Leadership and morality
All world leaders, kings, presidents, prime ministers of whatever title are continually scrutinized about their morality. So are all candidates or aspirants for national or world leadership for their moral fitness to lead. In recent years due to the more extensive information dissemination brought about by the internet, we are getting more informed and aware of the morals of our leaders from their past and their current actions. Populist leaders like Trump, Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Maduro, and Duterte, who are not really the epitome of excellent moral values, re-focus and reframe this relationship in the light of their staying power. It certainly makes for interesting discussion.
Biblical and historical examples like David’s dalliance with Bathsheba, Rehoboam’s losing the 12 tribes of David, and the fall of the Roman Empire, are compelling narratives of causes of downfall. The French Revolution, the fall of the Russian monarchy, the Maoist Chinese revolution, the Cuban rebellion and the Philippine People Power Revolution are some of the more current examples of moral decay that preceded the fall. However, there are quite a number of intermediate and proximate causes, some of them economic, military, or even ecologic that morality may not be the single or most important factor in the success or failure of leadership. Then, there is the determination of which part of morality is more important to the people or the governed for them to lose trust and confidence in their leaders enough to withdraw their support or revolt.
Trump has been beset with issues about his sexual morality, honesty, authoritarian tendencies, and lack of empathy/sympathy. Putin on his marriage and harshness, Xi, Erdogan and Maduro for their iron hand. The same were also ascribed to our historical examples and other 20th century leaders. David and Solomon were immortalized even with their many wives and marital scandals. And Clinton survived the Lewinsky affair and still became a respectable leader. Maybe we are more tolerant of marital or sexual aberration in our leaders, so which part of morality is more important in governance?
From the same historical and recent examples, it appears that truth and justice are the most important moral principles in leadership and governance. Truth, because the people have to continually believe their leaders and every dishonesty erodes the credibility of that leader. Graft and corruption are honesty issues that is a cancer to society. Justice, on the other hand, is what prevents oppression, respects human rights, and evens out wealth distribution. Fairness in politics and economics is grounded in justice for all. The more recent successful revolutions/liberalizations in the Philippines, in Eastern Europe, Haiti, in Africa, South America, and the Middle East were fueled by excesses in injustices that pushed the people to want changes. The current protests in Hong Kong, Hungary, and African countries are offshoots of perceived injustices.
From a management perspective, morality is an effective means of control. On top of the usual physical, accounting, and information control systems that are in place in an organization to ensure compliance of processes and get things done properly and correctly, the concept of “good governance” is promoted. Good governance is the way to infuse morality in management. It means management should practice, accountability, conflict of interest avoidance, and transparency which are all moral principles related to truth and justice. It’s ethical management that makes employees perform better because they believe in their leaders/managers, and are getting a fair deal.
The stories of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, or Martin Luther King on how they were able to mobilize and lead their people to their objective are good examples. But Jesus Christ leading the Christian world of over 4 billion people for over 2,000 years is the best example.
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