THE INTEGRITY OF A LEADER OFTEN IS SHOWN in the stand he takes for right against mistaken popular concepts—not to be different or difficult but daring to be right, avoiding the temptation to join in the swim downstream by challenging the direction of the flow, searching for the biblical right or wrong in each issue. I heard the writer Chaim Potok say a true leader is never absorbed in the stream in which he swims. The Scripture would say he was transformed rather than conformed. Our society is facing many positions that need biblical challenge and clarification. They include: relative truth, situational ethics, alternative lifestyles, personal responsibility versus rights, the acquisition and distribution of wealth, racial equality, political expediency, self-love as expressed in image and significance, and the power of peer pressure. While these issues rage, values and ethics have become a hot subject in our society, almost to the point of becoming a cultural fad. Philanthropists are contributing big money to projects, higher education is developing departments, and social writers are taking the subject to the bestseller list. Our newspapers are filled with stories of ethics ---- the breach of ethics. We have substituted pragmatism for virtue. And we are seeing the fall out of the "me generation." I think of the story of Dr. Moon who was the creator of Moody Science Films. He attracted the attention of a Jewish man who was intrigued by his high degree of creativity and ability. At one point Dr. Moon needed a very expensive piece of camera equipment to complete a project. This man offered to fund the camera. Dr. Moon questioned the man, "Do you understand that this will not buy you a place in heaven? That paying for this camera has no eternal significance and no eternal reward?" Upon hearing the man's agreement that this was not spiritual quid pro quo, he accepted the money to fund the equipment. Dr. Moon was willing to forgo the money if he thought there was any sense of "buying a place in heaven." He was demonstrating ethics and values-based decision making. Another example of ethical choices is represented by the story of the Holiday Inn CEO whose corporation was studying the economic impact of entering the gaming business. His personal conviction was that this would not be an appropriate pursuit, but that the corporation would probably continue their study. He made the choice to step down from his position to stay in integrity. I was one of the speakers recently at the Norman Vincent Peale conference on "value-oriented leadership." The conference brought together several thoughtful academics, CEOS, and consultants to discuss this subject with heads of business. Many fine points and illustrations were brought up and discussed. My talk certainly did not disagree with the need for right values and ethics. However, I did point out that we need to root our human values in divine virtues or we end up controlled by our human desires and made variable by our selfish interest. To have complete authenticity and authority over our behavior requires that our values be rooted in divine virtues—not those that we have manufactured, but those we have discovered that are given by God. Our authority needs to be outside ourselves. Christ based his values in God. Just as Newton did not create the law of gravity but discovered it, so we cannot create virtues but can only discover them and make them the source of our values. Our values are the basis of our character. And, our character determines our decisions. So it is critical to establish values that are built on divine virtues.
Virtue of the Age
Understanding ethics, integrity and leadership for today’s leader.
By Fred Smith
