Have you ever been in a situation in your life where you feel
like giving up on your moral standards or code of conduct that you live your
life on? Did you ever felt that acting virtuously all the time has no
significant imperative? Or dealing with circumstances where your plausible mind
tells you that its to your best interest if you deviate from your ethical
considerations? If you answer Yes to any of the above questions, then I want
you to know that its perfectly normal and I should argue even justifiable to
think on that account. Really? Yes, but the implications of these decisions
might be sometimes fatal.
Fatal in terms of physiological, mental & psychological
functioning of your body. You might be wondering: What else could be fatal in
losing moral convictions other than just having dysfunctional trust in
relationships which is the glue that binds them together? Well, there’s another
aspect to that which is much more deeper than just trust of others. It’s more
about losing trust in yourself. It has been evident by many studies that people
who had strong convictions about their moral code of conduct had a lot more
self-esteem and a sense of significance than those who tried to defy their
conscience on a regular basis.
Part of which I am advocating is from my own personal experience
& mostly from the experiences of people that I have read about or listened
to. Even a decent or harmless act may seem insignificant at first, but when you
fail to listen to your conscience and take the decision against it, then it’s
the beginning of all the psychological trauma that ends up in community sin.
And most people fail to understand or comprehend (rightly) this simple
ideological fact that they don’t live with a group or any Individual, but they
live with their conscience.
An important observation that I have had in my rather short
life is that when you live right with alignment in your conscience, you have a
good memory. Because when you think that you can defy your conscience, you can
get away with it. But it’s a fabrication put on by people who have failed to do
so and intend to force it on you to justify and dignify their course of action.
Because your conscience always advocates for you when you act justly or not.
Therefore, its rather more important to stick to your ethical imperative than
to fool around with them. Share your thoughts on how listening to conscience is
of vital importance!
One of the significant factors
that contributes to high performance of a business portfolio, athletes,
artists, or any other field for that matter, is the impact of the people that they
surround themselves with. There are tons of people who are exceptionally
talented with unique gifts but they never are able to release them because they
arose from a part of the society where their talents were not appreciated or
realized to even exist. Just think about it for a moment, if a particular
environment or section of society doesn’t value some specific things, you
naturally won’t be rewarded for your accomplishments however great they may be.
But if you release your gifts to a place where people genuinely value your contribution
because they need it, they would naturally reward you following the laws of
economics.
Consider a colony who is fed and
completely dependent on its ruling kingdom. The subjects living in that colony are
oppressed by the rulers, but if collaboration of people results into a movement
that liberates the subjects from the oppressive policies of the government,
then you would be convinced that the people will value that movement or that
people who collaborate to solve the issue. Now, if the same group of people
advance in a democratic civilization, they wouldn’t be valued and exactly
rewarded as they were in the former scenario.
In other words, even though you
are carrying something which is valuable and can help people relive some kind
of problems, still it does not guarantee that they will completely receive it.
Because it also depends on the needs of the person at the receiving end. You
might even end up squandering your valuable time, energy & put it into
action to build something but if the receiver doesn’t demand or value it then
your effort or time has no value at all!
The whole point of the above
discussion is that you might have been with people all those years who told
you, “You are nothing”, or “You can’t do this” or “You will never amount to
something: and some of you might have even got discouraged and frustrated by
these people’s remarks but still continued to associate with them or used most
of your time to get their attention. But you need to understand from the above
concept that not everyone can truly embrace or understand your worth. So, if
you keep associating with such kind of people, even though you may not feel it
but you slowly tend to lose trust in yourself that is your Self-Confidence. And
the less you trust yourself, the more you will be persuaded and even coerced by
other people.
Its also been seen that in case
of professional athletes, the performance of an athlete changes dramatically when
they get a spouse or make a friend. And most of the part on his/her coach.
Yeah, we all know that stuff. But the major difference arises how the coach
treats an athlete. Some coaches keep pointing out the mistakes without even
bothering to suggest corrective measures. And this behavior arises partly
because some coaches may consider the player overconfident or boastful and some
of the coaches inculcate this behavior to feed their own ego. A good coach
however, would not abstain from reflecting the mistakes but also facilitate
correction and tries to understand the player’s uniqueness. And that is what
makes all the difference.
The people you choose to use your
time, determine the level of your motivation and your work ethic. If you
associate with people who are given away to drunkenness ( not specifically
alcohol but referring to anything that disturbs your mental faculty) , who are
always complaining, or sluggards, then you can’t work with efficacy in that
particular environment.
So, its important for you to
choose the right people for you. Because life is not an experiment. You can’t
keep experimenting with people for years and then decide whether you should
live with them or not. It should straight away tickle you by analyzing their
interests and most importantly their character. You can always tell what a
person is like by the people he keep friendship with. The people you choose
will be responsible for your intellectual growth, your finances, your
character, your interests and eventually your destiny. You might end up being
depressed & frustrating believing the shit people tell you and just get
away with living an average life with average expectations getting average
results. But if you live with people who always encourage you to push your
limits, believe in yourself and helps you to become a better person then trust
me, you will get through any circumstance in lie. What kind of people do you
choose for your life?
Do you know that the world is
ruled by Dead people? Yes! The world is the way we see it now is actually
shaped & influenced by the people who are DEAD. Almost every system that
operates on this planet governs on the principles that these Ancient people established.
But how can someone rule the world without even being present in it? Why is it that
the world is ruled by people in the cemetery? And the answer is not because they
were powerful, wealthy or masters of the art of persuasion. Its because they influenced
their contemporary world with their Ideas.
Ancient is so subtle that you do
not even realize when you are under its influence and yet when that idea keeps
multiplying, it manifests & metamorphoses itself into something what we
usually call a Trend. And once this trend goes deep into the psyche of certain
group, we call it a culture. Matter of fact, everything that you can see and
cannot see was once an idea from the pencil on your desk to your electronic
devices. All of them were an idea which got manifested at some point.
The Power of Ideas
Even the cultural clashes or the
abuse on grounds of ethnicity or religion is an idea. Some groups somehow got
an idea from an unreliable source that are better than the other group or they
were bron to dominate the other group. They believed that their purpose was to
oppress certain groups which they considered to be inferior than themselves.
Now, due to this idea, they formed a concept which is actually a misconception
of human misjudgment. Then their concept became their belief system. And their belief
system led them to influence the nations.
When you read about Adolf Hitler,
you would find out that the destruction that he caused to millions of lives
started from a single idea which perhaps came from the wrong source. And this idea
led to his misconception that God favors certain groups of people while others
should be persecuted if they do not belong to that section of society.
The Power of Ideas
Still not Convinced? Okay. Let’s
see a much more relevant example. We all live in Democratic Societies
(hopefully). But the word ‘Democracy’ is actually a Greek Idea. Greeks invented
this idea of ‘Demokratia’ where ‘demos’ refers to citizens and ‘kratos’ means
to rule. When the Roman empire invaded the Greece, they demolished everything
except the concepts of Greeks. So they put this Greek idea of “Democracy” into
effect and now almost the whole world is governed by this idea that a few men
created.
The Power of Ideas
This is why ideas are the most powerful
thing in the world because ideas do not die with death. They keep perpetuating
themselves even after that person’s demise. So the whole content about it is:
where do you get your ideas from? Where do you form your philosophy of life?
Where do you get information about sensitive topics that is available cheaply all
over the Internet? The source of your ideas is important than the idea itself.
You need to check the source which forms your ideology because that will form
your reality. You need to keep check on people who influence you the most and
contribute to a large amount of your Ideas. Share your Ideas below!
The most important component in the leadership development
is certainly not accumulation of power or wealth, position or status, titles,
high stake communication stills or even achievements. But the most important and
arguably the most inseparable component of a leader is Character. And by
Character, I do not by any means referring to reputation. By character, I am
referring to your true-self. It is your character that determines the level of
trust people place on you. You may be on the epitome or surge of success in
your area of competence, but if you lack this ‘character’ aspect than everything
else diminishes against it.
It is your character which acts as the “True North”. And
therefore, it is of utmost importance to have a genuine character that reflects
your values & belief system. There are many leaders who are just waiting to
grab the opportunities to lead and most of them are motivated for material benefits
or they have a fervor to feel important or approved by others. The purpose of a
character based leadership is to discover our true north which acts as the lighthouse
for others to follow.
Leadership & True North
There have been innumerable incidents in the past where
leaders forsook the need of others and sell their integrity in times of
pressure and eventually lost their True North. Your True north is what puts you
in the right direction as a leader. Your True North determines your ethical
standards. The Authenticity of your leadership is measured by your alignment with
the True north. And when you survive the turbulent & nasty times which
tests your character, only then you can really measure how much intact your
True North Is.
Leadership & True North
Following your True North is the most important for any
aspiring leader or for leaders who are already in positions of authority. It is
important to note that your authenticity is never measured by your age or even experience.
It may take 20 years to build yourself as an authentic person and an act of
merely 20 seconds can ruin it. Building yourself as an Authentic leader helps
you in many facets of life. Aristotle himself linked the notion of moral
character to a virtuous life. And this is where habit formation comes into
play. The more you practice it, the more natural it becomes to you.
Leadership & True North
Just like a habit is the result of perpetuity of certain
definite actions. Similarly, forming & maintaining a genuine character is
an act of repetition. The more you do it, the better you become at it. When you
are consciously keeping yourself aligned with the True north, you are feeding
the exact information right into your subconscious mind. And the more you do
it, the better it fits into the subconscious. Remember, your True North is the
key to your Authenticity!
Spurred by deep-rooted concerns
about the ethical conduct of today’s leaders based on chilling examples of
corporate & government malfeasance, many leadership thinkers have called
the need for a new kind of leadership—Authentic Leadership. Manifested by the
unethical conduct of many leaders in positions of authority, this discipline
requires a thorough understanding of the underlying meaning of true leadership.
Only then it can be exemplified in its true spirit.
Authenticity can be traced back
to the ancient Greek philosophy which is also reflected by Greek aphorism ‘Know
Thyself’. The root word for authenticity in the Greek language is the word ‘authento’
meaning to have “full power”. Socrates also argued the point that an ‘unexamined
life’ is not worth living. Aristotle followed with a view of ethics through a concept of ‘self-realization’
following a pursuit of the ‘higher good’ when the soul is in alignment with the
virtues for a complete life.
There have been numerous
definitions of authenticity and how it’s measured in the conduct of an
individual by keeping in accordance with the choices they make. Many believe
that authenticity is about accountability & trust. Some argue the fact that
it’s about doing the business while keeping intact with ethical considerations.
Some focus on the end goal rather than on the materialistic benefits that it
offers which is the mean.
If we take a broader view at it,
we could probably say that authentic leadership should exemplify both
behavioral consistencies and a positive ethical environment to draw out peak
performance. Nalumbwa, Avolio, Gardner Wernsing and Peterson define authentic
leadership as:
Authentic Leadership
A pattern of leader behavior that
draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacitie & a positive
ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, an internalized moral
perspective, balanced processing of information, and relational transparency on
the part of leaders working with followers, fostering positive self
development.[1]
If you would have to simplify the
above idea, it would be this: An Authentic leader is someone who consistently
exercises a good work ethic while at the same time keeping themselves aligned with
their moral compass which in turn leads to accountability and transparency. Most
frequently the reason that leaders are not able to practice authentic
leadership is because they are trying to grow without a well-understood
mission. Without clarity of purpose, it is difficult to be authentic. Without
clarity of mission, a leader can be busy most of the times and still not be
productive. Therefore, its important to understand your purpose first before
overlaying the plans for its execution.
Authentic Leadership
Your priorities should be crystal
clear in your mind before you set out to do your task. For example, for many
leaders their motivation to work is for the money that comes from their
position and not necessarily to lead or guide people and help them become
better. For how much and for how long do you expect from such a leader to
perform their reserved duties and tasks? Certainly, such type is going to drain
out soon. Of course, the motivation to work needs to be shifted from just
monetary aspect to a point which provides maximum opportunity of growth not
only for the leader but also for the followers and the organization alike.
If you want to be trusted &
respected, you need to become authentic. And for that, you will have to
introspect within yourself and be rational in your approach to make some
changes to foster not only your own growth but others growth as well. What is
your take on Authentic leadership and what are some of the practices that leads
to being more authentic? Share your thoughts!
F.o., Avolio, B.J.,
Gardner, W.L., Wernsing, T.S., & Peterson, S.J. Walumba,
"Authentic Leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based
measure," Journal of Management, pp. 89-126, 2007.
The notion that ideas must be promoted & old ones
challenged explains to a significant degree, the evolution of science and
paradigm shifts taking all across the globe. Unfortunately, this perceived
notion does not characteristically explain the behavior and choices that people
make every single day. The question is: Why don’t people learn from their poor
choices? Why people don’t keep themselves consistent? Why they give in to some
temporary situations so easily when they are on the verge of realizing their
true potential? And what can they really do about it?
And matter of fact, I’m not just talking about consistency
in your perseverance attitude to achieve your lucrative goals but also in terms
of cognitive behaviors, actions & commitments.
The Psychology of
Inconsistency
Ruthless Consistency
Have you ever met with a person who was doing very well with
his life but after a few years, you meet
him and he does not stand on your expectations? You would probably have that if
this person could have just continued to work the way he did before, he must
have been at a far better position right now than he is. The moment you say one
thing but do another – you are bound to be fragile on others trust and more
importantly - your own trust i.e. your self-confidence. Sometimes
what makes life challenging for you after a great frame of time spent well in
the past is just inconsistent act!
The simple truth is that you do not become a master of your
work unless you are ready to sabotage or sacrifice some of the things that are
precious to you like your leisure time. It’s that simple! What differentiates a
world-champion from a spectator is CONSISTENCY!
You may not be getting the results that you want, you might not be getting
appreciated for what you do, you might not feel good while you do it. But the
principle is that, if you keep hammering on it every single day, there will
come a day when you will reap the benefits of what you sowed.
Ruthless Consistency
This is what I call the SEED
Principle. When you sow a seed in the ground, you don’t expect a tree with
fruits. Do you? Matter of fact, you know that it takes time for a seed to
become a fruit-bearing tree. Even after knowing all this, you bury it in the
ground, water it every day, give it some sunlight and a day comes when it fully
manifests itself into a tree. The same principle holds true for you as well.
You might not be observing any progress in what seems painful to you, but if
you keep watering that desire, it manifests itself and then comes the day when the
results show up. Your consistency is the key for great progress even though it
may be small & steady. Remember the Kaizen concept? Share your thoughts!
Leaders are the foundation of any sustainable organization
and the strength of the company depends on them. It is therefore, important for
leaders to maintain their level of thinking and align it in the direction where
they need their organization to follow through. Here are some of the qualities
of a great leader:
THINK BIG!
As a Man Thinketh, So is he.
James Allen, the author of “ As a Man Thinketh” explains the
importance of thinking big to achieve success. He explains that you are only
going to become what you think about yourself all day long! That means it is
your responsibility as a leader to inculcate a positive thinking attitude in
yourself and your team.
In a 2013 TED Talk, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk
revealed his secret source to achieving extraordinary achievements. He reduced
all things down to thoughts. He explained that he failed many times earlier in
his career but never allowed the circumstances to overpower his thoughts and
dreams. And now, he has a number of impressive accomplishments under his belt.
Rather than playing a ‘wait and see’ game and never getting
anything done, they follow through on their ideas and thoughts and make them
reality no matter how big their dreams or thinking is. To be a successful
leader you need to sell yourself and your team, believe you can succeed and you
will. If you think that you will fail even before you start, well you probably
will! Most leaders hold themselves back not because of what they think they
are, but because of what they think they are not and cannot become. Leaders
must know the importance of thinking big and applying it in their lives.
So make sure that you think right. Think bigger, better and
Bolder!
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
Change the way you perceive
Leaders with an open-mind have been time-tested to benefit
their organizations than those with a fixed mindset. An open-mind is not only
important for a leader in an organization but also for every individual they
lead. An open-minded leader never stops growing.
Always learning:
Great leaders are life-long learners. They are always committed to improve
themselves. They never set a standard for their growth or their organization.
Consider the example of Bill Gates. When asked about the
secret of success in one of his interviews, he simply said, “ I read 50 books a
year”. He told that it’s important to keep learning all the time even after you
succeed. A leader must be a reader and maintain a learning attitude towards
everything life. This reminds us thateven though we do great work, there is always an opportunity for
improvement.
Perception: An
open-minded leader looks at things differently from others. While others are
frustrated when faced with adifficult
circumstance in their lifeor their
organization, an open-minded leader is busy figuring out the solution to that
problem. They have different attitude towards their life and with this
attitude, they create a good work-ethic in their company.
An open-mindset for a leader is necessary for their
improvement and for the people they lead and ultimately their organization.
Difficulties in life can only be converted into opportunities to do great
things with an OPEN-MIND!
WINNERS FAIL FORWARD!
Much of today’s management literature fosters warm feelings
and unimportant results. It has good intentions but it leads to sterile
outcomes. Though the age-old natural human impulse is to recoil from failure,
it is important for leaders to understand failure and use it effectively to
achieve success. Perception of failure must be changed in order to manage
failure effectively.
Perception of failure:
Often, failure is seen as end of the road to our destiny. Failure is therefore,
perceived as something to be avoided and not to be managed. Failure must only
be seen as an interruption or a detour to your success. It should never be
considered as a permanent problem. Failure provides the opportunity to the
leaders to analyze their shortcomings and learn from their mistakes that they
have made in the past.
Colonel Sanders was in his late 60s when he founded the
Kentucky Fried Chicken(KFC). He suffered many failures and misfortunes. He
tried to franchise his restaurant. His recipe was rejected 1,009 times before
anyone accepted it. But he saw failure as just an interruption, never gave in
and finally expanded his franchise internationally! He learned from his
failures and used that wisdom to succeed. Leaders must learn from this example
of Colonel Sanders and make it a testimony in their life.
It is not important how great you fail, but what matter is
how you comeback after that failure. Winners will fail over and over again
until they succeed!
Are you a Kaizen believer? Kaizen
is a Japanese concept which means “change for the better” or continuous improvement”.
It first started as a business philosophy but seemingly, it could be executed
in almost any other area of life with the exact precision. This means
continuous improvement in your preferred or areas of competence regardless of
the odds against you.
It’s better sometimes to change
the things if they don’t work appropriately or as per your requirements and
keep on making the process better and more efficient. Toyota has even
established the ‘Kaizen Way” as one of their principles to become better with
each passing year. Many athletes & their coaches use this concept and
produce astonishing results. So, how does it work? Let’s dive into it further:
The Kaizen Way
This is akin to 80/20 rule in
some way. The improvements at the beginning may appear to be small but the
results after a long or tedious process are mouth-watering. One of the reasons why
most people don’t get to their goals is primarily because they want the end
result but don’t feel it necessary to go through the required and necessary
process. But the predicament is that you cannot achieve big results without
small & continuous improvement every single day for these small &
sustainable improvements add up to the BIG CHANGE!
The Kaizen Way
The Compound Effect is another
idea that has the potential to manifest the real YOU if understood and then
applied in the right context and set of circumstances. An Ukrainian pole
vaulter, Sergey Bubka who first broke the world record in 1984 is famous for
breaking his own world record 35 times- each time breaking his own previous
record. And in less than 2 years, he improved his own previous mark—an
astonishing 14 times! His final record remained unbroken for almost 20 years. I
am sure you will be able to relate this anecdote to Kaizen and the compound
effect. You can have a huge advantage over almost every body else if you could
just keep learning everyday for the rest of your life which adds up to your
skill sets or knowledge.
Stoicism is probably one of the
most eminent discipline of study in philosophical context. And its roots can be
found starting from the Greek mythology to Roman empires. Many great minds in
the history have argued and tried to give their euphoria to the study of
Stoicism. So is Stoicism confined to a contended living or does it teaches us
some lessons in leadership context? As contrary to what may appear at the macro
level to most of the people, stoicism is not as ubiquitous as it may seem.
The roman emperor Marcus Aurelius
probably holds his place as one of the most
earliest people in history who contributed to stoicism and ancient philosophy
and mentions it profoundly in his book ‘Meditations’. In fact, stoicism can
certainly not only make you a better individual but also a good leader in many
aspects of it. Marcus Aurelius being a roman emperor has maintained the
reputation for being the ideal & wise leader whom Plato called the “Philosopher
King”. His Meditations has provided the necessary and timeless wisdom &
presents various ideas that leaders of different generations or cohort can
execute. These ideas must be digested & assimilated by a aspiring leader or
even leaders at some level in their areas of competence.
Leadership & Stoicism
Stoicism presents a numerous
lessons which can be executed by a leader to be more effective. These teachings
not only confine to some sober & conscientious people or thinkers. But even
a layman with no prior conditioning in philosophy can apply these timeless
lessons to be more effective.
·Expressing Gratitude:
Now you might be wondering,
“How the hell will Gratitude help me become a better leader?” Well, if you lead
your organization or people but always take them for granted, it is time for
you to reflect on those attitudes and follies of the past. Dale Carnegie in ‘How
to Win Friends & Influence People’ presents the idea to look at people’s
circumstances from their perspective and to talk more about them rather than
bragging about yourself or your position, title or past accomplishments.[1]
Change your Interpretations:
I
have already probably talked about this aspect in previous posts, but still it
is so relevant and vital in life, that it cannot be discarded from being a
rigid principle in itself. Life is not necessarily how you interpret it to be.
Now, that being said, do not take the above statement literally.
I
meet some people and they constantly keep saying, “Well, you know, this
positivity thing doesn’t help. This does not change your position in life at
all!” And I agree to their assumption ( yes! Because most of them do not even
try) to some extent, but it never implies that you need to have complete
dominion or control over tough and turbulent times. It only signifies the truth
that you can always correct your perception towards it. And ultimately, there
is a complete alteration in your response to the same situation (Isn’t this
exciting? )
Leadership & Stoicism
Don’t get Influenced with others
opinions ( that includes praise or criticism):
The truth about you is more
important than other people’s opinion of you. We see it often that a person
gets approval and praise when he/she starts influencing some or other areas of
life and when they are caught up in a demeaning act or some character flaws,
people make life hell for them. And that’s gives a very strong reason why
stoics are never bothered or even touched by what people perceive them to be.
They are more concerned in doing their business to the point that they do not
even use their time in thinking of these frail things.
Leadership & Stoicism
The above mentioned were some of
the things which I shared from my learning of stoicism and how it can be put to
test in leadership styles to lead yourself into becoming the kind of person you
were supposed to be. The rest of the lessons will be shared in the upcoming
posts. Share your thoughts on why stoicism proves to be an effective way of living
life!
The ethical part of leadership has been sharply questioned
particularly by leaders who failed to live by some intact principles &
standards. But the question is: Is it helpful to fully manifest your potential
as a leader by remaining ethical? Or should you run into the same cat &
mouse race as is done by some corrupt and unethical leaders? The answer to the
former question is an absolute YES! Because leadership is an act which involves
trust of the followers. And in any given scenario, if you violate that basic
entity which is the very foundation of a stable relationship between a leader
and a follower, you have uprooted yourself from being a transformational leader to merely an authoritative leader.
HOW TO BE ETHICAL?
Ethical Leadership
Followers are motivated by the leaders promises, praise and
rewards, or they are corrected by their feedback, reproof or some disciplinary
course of action. In other words, there needs to be some authority which
generally acts as a lighthouse for others and sets the standard. And that
somebody should be the leader himself.
·Stay Actively Engaged: When leaders engage in active
management-by-exception, they monitor followers performance and correct
followers mistakes. The number one advantage of staying actively engaged with
the followers is that you can monitor their growth and the use of resources.
But when the leaders engage in
passive-management-by-exception, they wait passively for followers mistakes to
be called to their attention before taking corrective actions with negative
feedbacks. And the result is that they end up disconnecting themselves with the
followers and the latter’s trust in the former collapses eventually.
·Focus on being effective not popular: Do you know why most leaders
perpetuate against their principles and ethical boundaries? Most of them do it
because they focus too much on being a people’s person. And the argument is
that if you align yourself away from your ethical standards, you will always be
misguided. Why? Because different people will have different opinions about
you. They will have different set of beliefs for your accomplishments. And if
you indulge yourself in petty popularity, you will end up moving away from your
ethical considerations and lose the trust of people you lead.
Ethical Leadership
·Build a strong character: The key here really is to understand
your beliefs and values which you will never compromise even in the advent of
adversity. That means, you become a convict of your own convictions. Leadership
is a tough business and requires the leader to be morally & ethically
stern, so that he do not gets carried away when the tough & turbulent times
strike him. Great leaders of the history like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi,
Martin Luther King Jr. and many others showed an exemplary character which
formed the foundation of their leadership abilities. No wonder why vast
majority of the people trusted and followed them. They had this unique quality
of leading the masses that separated them from the crowd and helped them make a
mark on their followers and on the world.
The
important thing to note here is that character should never be perplexed with
charisma or even reputation. It doesn’t mean that you are acting a moral figure
in public but doing immoral stuff in private. If you aspire to be an effective
leader, your intent should be to stay envisioned on developing a strong &
genuine character.
·Focus on yourself first and not on
others: In Plato’s
Philebus dialogue, Socrates argued the point that people look absurd when they
try to know obscure things before knowing themselves. The generalized concept
is that if you always keep yourself occupied in looking faults or problems
faced by other people, you don’t have the time to check whether you are still
on the ethical spots or not. Therefore, always keep in touch with yourself and
readily make changes when you notice any deviation from your standards.
·Share your values: This is generally one of the best
practices that a leader must inculcate in order to stay ethically sound.
Although this part comes in the transformational leadership also, but mainly it
is based on the idea of creating an environment or culture within the
organization where the followers, managers & the leaders have same belief
patters & value system.
The core values are an integral part of sustaining and
thriving an organization. And that’s the reason why core values must be
assimilated by the leaders beginning from day one. And then shared with the
followers. As the Roman philosophy goes, “if you can make a large group of
people believe in something, you are actually creating a culture’. And if the
culture in your organization is based on its core values, there is no better
alternative than that. The inputs that you feed into your people, they return
it in the form of their performance and help in thriving the organization and
sustaining it in times of crisis because of the trust that has been established.
CONCLUSION:
The conclusion is very plain. There are not many complexities
in staying ethical if a leader really wishes and desires to do so. Is it worth
staying ethical? Yes, we have seen leaders who made a difference just by not
compromising on their standards and staying ethical. You can check and maintain
your ethical behavior by following these prerequisites:
·Stay
Actively Engaged.
·Focus
on being effective not popular.
·Build
a Strong Character.
·Focus
on yourself first.
·Share
your values.
If you keep in touch with the above points, it will help you
to stay ethical and lead in a much better way.
