Globethics.net Contribution to Global Values and Virtues 211.6 Values-based Leadership
All of us in our various functions and professions are requested to
deploy leadership capacities. Whereas management skills do help us to
organize everyday life and activities in institutions, leadership at all lev-
els is about anticipating change and finding the right way into the future.
Some people are better at ease to mobilize their leadership capacities
than others or are by character and personality more devoted to do so.
The key is that those leadership abilities are guided by sound ethical
principles, helping include everybody and integrate weaker or less for-
tunate individuals into society. It also means what the writer Elias Can-
etti wrote in his book “The Province of Men”: we can experience the
whole problems and wrong-doings of this world in one person. As long
as that person respires and we are not giving up on him or her, the
world continues to respire.
Good leaders are normally good listeners and good followers. They
listen to people and they follow good advice. Common sense is some-
times a better guiding principle than big management theories Leader-
ship requires patience and might be guided by passion.
A good leader knows when it is time to let others go to the stage to
celebrate success.
Needless to say, communication is important. We are normally good
at adding complexity and less good in reducing complexity of issues to
make them communicable to others. Communication is culture and
means that you can only reach others when you know with what mes-
sages and content you can get their attention.
A good leader knows what values are important to carry loads, bur-
dens and duties together. Good leaders think positively and are mobiliz-
ing the strength of other people. Mutual respect is reached when the talk
is walked.