When we twist morality to serve politics, we damage even more than individuals; we threaten the society upon which all our hopes for human betterment depend.
Terry Newell is currently director of his own firm, Leadership for a Responsible Society. His work focuses on values-based leadership, ethics, and decision making. A former Air Force officer, Terry also previously served as Director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education, and as Dean of Faculty at the Federal Executive Institute. Terry is co-editor and author of The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships That Make Government Work (CQ Press, 2011). He also wrote Statesmanship, Character and Leadership in America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and To Serve with Honor: Doing the Right Thing in Government (Loftlands Press 2015).
All in Character
When we twist morality to serve politics, we damage even more than individuals; we threaten the society upon which all our hopes for human betterment depend.
The survival of our nation depends on political leaders with the moral courage to do the popular if politically difficult thing. Until voters demand and reward that behavior, we will continue to get political cowardice.
Feeling shame results from failing to live up to one's own standards and/or those of society. Shamelessness is thus the result of a moral deficit and/or social indifference. Shame must be restored as a useful social tool against those who weaken the community.
When disrespect flourishes on the national stage it trickles down into daily life. Our leaders in politics, the media, business, associations, and religion should be exemplars of the behavior we need to foster in civic life. Disrespect teaches, and its lessons are hard to unlearn. Respect is the only antidote.
President Trump had the right to fire Sally Yates. She was a political appointee, serving at his pleasure. Yet when he told her she betrayed her agency, he was wrong. She used her best professional judgment about the law and her reading of the Constitution. Her action was honorable.
Delegitimizing American institutions appears to be a conscious strategy of the Trump campaign.
Those tempted to send nasty tweets or hurl hate at others, should think not just about how good it feels but about what good it does. Tearing us apart to save us is irresponsible. Freedom demands more.
A sense of humor today is essential for leaders, yet no one seems to think that politics and public life have a place for healing humor. By itself, it won't cure our ills, but it could be useful medicine.
The public health crisis due to high lead levels in the water supply of Flint, Michigan claimed many victims. This did not have to happen if those in government had been guided by their moral responsibility to those they serve.
Why do we think someone can be president with no training or experience in politics? Indeed, the lack of both seems to many voters a plus.
Government workers, business leaders, financial titans and everyday citizens increasingly shout to politicians to "get off my back." Yet those politicians are often there because responsibility is not.
Leaders want recognition for their successes but too often expect exoneration for organizational failures. They claim they were clueless about what was going on. Why might this be so? Does it excuse them from culpability?
Americans used to admire leaders with the humility to doubt themselves. Today, that is taken as a sign of weakness. We should rethink that.
Today, most Americans associate honor with military service but tend to view those who enter civil service as "feds" and "bureaucrats." They think "the best and the brightest" are or should be in the private sector. This is healthy neither for the nation nor the public service.
The Compilation of Federal Ethics Laws has 109 pages. Why then did staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs falsify patient appointment wait times? Why did the IRS single out conservative groups for special scrutiny? Laws are not enough.
The real issue for Hillary Clinton, and for us, is about ethics and character, both much more essential in a Secretary of State - and president - than how she handled her emails.
The feeling of failure is just an emotion, not a statement about who we are. That feeling is a road sign that we are advancing rather than a roadblock whose emotional baggage is a detour on the road to a fulfilling life.
Until we see evidence that leaders have learned from their mistakes and improved,, we should be skeptical about the value of an apology. An apology without a subsequent change in behavior just deepens disappointment and increases distrust.
To say the words “I forgive you” and “I am sorry” is easy. To mean those words – to have undertaken the work required to turn bitterness to acceptance - is hard. But for our own good, and the good of others, we need to learn to forgive and move on.
Americans hold many of their public officials in low esteem. Could the reasons include that they detect a lack of honor in those who serve them?