ISSUE 43(第二篇)

RobbieQQQQQUID: 2761799

To be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards.


I strongly agree that a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards if he or she wants to be an effective leader, as the speaker asserts. The chief reason is that this view accords with common sense and our personal experiences and it was constantly proved to be true in history. Ethical and moral standards as prerequisites which determine whether a person can be an effective leader or not, include many aspects.

Integrity is a quality requisite to a political leader or a business leader and this is the fundamental factor whether people can trust or support him or her. However, it is quite difficult to maintain good faith at all times, especially when it comes to their interests. In 2001, Company MCI Worldcom announced its bankruptcy because of their deception that shocked everyone. To serve their interests, the shareholders of the company decided to take the risk of cooking the books on a large scale and it was clear that the company was rapidly heading for bankruptcy. The leaders did not maintain the high moral standard and as a result, they failed to fulfill their obligation. This unsuccessful leadership provides a strong argument for the speaker's point of view.

Moreover, good faith performs equally in the government's attitude to the public. A responsible leader should open things involved in people's interest to the masses in time rather than withholding information from them. The health department of China in 2003 hid SARS to the local people, and it brought tremendous disaster. Admittedly, government should conceal some information such as counter-terrorism from the public to ensure public safety and national security. However, completely concealing information will make people lose their democratic rights. The successful leadership should be relatively transparent to the citizenry to serve their best interests and an effective leader needs to consider much about the people instead of pursuing reputation.

Any person who is successful and efficient must have a strong self-control and a leader’s high ethical and moral standards also reveal in his ability to self-restraint. As an example, a leader’s behavior always affects a lot of other officials. Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player ever, deeply affected his team-mates with his hard-working in training, which led to Bull’s three-championship. Many, however, disagree with it. Some opponents claim that, for example, Bill Clinton, the former U. S. president who has experienced sex scandal made the U. S. economy to keep growth for seven consecutive years in his time in power. Although he did not do a good job of controlling himself, his leadership really made great contribution to the state. In my observation, we cannot simply define that Bill Clinton was week at controlling himself just because of the sex scandal. Self-control also includes many other aspects such as, the resistance of the temptation of money, not using his power to reap profit, etc. It is arbitrary to judge a person’s self-control just on one hand.

In sum, high ethical and moral standards which involve integrity, self-control are the prerequisites for a public official to become an effective leader. A successful leadership needs the highest moral and ethical standards to constraint the officials’ behavior and to make them effective.