Monday, November 03, 2008 Principled leadership By Ismael D. Tabije Monday Notions
THE current economic and financial turmoil happening in the world today has shown without any iota of doubt that plain intellect and leadership ability are not sufficient to make the world go round.
As late as a few months ago, who would have doubted the intellect and leadership of the top executives of such high profile blue-chip companies as AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns? The intellect and leadership of the US Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman? The collective intellect and leadership of the USA in the world?
Now the glass has been shattered, their warped ideas of intellect and leadership, and the hubris and arrogance that went with them, have caused them and the rest of the world untold financial misery never before experienced since the Great Depression of the 1920s-30s.
These high-sounding words, intellect and leadership, cannot stand on their own; they need to be qualified. Intellectual dishonesty should not be acceptable. Leadership that's not anchored on old-fashioned values should not be acceptable.
The underlying cause of the US-led crisis is so complex that even the best economists of the USA failed to notice the breaking point. But one thing is clear: the intellect of the top government and business executives of that country was tainted with unbridled greed for personal gain and look where it brought us.
Now more than ever, we should demand principled leadership from people who pretend to be our leaders in government, in business, in all organizations.
A principled leader's point of view has to have three levels: (1) what's good for the country, (2) what's good for his organization, and (3) what's good for him and his family.
It is but natural for a person to think of how to improve his personal situation. We all work hard so we could get promoted, we could earn more, we could be recognized and applauded, and so on. In our pursuit of such personal improvement, we have to address and support the needs of the organization we work for on the basic premise that if we can help push up the organization it will pull us up in return.
In the private sector, the overwhelming objective of business enterprises is profitability. The main concern of business leaders is the optimum return on investment of the company's shareholders.
It is in the pursuit of profits where ordinary leaders are differentiated from principled leaders. A principled leader has the country's good as higher in hierarchy than the company's profits. Sure, we can argue that it is not the business sector's responsibility to run the country, it is the government's. But at the very least, no business objective or strategy should contribute to the country's misery.
Clearly, the leaders of the fallen financial institutions in the USA pursued profits so relentlessly for their companies and for themselves that they didn't care how negatively those acts impacted their country and the world. The same can be said of the milk manufacturers in China who used carelessly melamine in their products to improve their profitability. The same of the corrupt government leaders in the Philippines who openly rob the country while the vast majority of the population wallow in poverty.
Principled leadership is all about having the right values and principles, providing benefit to the organization and serving the community and the country. It is all about earning the trust and respect of your constituents as a result of your character, competence and commitment.
Principled leadership -- how I wish and pray that it becomes a fad again soon.
