An Introduction to the Virtues of Ethical Leadership Part 2 – The Nature of Virtues

An Introduction to the Virtues of Ethical Leadership
Part 2 – The Nature of Virtues
by Chad Weinstein

If you have not read Part 1 you can do so at https://ethinact.com/an-introduction-to-the-virtues-of-ethical-leadership/

Learning the Virtues of Ethical Leadership begins by understanding the nature of virtues themselves. A virtue is a positive and enduring character trait, which we can develop and maintain over time. They are the building blocks for our approach to leadership development. The concept of character-based virtues is part of an ethical tradition dating back roughly 2300 years to Aristotle, who used the Greek term “arete,” – which is translated “virtue” or “excellence of character” – to describe these complex and powerful traits. As we will see, virtues have some very distinctive qualities.

Virtues are excellent relative to a purpose.

Most important, the traits we would describe as virtues are excellent relative to a purpose. In other words, a virtue is “good” because it helps us to become or accomplish something that we deem worthy and important. There are many possible virtues, arising from different contexts (religious, political, military, social, etc.) and pointing us towards many objectives (e.g., to be more pious, to be successful in war or politics, or to be famous or beloved by many). In fact, when someone proposes that a certain character trait is virtuous, an excellent first question is: toward what end? Sound virtues are defined in terms of specific purposes. We must value those purposes in order to value the virtues that help us achieve them.

Developing virtues represents a significant investment in time, energy, and effort. We want you to invest wisely. Be clear about what you seek to achieve by developing specific virtues. These traits become a part of your character, and as such will serve to shape and define you as a person.

The distinctive purpose of the Virtues of Ethical Leadership concerns respect and service to humanity.

We have defined the ELA Virtues of Ethical Leadership because they help us to be more effective at leading others in pursuit of worthy goals. We believe that the category of “worthy goals” can be quite broad, but that it is also bounded by two explicit propositions. First, our virtue-based approach to character development rests on the belief that all human beings have infinite value, and that all persons are worthy of respect as human beings. Second, we see the proper function of ethical leaders as empowering others to improve the world, in ways large and small. These assertions justify the investment in character development: in strengthening a person, we are strengthening something that has infinite value. It also requires that we use this strength in service to others and not merely for our own benefit, and in ways which are never exploitive or dismissive of other persons. These broad but essential values – the infinite value of human beings and the desire to empower others to make the world better – form the moral foundation for the ELA Virtues of Ethical Leadership.

The scope of our virtues’ foundational purpose is our leadership, not the totality of our lives.

Our virtue set is not intended to describe the whole of a good person; this is in part because ethical leaders have widely varied backgrounds and experiences and may have differing views about what constitutes a good person. The common purpose uniting our virtues is ethical leadership, which necessarily allows for diversity among ethical leaders. Our narrower focus also encourages you, as an ethical leader, to think critically about what the ELA Virtues of Ethical Leadership mean to you, and how these traits fit with other virtues, values, and commitments that make up your life and identity.

Additional features of the Virtues of Ethical Leadership

So, the Virtues of Ethical Leadership are qualities that we possess to varying degrees which make us more effective as leaders. These virtues are also:

● Inherently interrelated (they function together).
● Moderate or “mean” traits, as opposed to extremes (excesses or deficiencies).
● Composed of both “will” and “skill.”
● Foundations for beneficial habits, i.e., patterns of thought or action.
● Understood, in part, in terms of aspects we will call features.
A few words about each of these aspects of virtue are in order.

Virtues almost always function together. While we will describe them as separate qualities in order to learn them, virtues are less effective – and sometimes even dangerous – when they are applied in isolation from one another. We do not want a brain surgeon to demonstrate Courage without Competence. Even under less dire circumstances, we want our leaders to apply Creativity in concert with Clarity: we want to truly improve what needs to be improved, rather than reinventing the wheel because we were not familiar with it. As we will see, among the most powerful ways to learn the virtues are through stories and by reflecting on experience. Nearly every story that shines a light on one virtue also illuminates others at the same time.

Aristotle held that an individual could not be truly virtuous without manifesting the full range of virtues to a high degree, a doctrine that has come to be called “the Unity of the Virtues.” Aristotle’s aim, and the purpose (or telos) underlying his virtue set, was human fulfillment or happiness (“eudaimonia”). He argued that one cannot truly be fulfilled, cannot achieve eudaimonia, without having developed every virtue to a significant degree. Further, the set of virtues proposed by Aristotle was quite broad, including traits akin to modern concepts hospitality and sense of humor. In this way, the concept of eudaimonia represents a context-specific – and very lofty – goal for the orientation of one’s life.

We believe that effective leaders must exhibit each of the Virtues of Ethical Leadership to some degree, but that all leaders have strengths and shortcomings. Progress in any area of virtue development will make a positive difference. In the real world, leaders are always required to show more than one strength at a time, and each of our virtues contributes significantly to our leadership. As we will see, true strength as a leader is achieved through the combined expression of the virtues. At the same time, our virtues develop and are expressed to varying degrees at different times throughout our lives, and we believe that leaders can be highly effective at any stage of that development process. One need not fully have fully integrated every virtue into one’s habits and practices, to be highly effective as an ethical leader. Progress counts. Thus, a leader must be aware of the full range of virtues but should not become distracted by a need to develop in all directions at once.

Each virtue is properly expressed as a mean between extremes. For example, in seeking to act courageously, we must guard against both cowardice (insufficient courage) and foolhardiness (excessive courage). Our Creativity should guide us to improve or innovate when appropriate, avoiding both complacency (too little) and the simple urge to “shake things up” (too much). This feature of the virtues was classically expressed as “the Doctrine of the Mean.” In this respect, the ancients were onto something, especially insofar as this doctrine also highlights how the virtues work together.

This Doctrine of the Mean is linked to the interrelationship of virtues: the application of Clarity and Competence is required to know whether we are showing Courage or recklessness. As we develop the habit of reflecting and learning from our experiences, it will be important to use the “whole model” to really understand how our character guides our action. By focusing on one virtue alone, our impression is often distorted, and our conclusions may lead us away from wider, more moderate expression of each single virtue.

The virtues also include elements of capability and elements of commitment: both “skill” and “will.” Each of these elements will need to be developed and may need reinforcement from time to time. You may be an excellent analyst, capable of great discernment, but circumstances or stress may prevent you from taking the time – expressing the will – to make the most thoughtful and well-informed decisions. Conversely, you may be highly committed to Creativity, with a strong desire to make things better, but find that you need to develop a greater ability to imagine what could be, or to determine what changes ought to take place. We develop our virtues by focusing on both skill and will, as appropriate.

Strong virtues become good habits. As we develop character traits, they influence how we see the world, and naturally guide how respond to what we see. As we become more courageous, we come to see risk differently, we become more willing to work through our fears, and we may even be less afraid. As we practice creativity, we develop the habit of considering whether and how we might improve things. There will always be situations that challenge us to make the best choices, and actions that we find difficult or frightening. But, as we develop virtues as aspects of our character, they become second “second nature” to us. Thus, one measure of the effectiveness of our efforts to develop a virtue may be how automatic the practice of that virtue has become.

This process of habituation through practice may mean that maintaining virtue is often easier than developing it in the first place. By the same token, just as other beneficial practices and habits can change if we are not intentional about maintaining them – perhaps you are thinking about diet or exercise habits right now – so too can we slide away from virtues if we do not maintain our adherence to them.

Finally, because these virtues are sometimes hard to observe in action, defined features of each virtue describe behaviors and underlying attitudes that arise from those virtues. These features are modern improvements on the classical concept of a virtue. The features are not “ingredients” of a virtue. We cannot “add up” the expression of each feature to assess the degree to which a virtue is expressed. Rather, the features constitute a learning aid, a tool for understanding and observing the expression of virtues in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Because they are more concrete and more narrowly focused than the virtues, the features can be easier to see. Features help us understand how virtues tend to manifest themselves. They enable us to observe and assess our own actions in terms of specific aspects of each virtue. Features are especially helpful as we work with others to develop our ethical leadership as teachers, mentors, or teammates.

Follow this link to Part 3 in this series https://ethinact.com/an-introduction-to-the-virtues-of-ethical-leadership-part-3-benefits-of-using-the-virtues-of-ethical-leadership/

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