Leadership a Moral and Ethical Business/Economic Issues: 90% of Employees Want and 12% of Leaders Consistently Act

Leaders have a greater responsibility in society because in their roles they must care for a larger group of people. When one moves up an organization they become more responsible for people and should have the inner characteristics that support that increased responsibility. Trust in leadership rewards companies through increased engagement and performance. Our collective values determine which type of leadership we want and the type of organization/society we seek to create.

The issue we face in some organizations, as well as in society, is that we sometimes support short term performance over long term organizational objectives. Whether one is in a public role or within a private company position the higher moral thinking is a sign of stronger leadership and corporate/organizational potential. Intuitively we know who has it and who doesn't but that may not stop us from supporting poor leadership for self gain (i.e. blind followership.)

The Mocking of Human Follies
Frans Verbeeck 1500-1550
As a representation of 
human errors in
judgement and sometimes
leadership.

There are times when organizational culture declines because the rewards and benefits of an organization are not in alignment with what would create long term success. This is when we must begin to reform an organization and encourage that higher moral thought. As you will find in the video below, failure to support good leadership eventually collapses the whole because people lose faith and take on secondary objectives that detract from collective gain and retards shareholder wealth. 

In my experience, I have seen strong and week organizations based on the quality of their leadership and the ability to correct and encourage more ethical performance. When an organization becomes filled with poor leadership and inappropriate rewards it will eventually fail because it looses trust and commitment of those who do the work (Moral Leadership and Organizational Performance). Thus, we should support moral and ethical leadership at all levels of an entity because it leads to improved profits and innovation that stems stronger employee engagement.

(i.e. this is why its your duty to support good leadership, integrity in institutions and corrections when there are moral, ethical, and legal lapses. To not do that means the business and economic system suffers. In my experience, you can't always sell it to those who have the most to gain by not acting with high moral standards.)

Any society and organization that does not support ethical and moral leadership will have a bumpy ride and economic/financial troubles that will lead to general organizational decline. That becomes a net loss for the organization and you can see that at various places and metrics if you understand how to measure appropriately. Putting your friends in positions they don't deserve, not having rules that remove poor actors and/or not rewarding good leadership decays the foundation of the collective action/motivation that would encourage organizations to outperform others. 

(Quiet Quitting as one sign of lack of trust and belief in collective benefit of engagement that results in a 59% of workers quite quitting and a 9% loss of global GDP. If true, it might be a higher loss through lack of innovation and effort. i.e. human capital as a important untapped source of development in the U.S. ). 

Companies should be built on trust and a shared sense of collective benefit or otherwise people may lack commitment and not do the things that make that organization great. Most of us know that on a deeper level and when we don't support strong leadership we are inadvertently encouraging collective loss. It and of itself it is moral failure and we as individuals own that.

A study The State of Moral Leadership in Business. 90% of employees want moral leadership but only 12% of CEOs consistently act that way. 

A Few Principles:

1. Support ethical and moral leadership. Remove and/or not hire or promote those who don't have it.

2. Build structures and reward systems that support good leadership, motivation and ethical behaviors. 

3. Think mid and long term when making strategic decisions to maintain focus on organizational success and develop the capacity to compete.

4. Inability to correct, recruit, or adjust to encourage ethics and morality means an organization is on the decline. The question is not if but when.

5. Strong leaders understand the deeper mechanics of how groups and society function and know how to tap that for higher moral and economic performance.

6. Those who knowing and blindly follow immoral leadership unlikely qualified to take on the roles of leadership in the future. 

7. Seek out companies that have high ethical standards and good moral leadership. Do your homework when looking for a job and planning your next career jump. Avoid those that are not doing the right things so as to encourage market based reform through lack of competitive abilities. Develop your personal commitment to a better society and world.