ARE YOU MORALLY ENGAGED?

Guy Fawks

As leaders, we should always stay morally engaged. Ethics and morals are things people learn as children. Proverbs says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 ESV). So then, how does a person become morally disengaged?

Bandura (2016) describes human behavior as being guided by moral standards and the deterrent for conduct unbecoming. However, in some situations, humans become disengaged and commit terrible acts against humanity. Bandura explains that moral justification, masked language, advantageous comparisons, displacement, and diffusion are some methods used to disengage our morality. For example, people act as groups or organizations, like soldiers, following orders when their disengagement from morality begins. As leaders, we must lead with moral and ethical boundaries to avoid disengaging others from morality. Voltaire puts it this way, “If you can lead people to believe absurdities, you can get them to commit atrocities” (Bandura, 2011). Generally, these atrocities are visible in the relationship between prison guards and prisoners or in the business world, where taking risks has large payoffs but crosses boundaries and cheats others out of significant investments. Taking shortcuts may look tempting, or not questioning authorities about questionable tasks may be considered okay, but they are the beginning of moral disengagement.

Saha (2014, p. 31) says, “Corporate Ethics is much needed to stress the importance of sustainability, social development, stakeholders and consumers satisfaction.” Ethics and morality play a more prominent role in organizations and inspire the ongoing evaluation and revisions of the choices and actions to reach the intended outcomes (Koehn, 1995). One can only be aware of moral and ethical leadership demands by understanding oneself. The morals and ethics one values will be the compass that guides one's actions (Lakshmi, 2014).

Here is something to think about. What moral and ethical dilemmas has your organization faced? Did they stay morally engaged in dealing with the dilemma?

Further Reading

Bandura, A. (2011, October 4). Albert Bandura Discusses Moral Disengagement. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjuA4Xa7uiE&feature=youtu.be

Bandura, A. (2016). MORAL DISENGAGEMENT: How People Do Harm and Live With Themselves. Worth Publishers.

English Standard Version Bible. (2023). Olive Tree Bible Study Tools.

Koehn, D. (1995). A ROLE FOR VIRTUE ETHICS IN THE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS PRACTICE. BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY, 5(3), 533–539.

Lakshmi, B. (2014). Leadership Ethics in Today’s World: Key Issues and Perspectives*. ASCI Journal of Management, 44(1), 66–72.

Saha, B. (2014). THE ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE APPLICATION OF THE ETHICAL THEORIES IN THE BUSINESS GOVERNANCE. Scholedge International Journal of Business Policy & Governance, 1(3), 28–31.

Connecting Makes You a Better Leader

Connecting increases your influence in every situation. Everyone needs to communicate. Our world around us proves that with endless platforms of social media, texting, instant messaging, emailing, and phone calls. We communicate for relationships and we communicate for work or to make a sale. But how many people actually make a real human connection when they communicate? Just because you're sending the vision or a message doesn’t mean people are receiving it. If we learn to connect we can communicate more effectively.

Everyone Communicates Few Connect

This is a great book, chock full of easy to do but brilliant thoughts on effective communication.

If you would like for me to come to your church or office and teach this material please let me know. As a Certified John Maxwell speaker, I will do one free Lunch-N-Learn.

“Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them. ”

— John Maxwell

“The number one criteria for advancement and promotion for professionals is an ability to communicate effectively.”- HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

President Gerald Ford once remarked, “If I went back to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.

Reread those statements, the best way to advance in a corporate career hinges on your ability to communicate effectively. President Ford remarked that he wished he were a better communicator and that nothing was more important than communicating effectively. Speaking of Presidents one of the best connectors and leaders in American history was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s ability to lead others was a direct extension of his ability to make a personal connection. Many leaders in world history demanded respect and demanded that people follow them but Jefferson earned that respect and people followed him because people felt connected to him.

The Art of Power by Jon Meacham

Historian and Biographer Jon Meacham writes of Thomas Jefferson in his book “Thomas Jefferson; The Art of Power, he shares several stories about how Thomas Jefferson was a master of listening and connecting with others so that they would walk away feeling that he was their friend.

“He immersed himself in the subtle skills of engaging others, chiefly by offering people that which they value most: an attentive audience to listen to their own visions and views. Politicians often talk too much and listen too little, which can be self-defeating, for in many instances the surer route to winning a friend is not to convince them that you are right but that you care what they think. A grandson described Jefferson's tactical approach to personal exchanges. "His powers of conversation were great, yet he always turned it to subjects most familiar to those with whom he conversed, whether laborer, mechanic, or other.”-Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power.

The author shares that even as Jefferson listened to a woman share about how she made a particular meal, he paid close attention and listened with intention and not just out of flattery. Here he was an aristocrat and politician but he stopped to listen to someone normally deemed lower in class than he. How might your communication and inversely your leadership ability expand and grow if you could learn to be like Jefferson:

1. Listen Intently

2. Ask Questions

3. Show genuine interest in the person being talked to.

   “…the surer route to winning a friend is not to convince them that you are right but that you care what they think….”-Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power.

Bibliography:

1. Maxwell, J. C. (2010). Everyone communicates few connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently. HarperCollins Leadership.

2. Meacham, J. (2012). Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Random House.

From Success to Signifigance

Be a person of SIGNIFICANCE.

As we sojourn through school, into university, and through our lives, we have been taught and conditioned to garner success. Of course, we want success in our marriages, careers, and relationships. Sports players strive for the pros, middle managers strive to be CEOs and career politicians strive for the votes. We strive for greater education, to make more money, and to be recognized for excellence in some arena. Let me share with you a few thoughts today about transitioning from success to significance.

Being successful is largely having to do with greatness attributed to yourself and making your name great. Significance is not about the amount of money you make. It’s not about the status you achieve. It’s not about the degrees you earn. Significant people do something well. It’s not being a scientist or doctor, or priest or politician it’s adding value to others.

Significance is derived from thinking about others first. What a change, a breath of fresh air you would be in your relationships, and your work if you took time and intention to add value to others. In a world where people take to get to the top, what if you were a giver, a contributor? Thinking about others makes your world expansive. Thinking about yourself contracts your world. How can you add value to others in your work or school?

1. Can you lend a hand?

2. Can you be more encouraging?

3. Can you be an active listener and pay attention to the lives of others?

4. Can you ask questions about other’s children, hobbies, etc?

Being selfish is natural, easy, and automatic but being a better person is not easy or automatic. Live your life with intention. Being intentional will help you not only be successful in whatever you put your hands to but it’s the key to transitioning into significance. Take an action step to move from passivity to intentionality and thus from success to significance. If you can be significant to others then it will make you a person of trust and influence which go hand in hand with being successful. As John Maxwell says, “Once you’ve tasted significance then success won’t satisfy you.”

Leaving a Legacy of Service

“The family legacy is not combat. It’s service.”

— Danny Reagan From Blue Bloods. Blue Bloods Season 4 Episode 13 Unfinished Business

One of my favorite shows is back on CBS and that is Blue Bloods. One of my favorite quotes from that show is when the character Danny Reagan shares with his wife Linda some insight on the family of cops that she is in. “The family legacy isn’t combat its service.” It garners the question what is your legacy? What is a good legacy? How can you leave a good legacy? How can you change a legacy?

Let me share a little personal story. I gave my thirties to missions and ministry. I began to think “what did we actually accomplish? Did we make a difference?” I began to regret taking the leap of leaving home and investing six years in Beijing. I didn’t preach at a massive crusade. I didn’t start a school or hospital. I questioned what had we done and why had we gone? Was any difference made?

The night before we left China. Our church gave us a going away party. Many of our members and friends were there. We had a great time sharing Korean BBQ with them. As a pastor I had hoped that my sermons, my messages would have inspired and changed someones life. As the night came to a close many people said a few words about our time in Beijing. There was one unifying theme that lifted my spirits up at that last supper.

People may or may not have remembered any of my sermons but they remembered that we were there for them. During the three long years of Covid, the lockdowns, and the isolation; we were there for them. We routinely checked in on people, invited them to our home or out to lunch or coffee. We walked with them around the block when there was no where else to go and their families were far far away. We encouraged them and prayed for them and befriend them.

How do you make a difference? Volumes of books have been written about great men and women who lead, invented, displayed bravery and they deserve their honors. Let me offer a few considerations for your thoughts on how the average person can make a difference.

• What of the praying grandparents who intercede for their grandchildren?

• What of the teachers and coaches who took extra attention and time for the troubled teen?

• What of the nurse who took the time to explain a situation to the difficult patient.

• What of the police officer who went beyond the call of duty?

• It’s the extra mile that will make the difference in your leadership. The extra mile will set you apart. The extra mile will define your legacy.

• You may not be remembered for being a great speaker but a great speaker can be remembered for their service, their care, going the extra mile.

  Jesus said the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven will be the servant of all. That sentence is proven day after day to be true. Will it be true for you? Will you take the time to care, to go the extra mile, to be a servant? If so you may just find out that you will be the leader of all.

  Check out this short film I made on Legacy.