354 Global Ethics for Leadership
choose a plain lifestyle to compromise with the predominant value of an
equalitarian society.
In spite of the radical social changes along Chinese history, those
traditional values in leadership continue to persist until present day. This
reflection is expected to remind the current leadership circle of the nec-
essary transition they may have to face along with the on-going social
evolution.
28.1 Traditional Moral Leadership with Loyalty
and Kindness
Morality is the common values held by an organised society, which
have been formed through social practices and exchanges among com-
munities through a long period of time. Moral judgment, with which
beauty is distinguished from ugliness and good from bad, is based on the
recognition of common interests in specific social groups. As a social
person, everyone is designated with certain moral obligations to meet
the expectation of the community he/she belongs to. However, in addi-
tion to the individual moral duties, a leader is also expected to take on
his/her moral obligations towards the organisation. In the highly-
organised modern society, almost all major social revolutions and insti-
tutional innovation have been pioneered by great leaders. And only after
being recognized and endorsed by the leadership, can great theories ex-
ert the effectual impact on society and organisations. Therefore, moral
leadership is worthy of consideration as both social and management
issue.
Throughout the history of our world, China has the most abundant
theories and doctrines on officialdom, dwarfing the ones from other na-
tions. There are four reasons for this phenomenon: firstly, the heritage of
summarized experiences of China’s long and continued governing histo-
ry; secondly, officialdom has been perceived as the club for privileges,