Leadership & moral values

a) What is leadership:
Leadership is about inspiring a group of people to achieve the objective(common or shared goal) with a clear vision.
It is about trust, relationships and guidance between leaders & followers.
The basic trait of a great leader are integrity, honesty, humility, courage, commitment, sincerity, passion, confidence, positivity, wisdom, determination, compassion, patience, perseverance, empathy.
Leadership is about behavior first. Great leadership comes from the strength of character.
Research of Daniel Goleman, (author of “What makes a leader” published in Jan2004 issue of HBR) along with other recent studies, clearly shows that emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership. Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he still won’t make a great leader.
b) Management vs. Leadership:-
We often confuse management with leadership.
There are leader’s in different facets of our society. Spiritual leaders, Business leaders, Political leaders and so on…
So far as the leadership in business is concerned, according to
Harvard's Dr. John P. Kotter most organizations are underled and overmanaged. He sees both strong leadership and strong management as necessary for optimal organizational effectiveness.
According to Peter Drucker:-Management is doing the things right , Leadership is doing the right things.
Here, judgment of right or wrong comes from the standard of ethics & morality of the leader.
c) Ethics, Values & morality
Stephen R Covey defines Ethics & values as follows:
Ethics are that dimension of human thought & behavior that is guided by standards & principles of appropriate conduct. It involves a commitment to do the right thing.
Values are one's judgments about what is important in life. Values tell people what is good, bad, right, wrong, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable, appropriate.
Morality-It comes from the character, which differentiates between good(or right) & bad(or wrong) The philosophy of morality is ethics.
d) Examples of Leadership:
Normally, management has a formal authority. But to become a leader you need not have a formal authority. Every one of us can become a leader.
You must have a great idea to do something for any change for betterment, believe in that idea & inspire others to bring that change.
Most of you must have heard the name of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl, youngest nominee in the history of Nobel peace prize, an education & women’s Rights activist, who braved to propagate the importance of the girl’s education & inspired all girls to attend school in Swat Valley in Pakistan.
She was shot at by Taliban because they banned the girl’s education. She set an example of true leadership without having any formal authority.
According to Daniel Goleman there are 5 components of EQ of a leader 1) Self awareness 2)self regulation 3) Empathy 4) Motivation 5) Social skill
Great leaders have an urge to sacrifice & they are humble. They are always giver. They take bigger picture of the world.
e) Conclusion:-
Good leaders are followed mainly because people trust and respect them, rather than the skills they possess. Leadership is about behavior first, skills second.
Leaders with narrower perception about life , people & the world cannot drive the organization or society or nation to a greater height. The leaders who are greedy, self centered, arrogant & egoist with poor morality do harm to the organization, society, or nation by their unmindful act or behavior. They are always driven by their ego & always behave or act to satisfy their own vested interest, instead of the interest of the organization, society or nation, as we normally see today. Respect is earned by virtue of one’s behavior & action. Behavior & action are the manifestation of one’s values, ethics & morality.
Leader’s moral values, ethics, his perception about life, people & the world will determine how he can foster the culture of Trust & respect & make winning relationship.
Organization runs & thrive on the basis of the mutual trust & faith of the employees. Management has to strive to inculcate a culture of trust & respect among the employees. Mutual trust & respect creates a strong bonding amongst the employees, which in turn facilitates team work. In such case, the joy & fruits of any achievement is shared by all, which does not create discontentment. So, Business leader's focus should be to foster a culture of trust & respect.