Virtues & Character
Why the “right” decision is better than the “best” decision
We can all recall moments of regret, particularly as it relates to decisions we made that didn’t quite get the results we were looking for—a word that should not have been spoken, or an act that can not be undone. This shouldn’t be confused with decisions that often have to...
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What happens when someone else’s lack of character results in you losing your job?
It seems that some of my recent articles on needing to change the dialogue on leadership, and the importance of character (‘Character: Does it really impact the bottom-line?’) have generated a lot of discussion. Thanks for your emails and calls. I am in the process of researching another article on...
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Character: Does it really impact the bottom-line?
I’m sitting on a Virgin Airlines flight returning home contemplating the dialogue and the questions asked from some of the 70 business executives and leaders attending a breakfast sponsored by Bridgeworks at the Hilton on the Park, Melbourne, Australia. I was asked to speak on ‘Leadership: More Than Competence’, and...
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The Geopolitics of Leadership
This week I am off to Seoul, the Republic of Korea, for my final study intensive towards my Doctorate in Leadership and Global Perspectives through George Fox University. For three consecutive years we have travelled to different parts of the world to learn about the intricacies of leadership and the...
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The greater conflict for leaders lies in the priority they assign to virtues and how they influence the big and small decisions
We’ve often heard it said that there are two things certain in life – “taxes, and death.” While there are many things we could add to the list, there is one thing that many would find difficult to object to: Conflict. Conflict is both inevitable and pervasive and is intricately...
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How does culture shape leaders and the virtues they adopt?
In numerous articles, I have addressed the importance of virtues in a leader’s life, and how the degree to which they are absent or present can define that leader’s character and the impact it will have on his or her ability to lead others. There is a considerable difference between...
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Virtues, vision and human flourishing
For leaders, there is the risk of diminishing the significance of virtue by simply reducing it to the compartmentalization of character or to a set of desirable traits and miss the quest for consistency of character and moral excellence. In other words, living a virtuous life should not solely be...
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“The failure of success, the corruption of triumph, and the danger of celebrity”
It can be argued that because a person’s moral beliefs give rise to actions, they also define the substance of a person’s character (or lack thereof) and reveal the underlying motivations for why certain decisions are made: and that they each reflect a means to an end. As Alasdair MacIntyre...
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When the absence of character in one aspect of our life affects so much more
Leadership cannot exist outside of a moral code or ethical framework that is designed to protect and uphold the content of a person’s character and the ideal or pursuit of character in the life of his or her followers. Historically there has been a convergence of ideas surrounding morality, ethics...
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Character-based leadership. Is it really achievable?
It would be difficult to find someone to argue that character in leadership is not important. However, understanding how this is developed or asking the question whether character or virtues can be taught is no small challenge to respond to. For some of our famous Greek philosophers, the ability to...
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