Issue 43 领导人与道德

chiexiaoUID: 2851086

Issue 43:"To be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards."
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The author assesses that as for a leader, the van and guide of the broad masses, must maintian the highest ethical and moral standards, only in that way can him or her be an effective leader. However, I hold the view that the conclusion whether a leader effective or not can not only judged by the ethical and moral standard, but also influenced by many other factors such as the feats in economy, education and so on. Let alone the commen sense that no one can fit the demanmd of the highest ethical and moral standard.

Admittedly, the leader has the respensibility to be a man of higher ethical and moral standard than others, after all him or her is the guide of people, who plays an important role on many essential plannings and decisions, which are the key to a collective prosperity, stability and decelopment. In light of this, the leaders should maintain a higher level of ethic and moral, therefore they can control themselves when some temptations and trials need to be throughed. An example can prove the stantement above extremely is the story of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of independence of India. Gandhi is strict with himself to the extence that he went on hunger strikes many times while all of these were due to the hope for Indian people’s independence and happiness. The noble-minded spirit and superhuman behavior of Gandhi is the model of leaders, at the same time he demonstrates that the leader must live up to a higher ethical and moral request.

However, the commen sense tell us it is impossible that a man owns the highest ethical and moral standard, unless the fgures like heros in the fiction. One must have something bad more or less, all in all, nobody is perfect. In addition, we must clear the definition of a effective leader, is a political leader necessary to be a moral leader? I don’t think so. Take the president Roosevelt as an example, one of the American president of highest reputation and love. Even if Roosevelt is a successful president because of the right lead in the Second World War and Great Depression, he was related with sexual affairs all his life, which can not be ignored but do nothing to impact his success, at last he bacame the only president reappointented four times in the American history. So as long as the leaders have done the things they should do, such as the booming and prosperity of economy, the good reforms in the fields of health care, education and policy, they can be named effective leaders.

Last but not least, such the high requests for leaders perhaps will call for just the opposite to what one wishes. For instance, the Watergate Case, the persident Nixon refused to admit the scandal for a long time because of considering the pressures from ethic and moral so that missed the opportunity to apologize honestly to save the situation earlier. Through this case must we learn a lesson that the highest ethical and moral request may neither  necessary nor ulter good.

In all, I prefer a comprehensive consideration of a leader rather than only through a judgment on ethical and moral standard. One should conclusion a leader whether effective or not after checked all the feats of him or her, after all nobody is perfect, only the objective summing-up is convinceing.