Continuing our consideration of Kolp and Rea’s Leading with Integrity: Character-Based Leadership, in this blog post we consider the virtues of faith, justice, prudence, and temperance.
Faith—Martin Luther King, Jr. is credited with saying, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Flannery O’Connor notes, “Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether they believe it or not.”
As a leadership virtue, faith is tightly connected to trust. For followers to have faith in a leader, the leader must be trustworthy.
“Trust or faith always transcends the individual,” observes Kolp and Rea. “It invests leaders in something or someone outside themselves. It is the guiding principle of servant leadership.”
Justice—The third basic virtue, justice means being fair, equal, or right. It means more than what is legal. Kolp and Rea point out, “Justice is about being responsible as an individual or as a corporation. Justice is central to responsible conduct because it is the crossroad of the religious, the political and the legal. Indeed, in all times justice is seen comprehensively as a religious and philosophical duty, a political goal and a legal guarantee.”
Today’s political climate focuses considerable attention on the nation’s justice system. And attitudes regarding what is “just” carry over into the workplace. On pages 12 and 13 of Why It Matters, I note, “Leaders are responsible for ensuring the right things are being done right. Exemplary leadership means more than doing the legal, ethical, and moral thing; it means doing the right thing, and it means doing it all of the time, not just some of the time. Mike Duke, former president and CEO of Walmart, reminded the students it was not enough to simply do what is legal. Your actions must pass legal, ethical, moral, humane, truth, accuracy, reasonability, and front-page tests. Ask how you will feel if what you do is on the front page of newspapers. Pam McGinnis, president of global marketing at Phillips 66, advised them to ‘prioritize doing the right thing over doing the fun, fast, and easy thing.’”
Prudence—When we think someone is prudent, we think they manage their finances wisely. However, more than economics is involved in being a prudent leader. Being prudent means you are intuitive and know how to prioritize, how to balance long-term and short-term benefits. A prudent leader is a wise leader. After noting that Aristotle contends the goal of human life is to be good, Kolp and Rea observe, “Prudence assists us in getting there.”
Among numerous quotes on prudence, I found the following to be informative:
- According to St. Ignatius, “Prudence has two eyes, one that foresees what one has to do, the other that examines afterward what one has done.”
- “Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place,” said Benjamin Franklin, “but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”
- Warren Buffett points out, “The less prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we should conduct our own affairs.”
Temperance—Like prudence, temperance is a means, not an end; often associated with discipline, Kolp and Rea note that a balanced life is a life of temperance. They note, to be temperate is to be aware and attentive. A life of temperance is a life of balance, especially balancing career and family. It calls attention to self-indulgence of placing self over others—family, friends, colleagues, and the community.
Kolp and Rea also observe that someone who is temperate is self-aware, socially aware, socially skilled, and self-managed. They observe that there is a strong correlation between emotional intelligence and temperance. People who are temperate control their emotions.
Socrates said, “There is no difference between knowledge and temperance; for he who knows what is good and embraces it, who knows what is bad and avoids it, is learned and temperate.”
Next: Leadership Virtues—Love and Hope
