Morals And Ethics Are Important Leadership Qualities

Because many organizational leaders are elected either because of popularity or politics, it is not unusual that some of these leaders act expediently rather than always doing the "right thing." Since most organizations have not taken sufficient steps to properly qualify their leaders, nor to professionally train them, there is often not only a dearth of qualified leadership, but even more so, there are moral and ethical leadership issues that are also never properly addressed by these "leaders."

Moral and ethical organizational leaders necessitate that leaders always put their organizations best interest ahead of their own "agenda." In addition, leaders must avoid even the appearance of any conflict, and thus, if there is anything that anyone might misinterpret, a leader mjust disclose any potential conflict up front and completely.

Leaders must take "confidentiality" issues seriously. Leaders should never disclose or violate a "confidence," and if there is any doubt, the leader should request a clarification and approval from the individual whose confidentiality is at issue. Properly run organizations always require written "Confidentiality Agreements" from any Board member, committee member, officer, etc. If attendees at these meetings do not feel confident that they cannot speak openly without potential ramifications from diswclosure, Boards, meetings and committee effectiveness, is often severely hampered.

Morality of leadership also means that leaders should not be "two-faced." In my three decades of involvement with numerous organizations, I have come into contact with numerous "leaders" who are extremely two-faced, say different things to different people, or criticize others (but never to their face). Besides obviously being disingenuous and dishonest, these leaders are acting unethically, because leadership is not about being popular, but rather about "setting an example" of service, direction, and openly addressing the needs of the organization.

Unfortunately, these circumstances will continue to prevail at the majority of organizations. Until and unless an organization decides it "can do better," and "should do better," it generally continues with the status quo, of simply electing or selecting its leaders based on unprofessional criteria. Organizations that wish to excel and evolve, and truly want to accomplish its mission, understand the significance and need to develop both a better qualification criteria for potential leaders, as well as a professionally designed and administered multi-tiered leadership training program. Organizations must always ensure that their leaders are equipped and knowledgeable regarding all the basics and needs of leadership training, including the necessary skills, and the methodologies.