The Elements of Moral Action and Virtues of Ethical Leadership

The Elements of Moral Action and Virtues of Ethical Leadership from Ethical Leaders in Action

If you have ever seen Steven Spielberg’s classic, “Saving Private Ryan,” I would bet that there are many scenes that stick in your mind.  One that has haunted me for a long time involves Corporal Upham’s failure to come to the rescue of Private Mellish.  He stands frozen at the base of the stairs, aware that a German soldier is killing Mellish but unable to act to prevent it.  There is much we can dissect from the scene, but what weighs on me most is the disconnect between Upham’s professed moral standards and his actions.

Earlier in the film, Upham had lectured the rest of the team on moral conduct when arguing for release of a captured German soldier instead of the planned execution of this prisoner.  It had taken courage on his part to confront Captain Miller’s Rangers.  Upham’s character was portrayed as morally motivated and of clear purpose… if a bit naïve.  When the time came to act on his moral standards under a different pressure, he was tragically unable to do so – not once, but twice albeit for very different reasons.  First, he simply could not muster the physical courage to aid Mellish, his brother in arms.  Second, the subsequent guilt from his fear contributed to a lack of clarity that allowed him to kill the same German soldier he had earlier rescued.  We have all experienced moments when we did not live up to our own moral standards or been as courageous as we needed to be.  In fact, those scenes have played in my head more than once when assessing my options: was I living up to my standards or demonstrating a lack of courage to do so?

People have values, many espouse virtue.  These are noble and good pursuits.  However, actions, as the saying goes, speak louder than words. You can hold high moral standards and have the best intentions, but if you never act on them, what good are they?  While we all make mistakes, we can, and should, actively seek to improve our ability to navigate in the realm of moral and ethical decision-making in order to improve our outcomes and strengthen our character.

A great tool to help us chart our course is the Ethical Leaders in Action (ELA) Elements of Moral Action (EMA).  When faced with a challenge, these capacities – Moral Motivation, Moral Clarity, and Moral Courage – offer us a way to move from realization to doing.  Moral Motivation is the baseline commitment to make the best choices.  We draw on it to energize our action; it is our goal, our purpose, our values, the why that gives us the desire to act.  This motivation is our commitment to doing right and not doing wrong.  But what is the right thing to do?  Moral Clarity is more cognitive in nature aiding us in discerning the best choices based on the vision we hold for the future and the morals that reflect our values.  It helps us gain perspective, learn from outcomes, and adjust our thinking based on experience. Understandably, it is easy to think and talk about what we want to do and why, yet more often than not, we need to draw on our reserves of Moral Courage.  This is the ability to do take the correct action when it is difficult, to push through the tension or uncertainty, to manage our emotions so we can act in accord with our values and actually do that thing we know is right (as Chad discusses in “Courage in the Moment” from his book, Thinking Aloud).  Morale Courage may, or may not, require physical courage on our part as we strive to do the right thing.

You could say that the Elements of Moral Action are those factors that become critical when it is time to recognize and respond to the “moments of truth” that we face in our lives.  Whether they are big or small, public or private, expected or a surprise, we want to prepare ourselves to meet these events the best we can.  We want to remember our motivation.  We want to cultivate our ability to act.  We want to hone our skills to do the right thing.  We want to learn ways to follow through on our stated values with real, meaningful deeds.  We can create a self-reinforcing cycle that develops virtues through action so that our strengthened virtues will positively influence our future actions.

The EMA are related to another useful tool called the ELA Virtues of Ethical Leadership (VEL) which build on recognized ethical practices to provide leaders a sound framework for living lives in pursuit of the excellence that is consistent with high moral standards.  When called into action, these virtues can be a game-changer.

The core of the VEL model lies in Service – the desire and ability to work with others toward a worthy purpose.  Ethical leaders strive toward and enable others to achieve positive outcomes using the other virtues in varying degrees as circumstances warrant.  The virtue of Competence is the command of relevant knowledge, application of accumulated wisdom, and exercising of sound judgment.  Creativity expresses itself in the imagination necessary to think beyond, the ability to solve problems, and the drive to build or improve.  When we are able to see and share what is truly important, we are showing Clarity.  This is the vision of the future, the discernment that allows for real understanding, and the morality a leader shows when embracing their values.  Finally, there is Courage; the capacity to do the right thing in the face of difficulty or even danger.  Courage is more that just bravery, it is also the consistent honesty of integrity as well as the tenacity to endure and persist in the face of adversity.  Taken together, these virtues provide a comprehensive approach to a life of excellence.

Some of these elements, in concert, provide us a better understanding of HOW to act in an ethical way. The Elements of Moral Action are a practice that just happens to directly employ some of the Virtues of Ethical Leadership.  Not all do. The other ethical practices that we offer are often distinct from VEL, but never contradict it.

When seeking to master these concepts, does this mean that we go looking for dragons to slay or seek out noble causes to pursue?  No, such extremes are not required.  By engaging the stories of other’s experiences and visualizing their situations, we can prepare mentally and emotionally for what we may face in that moment of truth (like I have done with the character of Corporal Upham who lacked Courage in one instance and Clarity in another).  By surrounding ourselves with people of character, we can support each other through good times and bad, moments of temptation and moments of triumph.  By reflecting on and understanding our values beyond just rote recitation, we can interweave them into our every moment so that they become a seamless part of who we are.

Do not doubt for a second that there will be times when you stumble or face a setback.  Remain vigilant and continue to seek right outcomes, yet be willing to forgive yourself when you do fall.  You can be resilient, recover, and bounce back stronger than you were before.   When it is time to act, remember your Moral Motivation and overall purpose.  Seek Moral Clarity to converge on the best choice and show Moral Courage by driving through that fear to achieve excellence.  You won’t regret it.

At Ethical Leaders in Action we believe that most, if not all people, can develop themselves to play leadership roles in many different spheres both large and small. The foundation of this development process is a short but powerful list of virtues which can be developed and improved through conscious effort. For more information feel free to take the Virtues of Ethical Leadership Self Inventory (VELSI) which breaks these virtues down into features that can be individually developed. The results of the VELSI come with a quick reference guide to help you understand how the virtues and their individual features fit together. https://ethinact.com/velsi/

See a list of other posts in this series at Blog Post Series

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