Thursday, July 19, 2012

Key Virtues



Let's see. Trust comes first. If you can't be trusted, you shouldn't be on the team. Reliability is part of that. You may be the most honest person in the world but if you aren't reliable, then you aren't truly trustworthy. You can't be incompetent and still be trustworthy and reliable in any positive sense. [We can exclude the "I can rely upon him to be an unreliable idiot" scenario.]

Benevolence is also important. If followers sense that you don't give a damn about them, they'll drift away and a lack of benevolence will erode your soul. We are people, not machines.

Courage is essential because, as Churchill noted, without it all of the other virtues are meaningless. It is a rare person who does not grapple with courage issues. It helps to remember that courage is not an absence of fear, but the overcoming of fear, and that the way to become courageous is to do courageous things.

Finally, urgency and ambition are needed. Passive virtues are important but you'll need the vigorous ones to get things done.

Any others that you'd add?

2 comments:

LA Grant said...

Consistent ought to fit in there somewhere. Not just in the sense that you always behave the same, but in the sense that, as a leader, people on the team can accurately predict the path you would choose even in your absence. This was important in my past life--commanding officers try to train subordinates to take action, but generally want the action to conform to their standards.

Michael Wade said...

LA Grant,

Very good point. I once heard a Marine say something to the effect of "No one ever gave me an order or anything but I know how a Marine is supposed to act."

Letting people know your values and general direction is extremely important.

Michael