Kolb and Rea begin at the only place there is to when one is considering character and integrity related to leadership; with Aristotle, who was the world’s first great ethical voice. Interestingly the authors have used the seven classical virtues to frame their arguments throughout this book. Something I think is poignant in the first chapter is the discussion of the impetus for their writing of this book, and the lack of leadership in this nation. I think that for people my age, 30’s, who are supposed to be coming into their own as leaders and productive members of our society have lacked sufficient role models throughout their lives, especially in the business world. Meaning that for most of my life I have heard repeated stories about the corruption of our business leaders and political leaders. People that were supposed to inspire. The most tragic thing about this moral slide in the business world over the last thirty years is that people like me who are soon to be business leaders, do not know how to behave to model properly for the next generation. Hopefully all these stories of dishonest behavior, and their terrible detriment, will prove to be cautionary tales.
· Chapter 2 – Character
I found the section on teaching character to business students to be particularly affecting. As a member of the team writing the environmental literacy plan for Nevada, we often talk about the depth stages of true understanding. The terms we use for these are “emergent, functional, and operational” which basically are a scale from emergent where one understands facts to operational where one takes those facts and knowledge putting them into practice in everyday life. For example one can easily gain (or be taught) the knowledge that plastic water bottles do not biodegrade therefore must be thrown into a landfill and may last forever there; however deepening the understanding of why that fact is important, and furthering that knowledge to influence someone to use a refillable water bottle made from recycled material and perhaps not even purchase disposable bottles anymore is extremely difficult. Ethics professors at business schools face the same challenge. Everyone knows the ‘golden rule’; everyone knows the ‘right’ way to act; but it is changing minds effectively enough so that when a business leader is faced with a moral dilemma they make the right decision despite earnings potential is a task that will require staunch commitment over seriously extended periods of time. And those involved should expect that once they feel the glow of possible success, that they reinvent and reinvigorate because the pendulum is sure to be set to swing back toward the direction of profit at any cost.
· Chapter 3 – Competence; Adding Value
Value is a tricky concept for a business. I think of creating value as developing a ‘product’ that conveys long term productivity and sustainable profitability for a firm, regardless of the business. Being from the Bay Area and an A’s fan (though they are second only to my beloved Angels) I appreciate the example of Billy Beane and the money ball model. The Oakland A’s are one of the most enjoyable teams to watch, though lately they have been cellar dwellers. Though I love baseball to the depth of my soul, I understand that it is at its core entertainment, and when you don’t have the dollars to spend on bringing in personalities that hit dingers, you bring personalities that will give their fans a show every time. Meaning young players with heart that put up a fight in every game, that keep people in their seats (buying hot dogs and jerseys) until the last pitch; veterans with history that could redeem themselves at any moment; because these players have personality and inspire not just fans but true FANATICS who value your product beyond all others and support your organization even when it is in the cellar.
· Chapter 4 – The Nature and Development of Leadership
The discussion of power as a ‘zero-sum’ equation is quite fascinating. I find myself falling into this trap and occasionally believing that in power equations this is truly the case, however one must remember to be patient and not rash when that surge of jealously or contempt attempts to surface when one feels threatened. If one is patient and recalls their own skills and competence one can reconcile feeling vulnerable and use the energy of competition to drive individual ambition and in turn benefit the organization as a whole. As a leader one must remember that a subordinate showing confidence and a surge in power should be seen as a result of their own effective leadership. As humility is also an important leadership trait, expressing sincere gratitude to a confident employee for doing an exceptional job can ingratiate that employee to the leader and the organization therefore ensuring their efforts always serve the shared purpose instead of the self.
· Chapter 5 – Courage
When examining courage one comes to realize that acting with courage is the ‘operational’ quality of the more fundamental virtue of love. Only when one has the feelings of love can one summon the courage to act to preserve those feelings or the object of those feelings. As a virtuous leader one must love their organization, and all that entails, to be able to act in the face of fear and immoral temptation. Courage is defined as acting despite fear; making the moral choice in the most difficult of situations; choosing sustainability and long-term prosperity over the quick and easy path. If one does not have a deep and elemental love for their occupation, (not to the sense of a vocation but close) then how could one ever act with the courage it would take to keep one’s organization advancing, ethical, and prosperous? The truth is that courage would be impossible without love, but it is truly more important than love because it is a display of the depth of the understanding of that love, and the understanding of love for oneself as well.
· Chapter 6 – Faith
Finally the authors broach the subject of long-term productivity versus short-term profitability. Short-term profitability, I believe, leads to the extreme pressures to produce earnings that cause people to make immoral choices, because it is often the easier choice to make as one can see the reward and most believe they can ‘walk away’ afterward, that the repercussion of doing something unethical or even illegal won’t catch up to them, and that the immediacy of the reward (perhaps they feel they truly need it, or truly do need it) is worth the perceived risk which to those who even consider such actions is substantially low. It is exceedingly more difficult to ‘keep the faith’ and trust in those around you to help you, as an individual, and your organization succeed in the long run; ‘keep the faith’ that by making the virtuous choices and trusting people around you, you will reach that reward eventually and through the process be a happier individual, an uncorrupted soul, with the same reward in the end or perhaps an even better one because you can be at peace with your decisions and live without regret.
· Chapter 7 – Justice
There is nothing like injustice in the actions of a leader toward their followers to turns ones followers against them. Injustice is a glaring lesion in a workplace because even if the injustice is not directed toward oneself it is visible in the body language and the tone of voice of one’s coworkers. Even if one is not aware of the specific actions resulting in the feelings of unfairness, and deeper the feelings of betrayal, one can see the loss of trust in the face of the employee that has been wronged. In my own personal experience that person will never behave the same at work ever again. Fear of being wronged again, and mistrust of their leader (actually to say their boss would be better phrasing) will forever influence their work, and their feelings about the organization as well. That same person is now unfortunately even more susceptible to making unethical decisions because their considerations are exclusively for themselves. Therefore when faced with that choice of ethical long-term success versus unethical short-term profitability that same individual will most likely choose themselves and their own self-interest over the interests of their organization.
· Chapter 8 – Leadership and Corporate Responsibility
Here the authors come to the crux of their argument, that it is extremely difficult to meet the expectations of all an organization’s stakeholders let alone surpass them. It is a constant struggle to not only survive as an organization, but to be productive while doing so. Continual adjustments must be made, constant tweaking of one’s actions to always be pursuing that idealized vision of the future, or the idealized state of organizational success. This again evokes Martin Luther King, as he often spoke of always pursuing that idealized version of our futures. We cannot forget ever that idealized vision as it should always serve to drive us toward that vision, shaping our decisions and actions to the betterment of ourselves, our employees, our organizations, and ultimately our society as a whole. Animals is nature are driven by natural selection and competition toward this vision, but humanity has the benefit and curse of choosing the pathway to that idealized vision, and often we sacrifice the long term faraway vision for the immediate gratification of the rewards of the present. In business clarifying that idealized vision for our organizations is crucial, as is populating our organizations with individuals that seek the idealized vision as passionately and as devotedly as we as leaders do.
This chapter was especially powerful for me as it is analogous to the occurrences at my own organization. Kolb and Rea call prudence a virtue and I believe it is necessary to be quite prudent as a leader with integrity, however it has recently occurred to me that prudence can easily be mistaken for a coldness and business-like attitude that unfortunately has me frowned at lately at the office. As a person with huge demands on my time I pride myself in my time management and the building of a “to-do” pipeline so that I can get out ahead of my workload to avoid the stress created by completing work at the last minute. My boss, bosses really, work very differently from me and when conditions change close to deadlines due to their lack of planning and poor communication, I am frustrated as I must then become their savior as they are too busy to pick up the slack that they were responsible for creating in the first place. What would have been more efficient and effective is for them to act with greater prudence and foresight into situations with which they should be much more familiar with than I. Then they could have properly empowered me and others to handle required initiatives and complete tasks with a healthy cushion prior to our deadlines so that we wouldn’t have to work fourteen hours a day, six days a week to accomplish what should have been a stress-free execution of strategic responsibilities. My reaction to these failures in prudence has been cold and perhaps one would say I lack understanding and compassion, however one’s empathetic and sympathetic response to situations I believe has a limit, perhaps I have reached mine. Or conceivably one may argue that prudence and practicality should trump sensitivity at certain times to preserve a business’ productivity and reputation.
· Chapter 10 - Temperance
In this chapter Kolb and Rea deftly state, “smart, hard-working leaders can fail because they misperceive their corporation’s circumstances, they mismanage information and control, and they persist in relying on unsuccessful habits.” I believe this to be absolutely true, and especially so when the organization is undergoing change. The attitude that what was once effective should be repeatedly even though the organization and its products have been adjusted radically is quite frustrating to observe as an employee. And I wholly concur with the authors that, “the best way out of a business debacle is to take a disciplined approach, learn from mistakes, and listen to others’ advice.” Maybe I only agree so readily because it is my own advice I wish would be followed. The temperance virtue is tantamount in my own theory of organizational science. I think that firms should craft their actions to resemble natural systems I have noticed that natural systems have a better track record at long run sustainability than do businesses and industries. Therefore a CEO should act like the human brain (the world’s most amazing machine) and operate in a dual feedback loop model making small adjustments that accelerate or decelerate the firm. These slight adjustments are like using both hands on the wheel of your car, not totally necessary when driving Highway 50 across Nevada, but crucial when navigating the Mt. Rose Highway. And just like your vehicle an organization will more than occasionally encounter a windy road.
· Chapter 11 – Love
Understanding what the authors are trying to accomplish by including love as a leadership virtue is key to understanding why love is such a crucial virtue. When a leader shows love to their followers they are showing them that they are valuable to not just the organization but to the leader themselves. When a person is aware of that love they are effected by it positively. They have the internal power to be self-motivated and empowered to accomplish what is needed of them for the grater shared purpose of the firm. An individual that is empowered at their deepest self, their highest hierarchical level of need, they are at their most productive and therefore are most beneficial to the organization. Without that feeling of being invaluable an employee is left feeling empty in their position, and empty people cannot accomplish the work needed for an organization to leap from being good to great.
· Chapter 12 – Hope
The authors’ final virtue, hope, goes hand in hand with what may be the most essential and primary of a leader’s duty and is congruent with Covey’s effective habit of “beginning with the end in mind”. The ability to envision the ideal future state of one’s self, business, industry, and the world at large is a tantamount vitrtue in every great famous and even infamous leader. MLK and Hitler both were exceptionally gifted at picturing their ideal future and therefore were effective at mobilizing their followers to work toward that state. Albeit, Hitler’s vision was frightening and morally reprehensible. This hope gives a leader the ability to have courage in the face of adversity and be that shining example to their own organization. Without this employees would be behest with hopelessness, which would in turn lead to apathy and indifference, which no one would want their organization to be fraught with.
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