136 Ethics in Higher Education: Values-driven Leaders for the Future
Leaders must also understand the people they lead. Followers are not
mere passive receptacles of the wisdom of leaders, they shape and
inform leadership, and they can make or break leaders. One must share
with them something of a vision, and understand what makes them
“tick”, and internalize the context. In sum, then, however much
technology, globalization and the science of humanities have developed,
it remains universally accepted that Leadership Matters.
Modern scholarship has now moved from the psychology of
leadership, or the behaviourist conceptions of leadership, to leadership
by values, or leadership as reflective of, guarantor and creator of the
values systems of the community, sometimes also referred to as
“leadership by design”. It has become apparent that the cost of
leadership must also be assessed. In other words it is just as important to
know how goals are achieved as the fact that they are achieved at all. In
other words the topic that refers to “Leadership” and “Ethics” misses the
point. In many respects one can hardly talk about leadership without
factoring in values or ethics. Ethics is the necessary means by which
leadership achieves goals by paying attention to ways and means, and
not just to the ends. It is to understand that leadership is best exercised in
an environment of checks and balances, in a responsible and accountable
manner, under limitations of law, good order and morality. In other
words the driving ambition must never be allowed to become the final
arbiter, regardless of what rights and responsibilities are trampled upon
in the process.
Leadership must be exercised in a fair and just manner mindful of
the human dignity, the environment and rights of others that may be
affected. In other words leadership can hardly be achieved without
regard to the principles of “goodness” or “the common good”. It is my
submission therefore that there can hardly be any leadership if it is
devoid of values and ethics. Failure to have this would result in
unimaginable risk and damage to reputation, limit the probable