10 Virtues of Outstanding Leaders: Leadership and Character

Arguing that an individual’s character—particularly as constituted by ten particular virtues—is the core factor in determining leadership ability, this book offers a fresh perspective on a subject which has spawned hundreds of books claiming to share the secret ingredients of a leader’s success. Here, exemplars as varied as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Steve Jobs, and Oprah Winfrey provide the evidence for ten core leadership virtues that combined to make them figures of inspiration and influence. The authors bring their decades of scholarship in business, ethics, philosophy, and leadership to bear on a topic which could scarcely be more timely and resonant. They show how leadership is a lived process that involves more than facts and theories,and that missing key characteristics lends itself all too easily to the conduct of ′misleadership′. Time, place, issues, and circumstances may shape the outcomes of those aspiring to govern the actions of their fellows, but true leadership flows from an individual’s character, ethical principles, and desire to be of service to others.

About the Authors x Prologue xi Part I Character Leadership 1 1 What Is Leadership? 3 A Reflection 4 Ethics, Virtue, and Character 9 2 Misleadership 13 What Is Bad Leadership? 14 Misleaders 15 Bad Followers 17 A Few Examples 18 3 Character and Leadership 22 Character and Integrity 24 The Dark Side of Character 28 Character as Goodwill 35 4 Leadership and Business Excellence 38 Ethics in Business 39 Workplace Ethics 41 Leaders as Role Models 42 A Culture of Narcissism 44 5 The Ten Virtues 47 Deep Honesty 51 Moral Courage 53 Moral Vision 54 Compassion and Care 55 Fairness 58 Intellectual Excellence 60 Creative Thinking 62 Aesthetic Sensitivity 63 Good Timing 64 Deep Selfl essness 65 Part II Leadership in Action 71 6 James Burke and the Tylenol Poisoning Episodes: Deep Honesty 73 Burke’s Rise to Leadership 74 Response to Crisis 75 A Further Challenge 78 7 Abraham Lincoln/Rosa Parks: Moral Courage 81 Courage: Physical and Moral 82 Team of Rivals 84 An Important Bus Ride 86 Shared Convictions 87 8 Winston Churchill: Moral Judgment and Moral Vision 90 Churchill versus Halifax 91 The War Cabinet Meets 94 Churchill’s Judgment 99 The Hinge of Fate 103 9 Oprah Winfrey: Compassion and Care 106 Star Status and More 107 Her Fan Base 109 The Book Club 111 Leadership Is a Relationship 113 10 Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Sicilian Slapping Incidents: Fairness 117 The Slapping Incidents 118 The Challenges Ike Faced 120 Ike’s Response 122 11 FDR and the A–Bomb: Intellectual Excellence 127 The Scientifi c Background 128 Roosevelt’s Preparation for Leadership 129 Hitler’s Ascent to Leadership 133 The A–Bomb Decision: The United States 136 The A–Bomb Decision: Germany 139 12 Herb Kelleher and the People of Southwest Airlines: Creative Thinking 145 Southwest’s Start 146 Southwest’s Service Innovations 147 Southwest and Its People 150 13 Steve Jobs and Apple: Aesthetic Sensitivity 158 Beginnings 158 The Macintosh 160 The Whole Widget 162 Learning from Failure 164 Apple Reborn 167 The Centrality of Design 170 14 Charles de Gaulle and Exiting Algeria: Good Timing 173 Youth and the First World War 174 Up to the Battle of France 175 Postwar Retreat amidst Political and Military Turmoil 177 Taking Command 179 Aftermath 183 15 Martin Luther King, Jr.: Deep Selflessness 185 His Calling 187 His Gift 189 His Legacy 193 16 Conclusion 195 Index 203

Al Gini is Professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University Chicago, USA, where he is also Chair of the Department of Management in the Quinlan School of Business. A co–founder and long–time associate editor of Business Ethics Quarterly , the journal of the Society for Business Ethics, Professor Gini has for 25 years been the resident philosopher on the NPR affiliate in Chicago, WBEZ–FM, and is a regular speaker on the public lecture circuit. His books include The Ethics of Business (2012), which he co–authored with Alexei Marcoux; Seeking The Truth of Things (2010); Why It’s Hard to Be Good (2006); and The Importance of Being Lazy: In Praise of Play, Leisure and Vacations (2003). Ronald M. Green is Eunice & Julian Cohen Professor for the Study of Ethics and Human Values at Dartmouth College, USA. He served as the director of Dartmouth’s Ethics Institute from 1992 until 2011. Professor Green is actively involved in numerous fields of applied ethics, particularly bioethics and business ethics, and is a consultant to a number of leading corporations including Ogilvy & Mather. A former director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute, Professor Green has also been a member of the NIH’s Human Embryo Research Panel. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005. Professor Green’s many publications include The Ethical Manager (1993) and Babies by Design (2007).

“If this was, indeed, their intention, I believe they have been entirely successful.  Also, as I said earlier, it′s a very good read.  And, if that phrase seems to trivialise it, let me add that it includes an abundance of references and signposts to sources of further study, which gives it undoubted academic cachet.”  ( New Nurturing Potential , 1 July 2013)