[ISSUE 43] by Cherish

kidloveUID：2814224

TOPIC: ISSUE43 - "To be an effectiveleader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moralstandards."
WORDS: 667
TIME: 00:45:00
DATE: 2011/2/6 18:22:24

In the statement, the author asserts thatan effective leader should be of highest ethical and moral standards. Whilethis assertion perfectly describes qualities that we wish our leaders couldpossess, it is true that no one can be perfect but it surly will be the higheststandard which people wish them to be.
When talking about leader or publicofficials, we often mention their public images which are actions and attitudesthey carry toward the public, who are always observing and questioning aboutwhether they obey certain criteria. Those who truly possess certain good moraland ethical standards, like being friendly to people, always thinking about thelife quality and welfares of his citizens, etc., are always being evaluated agood even perfect leader. A good leader can be revealed of responsibility tothe society and the public, personal and political moral standards. Take thepolitical figure of China, Premier Zhou Enlai for instance. When asking aboutPremier Zhou, everyone will regard him as the perfect and most influentialleader in China. Because of his consideration about the mass, his foresight ofthe country's future and his hardworking on social and political affairs homeand abroad, he and other state leader guided China through many difficulties.Everyone in China respects him, for he had contributed his lifelong work andall heart to the development of China and its citizens. Another example isGandhi, who directed the non-violent disobedience which forced Great Britain togrant independence to India. He is the leader in the practice of nonviolentmovement and always thinks about the mass. One of his famous stories is thatonce he dropped one of his shoes when getting on a train, surprisingly he thenlet down another one considering that if someone has picked up them, he willhave a pair of shoes to put on.
At the same time, if some public officials,especially those political leaders don't obey moral and ethical standards, it'svery possible that he will be impeached and loses his job. Nixon may have thedeepest feeling on this. In the first place when the Water Gate case wasreleased out, Nixon promised to his citizens that he had never done such scandalousthing, but later he was proved of cheating on his credibility toward his peopleand resigned in shame. But we cannot too quickly draw a generalization on suchthings. Clinton's affair had made him doubtful about his fidelity and loyaltyto family and the nation, but at last his leadership and ability in coping withpolitical cases have not been diminished.
On one hand, to err is human, Greekphilosopher once addressed. We cannot urge everyone leader in performingperfectly and flawlessly, as long as their little violence of moral standardsdon't affect their political sense, they will be forgave by the public to someextent. But it will always be a good will for them to maintain a good enoughethical and moral standard can they be qualified to be a good leader.
On the other hand, we cannot judge a leaderor public official only based on his ethical and moral standards; there aremany other criteria for them to comply with. Foresight enables a leader inpredicting the road they are heading to; a firm conviction tells the leader howto practice effective methods in directing constructions and improvement of hiscountry; a loving heart can make him focus on welfare and happiness of hiscitizens; determination and courage can he guide his nation toward any obstacleand crisis.
To be an effective leader, a publicofficial should first maintain good enough ethical and moral standards in orderto gain credibility and support of the public. Secondly he should obtain hisgoal by showing that he is qualified with several qualifications in directingthe nation to a better future, while thinking about welfares of his people.Thirdly is that action is louder than words. Thus, we can say that he is aneffective leader.