilization which deeply cares for the beauty of nature and all beings on the
planet.(3) I would definitely have to
agree with this statement, as it encompasses everything that I believe in and
know in my heart is possible.
In
my opinion, moral leaders are the most important in today’s society. With the rough shape of the economy, single
parent households, greed, and drugs being major problems in today’s society, it
is extremely important for there to be moral leaders who can role model ethical behaviors, provide support and
understanding, and encourage relationships where others needs are, at the very
least, just as important as our own. As
a follower begins to engage in moral leadership, they will feel an inner peace
within themselves, and the confidence they need in order to trust themselves in
making decisions that will benefit themselves and others. With the trust that they gain from their
followers, they can help to change the environments around them to ones of collaboration,
self-efficiency, and hope. With this
hope will come the determination and courage that it will take to help make
this world a better place! Some people
act out of greed and they choose to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the top
all the while abusing their privileges and power. These people will stand the chance of being
in competition with others, and attract others of the same nature into their
lives. People, who chose to live
morally, will have self-respect and the respect of others. Although these people may not gain, or
possibly even lose certain jobs, and material possessions, no one could ever
take away their pride, dignity, and good honest reputation. This will stick with them, and these people
will have all that matters most….trusting, loving, and caring relationships in
their lives along with a feeling of inner peace and freedom.
References:
(2)
Daft, Richard
l., (2008). The leadership experience.
Cengage Learning Co.
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