Ethical Leadership

Peter Drucker (the “guru” of leadership) is cited as saying “managers do things right, leaders do the right thing”. So how do you know if you are doing the “right thing” as a leader? It is a question of ethics and in so researching this point I went back to the “source” of ethical discussion in the western canon: Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics”. His work built on Socrates’ primary virtue of seeking wisdom along with Plato’s two other key virtues (courage and temperance). He then constructed a “how to” guide to ethics which any leader might use to assess if they are doing the “right thing”.

Here’s how to lead ethically along with further considerations (“et alors”):

Ethical Leadership

Whilst 2,400 years old and of a “western” perspective, contemporary readers of Nicomachean Ethics might be struck by its seeming resemblance to some “eastern” philosophies: - to achieve wisdom, harmony must be sought with each “virtue” being held in “balance”. There is no right or wrong in the sense of having the virtue or not; only the perspective of too much or too little. Here are the virtues:

Magnificence

Concerned with giving and getting greater things, too much is vulgar whereas too little is paltry. Perhaps as relevant advice in today’s modern capitalist world as it was for Athenian statesmen.

Magnanimity

Concerned with great honour (and dishonour), too much is vanity whereas too little is “smallness of soul.” In a sense, “connect” with what you are doing but don’t chase status for its own sake.

Ambitiousness

Concerned with lesser honours (and dishonours), too much is over- whereas too little is under-ambitious. Getting ambition just right is to balance potential with achievable opportunities.

Agreeableness

Concerned with general pleasantness in life, too much is obsequious (or flattery), whereas too little is quarrelsome. Otherwise known as friendliness, never overlook the importance of this virtue!

Generosity

Concerned with giving (and getting) money, too much is wasteful whereas tool little is mean. Modern theories assert that giving will yield later “dividends” but don’t give away everything!

Gentleness

Concerned with anger (management), too much is irritability, whereas too little is “spiritlessness.” To be angry is easy, but not so at the right time, at the right place, in the right way with the right person.

Honesty

Concerned with truth about oneself, too much is boastful pretention whereas too little is self-deprecation. It’s arguable that nothing is possible if you cannot be honest about yourself.

Humour

Concerned with being witty or charming, too much is buffoonery whereas too little is boorishness. Humour normally “helps” socially, but consider the context, the occasion and the audience.

Courage

Concerned with confidence (and managing fear), too much would be “rash” whereas too little is to be fearful. Risks should be calculated before taking them, but courage comes from the heart.

Contentedness

Concerned with temperance of pleasures, too much would be profligate whereas too little is “insensible.” Plato called this the “belly” – don’t over indulge, but don’t be too abstemious!

Et alors

If you manage to live your life with these virtues in balance, then Aristotle asserts that you will be able to achieve wisdom which is the greatest of virtues. What could be better for a leader looking to know how to do the “right thing”? As a leader, achieving wisdom for yourself will help you guide others to also do the right thing. If you know how to be ethical, the rationale is that you will then be able to make ethically “correct” decisions whatever the question might be. In Greek the seventh letter of the alphabet is “eta” which is written as “H” but is pronounced as “i”. Making the substitution in the above ten virtues makes for a memorable mnemonic – it’s “MAGIC!”