Category Archives: What is Virtue-Based Leadership?

Articles describing the characteristics, theory, and nature of Virtue-Based Leadership

Is it Possible to Have Too Much Virtue?

Aristotle taught that virtue lay in the moderation within what he called “spheres of action,” or “spheres of feeling.”  Courage, he said, was practiced in the sphere of fear and confidence, avoiding excesses or deficiencies of either, which would result instead in cowardice or rash action.  Truthfulness lay in the sphere of self-expression, avoiding the vices of either boastfulness or false modesty.  In the sphere of pleasure and pain, temperance was found between licentiousness and senselessness. (See figure below).  In each case, virtue is found in the moderation of actions in a given sphere, while vices lay in either deficiency or excess of such actions.

Aristotle's Virtues

Figure 1 (Credit: Central Washington University – click to magnify)

Another philosophy, illustrated by the following meme (Figure 2). currently circulating around the Internet, hints at Aristotle’s teachings, while oversimplifying and thus corrupting them.  By eliminating the column Aristotle’s spheres, and instead relying only on a simplified spectrum of actions within those spheres, this philosophy forwards that we must practice moderation of the virtues themselves.  So, the illustration provides, a lack of integrity would lead to corruption (I agree).  However, it also infers that too much integrity leads to legalism.

Virtue spectrum

Figure 2 (copyright Jim Lanctot)

It is here I must disagree on several levels, finding such an argument to be a misleading argument based in postmodern relativism.

Starting with the first line of the chart, “integrity” is not a moderation between corruption and legalism.  Corruption certainly indicates a deficiency of integrity, but legalism by no means is a reliable indication of its excess.  In fact, one can have a complete lack of integrity and still be legalistic (and simultaneously be corrupt).  For proof, one need only watch a session of Congress in which individual representatives or Senators manipulate rules of order to benefit their own interests. And this is not new – witness the Pharisees and Saducees of Jesus’ time.

If we did want to find a sphere of action, perhaps “application of rules,” with corruption and legalism as its extremes, a more appropriate label for the median might be “discretion.”

Likewise, I argue that judgmentalism is not an excess of discernment, but an absence of mercy.  To be sure, one need not have discernment at all to be judgmental!  And does one really believe that “enabling” is an excess of love?  Hardly – enabling behavior comes from a deficiency.

If we continue down the ladder, we will find similar arguments refuting the chart’s validity.  Disregard and idolatry both deny respect for what is truly important.  Pride and degradation (or false humility) live together, rather than across a spectrum.  Sloth and overwork both involve disregard for virtuous priorities.  Temperance may indeed lie between licentiousness and strictness (Aristotle said senselessness), but is meaningless without the context of the sphere of pleasure and pain.  And similarly, foolhardiness is not excessive courage but excessive self-confidence.

Further, there can be no such thing, as forwarded by this philosophy, as an excess of virtue.  Certainly not the virtues presented.  Can you imagine a world with too much Integrity, discernment, love, respect, humility, diligence, temperance, or courage?  Oh, if only that were the case!

Similarly, there can be no such thing as a healthy moderation of vice.  If “moderation in all things” were indeed true, we would ask the FDA to prescribe minimum levels of arsenic in our drinking water rather than only maximums!  Similarly, there is no healthy minimum level of corruption, foolishness, judmentalism, sloth, idolatry, legalism, or other such vices!

We should not practice moderation of either virtue or vice, but strive for the highest levels of the former and the elimination of the latter.

Mission: Develop Future Leaders

To paraphrase a good friend and wonderful leader-mentor, “All leaders are departing leaders.”  By our very human nature, our time in any position of leadership is temporary, whether that span be in decades, years, months, days, or even minutes.  Effective leaders understand this, and begin preparing for their departure as soon as, or even before, they take the reins.

Often, when we as leaders speak of “leaving our legacy,” we think about  the accomplishments, changes, vision, or policies for which we will be remembered.

Yet policies, vision, changes, and even accomplishments can have a short life-span.  Sometimes they are gone as soon as the leader departs, yet even when they last a relatively long time, they like the leader are temporary in nature.

The one legacy, however, that has the potential to stand the test of time is development the next generation of leaders.  For this reason, the best and most memorable leaders with and for whom I’ve served have understood the importance of pouring their lives and experience into the leaders of the future.

In my faith we refer to this as “discipleship,” and in business we often call it “mentorship,” but regardless of the title, it is the development not just of followers, but of future leaders, by providing a virtuous example, investing ourselves in their lives, passing along our knowledge, skills, and values, and (most importantly), teaching them to do the same for the leaders who will follow them.

And I believe we must not simply develop “good” or “effective” leaders, but virtuous leaders.  Leaders who are able to identify and discern what is right, and then have the moral fortitude to lead themselves and others in the pursuit of that right.

This process must begin with being virtuous leaders ourselves.  This starts with a clear assessment of who we are through prayerful reflection, honest introspection, involvement with our own mentors, and feedback from our subordinates.  Then continues, using all of these assets, to improve ourselves so that we can be virtuous role models for our followers, peers, and even superiors.

Virtuous leaders then must invest in the lives of our people – teaching knowledge, confronting and correcting problems, and training always.  As the young leader’s abilities and character matures, we move to a more supportive and less directive role, but we must maintain our high level of engagement.

And, when the leader begins to stand on his or her own, we must also invest in perhaps the most important and most-often neglected skill: replication.  The new leader must, through our example and our investment, learn to do likewise, to serve as an example and investor of virtuous leadership to the next generation.

It is only through this intensive engagement that we as leaders can create a true and lasting legacy.

Please join the conversation!  Do you have a mentor who made a profound impact on your life?  Have you passed on that impact to others?  What do you think are the most important aspects of developing future leaders?

What is Virtue-Based Leadership?

Contemporary theories on leadership, including “Servant Leadership” and “Transformational Leadership,” focus upon the interaction of the leader, followers, and organization toward the accomplishment of a mission.  And at first glance (or even after years of consideration), this makes sense, and has led to a vigorous debate as to which are the correct foci and which of these factors (leader, people, organization, and mission) should be take priority over the other.

Mission-oriented leadership theories and practices can be effective, allowing leaders to shape clear pathways towards specific and, ideally, measurable goals and objectives.  Pure mission focus, however, often results in the neglect of the organization, and the people and resources comprising that organization.

Organization-focused leadership, on the other hand, excels in developing structures and procedures to accomplish the mission with the available people and resources.  Efficient process is often the result, but often either (or both) the mission and people are neglected.

People-centric leadership concentrates upon the needs, capabilities, and development of those people making up the organization, with many contemporary theories including “Servant” and “Transformational” leadership championing the empowerment of those people to achieve their best.  The danger here, of course, is the neglect of mission or organization in the interests of that achievement.

Perhaps the most dysfunctional, yet sadly most common, of all leadership practices are those which are leader-centric.  For sure, it is important for the leader to embrace opportunities for self-improvement, development, or even fulfillment; however, the danger of prioritizing the leader is the slippery slope to selfishness and careerism.

Regardless of which of these priorities is set, the result often is not true leadership but manipulation, manipulation of the lower-priority entities to achieve the highest priorities.  Thus, a mission-focused leader tends to find ways to manipulate people and organization to achieve the mission.  A people-focused leader manipulates the mission and organization to help the people.  An organization-focused leader manipulates people and mission.  And a self-focused leader manipulates all three.

Nor is the answer a neo-situational leadership theory in which these four different priorities are selected and interchanged depending on the changing climate or situation.  Even if perfectly-balanced, such a theory is only an ineffective bandage on a serious wound.

Instead, I would like to champion what I call Virtue-Based Leadership, asserting that the correct answer to the dilemma of prioritizing mission, people, organization, or leader is “none of the above.”  Instead, true leadership can only occur when the leader starts with a foundation of virtue – the identification of what is right and noble, the establishment of that virtue as the ultimate goal, and the constant striving for that goal.

Thus, instead of focusing on the mission, the leader must first evaluate and define the mission on its virtues.  Rather than focusing on the organization, the leader must first identify then apply the principles of virtue to its structure and ethics.  Instead of focusing on the desires of the people, the leader must help set virtuous goals in their development and care.  And, perhaps most importantly, the leader must strive for virtue in his or her own life and actions.

But what is that virtue, how is it discovered?  That is another question for a future article!

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Virtuous Leadership – Hitting the Right Target

When shooting a firearm accurately, it is essential to align the front and rear sights, the barrel, and the target. And when all these are in alignment, with proper stance, grip, and trigger control, the hammer drops, the firing pin hits the primer, and the bullet goes exactly where it is supposed to.

Sometimes, it’s really that easy. I have a friend who collects old World War II firearms, and one day at my son’s request he brought his restored British Bren to our back pasture. He mounted it on the big, heavy tripod, lined up the sights on the target, and all my son had to do with his first shot was pull the trigger to make sure that milk jug filled with water exploded.

But things don’t always line up perfectly. Often, whether the firearm is new out of the box, or has been bumped in transit, we find that the sights need to be adjusted because they’re not lined up well with the barrel. Sometimes the target isn’t where we expected, so we need to shift our sights. At other times, wind, distance, or other environmental factors require us to adjust our aim as well.

What we don’t do, however, is move the target.

This is the same with leadership. Leadership is very easy when everything lines up perfectly and all we have to do is pull the trigger. But the true test of the leader is what he or she does when the legal, moral, ethical, and right don’t line up. And when that happens, it requires a virtuous leader, one who is able to discern the right, to make the tough decisions to do that right rather than redefining the target.

Be that virtuous leader.

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Crisis and Courage

[Note: This post is from an article I wrote two years ago which seems to resonate with today’s events, especially as we look into the new year.]

The country is in crisis.

The long and bitter war against a foreign enemy might not be the most severe peril facing the Americans. Just as dangerous, and perhaps more so, is the sharp divide between factions within a disorganized domestic government.

Individual, corporate, cultural, religious, and regional agendas threaten to destroy ambitious hopes for an independent and prosperous nation, one blessed beyond compare with natural and human resources. Politicians play to special interests, many more interested in how they can pad their own coffers and power base than the good of the people of their constituencies or the nation itself.

The citizenry is similarly divided, ideological disputes going beyond discussions and debates to the point that they often dissolve into violence. Distrust for government and authority is at an all-time high.

The enemies of America laugh at it, and many suggest the country will collapse on itself.

Hope dissolves. Despair grows.

Yet 15 years later, the United States of America would emerge from these crises under bold leadership with an innovative and unique constitutionally-based government. Over the next two centuries, she would rise to become the world’s most powerful and prosperous nation. How did this happen, and what lessons from that history can we apply to today, where our nation faces such similar challenges?

The first element was the presence of those bold leaders. People with vision, moral courage, and often bravery in the face of death. Leaders, not just in Philadelphia and then Washington DC, but even more importantly, leaders at the regional, state, city, neighborhood and family levels who didn’t give up their own needs and desires completely, but because of that vision, moral courage, and bravery were willing to strive for the greater good of a nation built upon godly principles.

Second, those bold leaders were able to mold the mob into a team. They did this by convincing the people that, despite whatever the competing agendas of diverse states and localities might be, the consequences of remaining divided while facing a foe as powerful as were the combined economic, military, and industrial powers of Great Britain were too great. And so these differences were laid aside to some measure, at least for the time, and the people rallied in common purpose.

This combination of bold leadership with a bold message that was the precise formula needed in 1775 was repeated time and again in our nation’s history. Whether it was the war that threatened to tear our country apart from within, two wars that threatened the stability of the entire world, a Depression that threatened our economic survival, or nuclear brinksmanship that threatened the world’s very existence, bold leaders with bold visions rallied our nation to victory.

This is the same medicine our country needs for the challenges we face today: both our external perils and our internal divisions.

Our leaders must both understand our ills and propose ambitious cures, but it is even more critical that they be able to inspire and encourage. Hope, not blame. Vision, not derision.

Finally, our leaders must do this with realistic optimism, not cynical pessimism. Because this is the United States of America, still blessed by our Creator beyond compare with physical and human resources. And if we are willing both to acknowledge those blessings and to rise to the responsibilities that those blessings merit, we will emerge from these challenges just as strongly today as we have in the past.

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Reversing America’s Decline

Without doubt, America is in decline in all four of her classic instruments of national power – Diplomacy, Information/Intelligence, Military, and Economy.   I suggest this is a direct consequence of an extended period in which our leaders not only have failed to follow the principles of Virtue-Based Leadership, but have been openly hostile to them.

Yet we are also in a key election year when we have exceptional opportunities to influence, shape, and select our leaders, and to demand virtuous leadership from them. We are also on the crux of a revival in our families, communities, and nation which I pray will lead to action not only this year, but in building and preparing virtuous leaders for the future.

I am excited to see a return to such leadership in this country today, and to the development of virtuous leaders for tomorrow, and am actively seeking opportunities to champion this vision.

If this message resonates with you, or you are interested in learning more, I invite you to attend my presentation at the ICON lecture series in March, 2016 (http://www.iconlectureseries.com/), or at other events to be announced soon.

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