Moral Leadership notes
Moral Intelligence:
Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success
Doug Lennick
Fred Kiel, Ph.D.
Book Notes compiled by Jane Sigford









Chapter 1: Good Business
Successful leaders we know always attribute their accomplishments to a
combination of their business savvy and their adherence to a moral code. P. 4
There are threshold competencies which are cognitive intelligence (IQ) and
technical intelligence. IZ and technical intelligence are undeniably important
to a leader’s success. Leaders need to be good learners (IQ) who have
expertise about their particular business (technical) areas. We call
cognitive and technical intelligence threshold competencies because they are
the price of admission to the leadership ranks. They are necessary but not
sufficient for exceptional performance. P. 5
To outpace competition you need to cultivate different kinds of intelligence
we call differentiating competencies. Moral intelligence and emotional
intelligence are two types of intelligence that are difficult for the
competition to copy. P. 5
These “soft” skills have been ignored too long.
Although Daniel Goleman published the book Emotional Intelligence, the
term was coined in 1990 by Professors Peter Salovey of Yale University and
John Mayer of the university of New Hampshire. P. 5
Original definition = “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings, to
discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking
and action.” P. 6
Components are:
o Appraising emotions in self and others
o Regulating emotions in self and others
o Using emotions adaptively
Salovey expanded into 5 domains, adopted by Daniel Goleman:
o Knowing one’s emotions (self-awareness)
o Managing emotions
o Motivating oneself
o Recognizing emotions in others
o Handling relationships
Moral intelligence—new to playing field—our mental capacity to determine
how universal human principles should be applied to our personal values, goals
and actions. This book focuses on 4 principles:
o Integrity
26
Moral Leadership notes















o Responsibility
o Compassion
o Forgiveness
Integrity hallmark of morally intelligent person. We know what is right; act
in line with principles and beliefs. P 7
Responsibility another key attribute—only a person willing to take
responsibility for actions and their consequences will be able to ensure that
actions conform to universal human principles.
Compassion is vital because it communicates our respect for others and
creates climate in which others will be compassionate toward us when we
need it most. P. 7
Forgiveness—crucial—without it we are likely to be rigid, inflexible, and
unable to engage with others in ways that promote our mutual good. P. 7
Research tells us that emotional intelligence contributes more to life
success than intellectual or technical competence—helps with self-control
and interpersonal savvy.
Until now no one has paid much attention to systematically developing moral
intelligence. P. 8
Have talked about moral competencies as emotional competencies rather
than talk about the “m” word. P. 9
Emotional intelligence is values free. Moral intelligence is not. Emotional
skills can be applied for good or evil. Moral skills are directed toward doing
good. P. 9
Emotional intelligence and moral intelligence cannot work effectively without
the other. P. 9
Difference then between demagoguery and resonance (as in Resonant
Leadership by Boyatzis and McKee—demagoguery squelches hope and
optimism and true innovation. Resonant leadership is grounded in shared
constructive values and invites people to work toward a collective aspiration.
P 10
Moral intelligence (hereafter known as MI) is “central” for all humans
because it directs us to do something worthwhile.
The more you develop your MI, the more positive changes you will notice at
work and at home. P. 10
So far no quantitative research that has studied business impact of MI p. 13
But we know customers would rather make purchases from companies who
are known for ethical practices.
Employees prefer working for ethical companies as well. P. 15
Several businesses have been in news for unethical practice. “Corporate
moral dysfunction does more than hurt stock performance. More than 70%
of American consumers have, at some point, punished companies they view as
26
Moral Leadership notes
















unethical either by avoiding a company’s products or speaking negatively
about the company to others.” P. 17
MI plays big part in corporate success. Implications for leaders? If you pay
attention to your own moral intelligence and encourage development of MI in
organization, you inspire the best efforts of everyone and performance will
outpace rivals. P. 17
Also need solid business skills and a good product.
Chapter 2: Born to be Moral
According to research best leaders are “quiet leaders” who accomplish great
things modestly and without fanfare.” P. 19 Jim Collins in Good to Great
Great leaders share a common trait—humility. And they follow a moral
compass, believing in honesty and responsibility to self and others.
The best leaders follow a set of principles that all human societies
throughout time have believed to be “right.” And are now recognized as
universal. P. 31
Universal principles: responsibility, reciprocity, and ability to empathize.
Commitment to something greater than self, respect, and caring for others.
We are all “hard wired” to be moral. p. 22
Not only are we hard wired, but we must learn it in environment. By age 2 we
begin to show some grasp of justice, responsibility, and blame. P. 23.
Throughout preschool we grow in empathy and moral sense. By 6 or 7 we can
tell right from wrong and feel guilty.
Moral development goes off course if caregivers are not willing or able to
provide right kind of early nurturing. They need to be consistently
affectionate and dependable and show us how to empathetic. If that doesn’t
happen, we may not grow into morally competent adults. P. 25
Ability to have empathy very important. The limbic system is developing by
age 2. If that doesn’t happen the cortical and subcortical areas of the brain
are roughly 20 to 30 percent smaller than normal. The brain “wiring” isn’t as
dense or complex so that abused or neglected children are lacking some
brain organization that would allow them to make strong connections to
other human beings.
Without empathy, you have impaired morality. P. 26
[Wonder about the effect of the reality t.v. shows that demonstrate a
complete lack of empathy, e.g. Dance Moms, Jersey Shore, etc.] note mine
Brain injury can affect ability to have moral compass. Adult onset brain
injury display symptoms but may be able to have moral competence.
Programmed to be moral because we need others to help us survive and
prosper. P. 30
The Golden Rule is a practical principle for living harmoniously and working
for the common good.
26
Moral Leadership notes



Martin Seligman—“positive psychology”—6 universal virtues honored in all
cultures:
o Wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and
transcendence.
How we exercise moral intelligence is as critical to our health and
happiness as eating well and staying physically fit. P. 35
LIVING IN ALIGNMENT
Principles
Values
Beliefs
Purpose
Goals
Wants
Behavior

Goals

They why aren’t we more moral? Why does selfishness win out? Why the
strong competitive drive that pushes out the common good. Choosing among
competing desires is the essence of morality. Making decisions between our
sometimes competing drives requires us to make moral choices. It is our
moral intelligence, the ability to balance competing drives, that makes us
truly human. P. 32
There are common moral principles among diverse culture. If all people
share a small list of critical principles in common, together we will be better
able to make decisions that could determine the survival of the planet.
Universal principals according to Donald E. Brown in Human Universals are
recognition of responsibility, reciprocity, and ability to empathize.
There are common principles among the world’s religions:
o Commitment to something greater than oneself
o Self-respect, but with humility, self-discipline and acceptance of
personal responsibility.
o Respect and caring for others (that is, The Golden Rule)
o Caring for other living things and the environment
Moral Comapss

Thoughts
Emotions
Actions
26
Moral Leadership notes







Chapter 3: Your Moral Compass
 Developing a moral leadership framing and living in alignment in:
 Defining your moral compass—you basic moral principles, personal values,
and beliefs.
 2nd frame holds your goals from lofty to ordinary
 3rd frame contains behavior, including inward thoughts, emotions, and
external actions.
 Living in alignment is not accidental; may be difficult—Requires doing
things on purpose
 Building your own personal alignment model:
o Moral compass—What do you value, and what are your most
important beliefs
o Goals—What do you want to accomplish personally and
professionally?
o Behavior—What actions will allow you to achieve your goal?
Worksheet: There is a worksheet on p. 41 of a list of universal principles.
The task is to choose your principles in rank order 1-4 and then discuss with
your team.
The leaders interviewed for this book consistently chose integrity,
responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness, among their top. Did you?
Compassion and forgiveness make the difference between a good leader who
is essentially moral and a great leader who inspires exceptional performance
in others. P. 42
Discovering your values. We learn values as a child and shape them as guides
as adults. Values are individual and personal. There is an especially urgent
reason for identifying your most important values. Life is finite. Values help
us to be selective about how we spend our precious time. P. 44
Not all values are created equal. Without some context, values are neither
moral nor immoral. It s only when we need to make decisions that have moral
consequences that values take on moral significance. Being moral means
more than honoring your personal value system. P. 45
It is possible that personal values may be out of alignment with the
principles.
Worksheet 2: Identifying your core values—pp. 46.
o Select 5 that you believe to the most important
o To find out if your outward behavior can tell you about your values,
keep a running log of all your decisions over the course of a few
weeks.
 Write down the values that influenced your decision
26
Moral Leadership notes
Ask—“If people who did not know my inner motivations saw the
outcome, what value or values would they think this decision
reflected.
Uncovering Values Conflicts—Do you see conflicts. E.g. do you behave so that
financial gain is more important than honesty? Is high achievement more
important than compassion? If so, you must realign your actions.
Beliefs: Beliefs are 3rd component. They are the self-understanding about
what we think is important and how we think of ourselves in relation to the
outer world. They are condensed version of moral compass. They are the
language we use to describe our values .
Worksheet 3: My Top Ten Beliefs—Record top 10 beliefs . Living in
alignment means you hold yourself accountable for decision consistent with
moral compass. P. 52
Goals: Our highest goal—is our life’s purpose. Not everyone develops and
follows a life purpose. But everyone’s life purpose is distinctively theirs but
each must be consistent with universal principles of integrity, responsibility,
compassion, and forgiveness.
Worksheet 4: My purpose. Questions to answer on p. 54 about personal
talents, passions, dreams, etc.
Then draft a purpose statement titled “My purpose in life is…..”
WDYWFY—What do you Want for yourself? Setting goals is good. Getting
what we want is also good. Without goals, our ability to fulfill our life’s
purpose would be a matter of chance. Setting deliberate goals allows us to
satisfy our wants in a way that is aligned with our moral compass.
Setting goals also increases the odds that you will actually accomplish what
you desire. P. 56 Writing them out is helpful because then we have a chance
to reflect, and recall the things we want to accomplish. P. 56
Effective leaders have crystal clear goals—They accept responsibility for
their choices by “getting on the record” with their goals. Effective leaders
have goals that they really care about and encourage followers to develop
personally satisfying goals. P. 57
Worksheet 5: List my Most Important life goals
o Then think about top long-term goals. How well do the goals fit with
your principles, values and beliefs.
Behavior—Puts the “living” in “living in alignment.” It is what you actually do,
including your thoughts, emotions, and outward actions. It is what inspires
people to follow you as a leader. People will not know you as a moral leader
unless you communicate what you stand for—and act accordingly. P. 59
Thoughts: Thoughts are form of cognitive behavior because we can act on
them. They affect our emotions and outward behavior. P. 60
Emotions—Emotions can get in the way of effective behavior. The most
effective leaders know how to regulate their own and others’ emotional














26
Moral Leadership notes









responses in a way that promotes a positive and high performing work
environment. P. 60
Actions: Speak louder than words. If we have moral compass and admirable
goals is worthless unless we do what it takes to make them real. If we fail
to act in concert with values and goals it is worse than worthless. It does us
harm and makes us untrustworthy. We trust people who do what they say
they will do. P. 61.
Chapter 4: Staying True to your Moral Compass
Knowing who you want to be—an honest, responsible, and compassionate
leader—is one thing. Knowing how to become your best self is another.
Actually doing what you know you should is still another matter. That is the
essence of alignment, a shorthand term that means “your goals and your
behaviors are consistent with your moral compass.”
We need 3 qualities to help us keep in alignment:
o Moral intelligence—the part that shapes our moral compass and
ensures that our goals are consistent with our moral compass
o Moral competence—Ability to act on moral principles
o Emotional competence—Ability to manage our and others’ emotions in
morally charged situations.
Moral Intelligence: an aptitude. Without it, no amount of training will turn
us into moral leaders.
MI—basic aptitude for moral thought and action. Allows us to develop moral
values and beliefs and to integrate those values and beliefs into a coherent
moral compass.
Moral competence: MI involves knowing what to do, moral competence is the
skill of actually doing the right thing. How do we do what we know is right?
We need to understand what goals will allow us to be true to our principles,
and we need moral competence to act in alignment with our values and
beliefs.
Emotional Competence—emotional competence helps us manage our emotions
and the emotional quality of our relationships with others. It’s almost
impossible to be morally competent without being emotionally competent as
well.
When leaders lack emotional competence, they create a negative climate
that encourages self-protection rather than integrity.
Staying Aligned—When you consistently use your moral intelligence, moral
competence, and emotional competence, you will find that you are spending
more and more time living in alignment with your moral compass. When your
three frames are in synch, you feel as though you are ‘in the zone, and your
creativity and performance are at their best
26
Moral Leadership notes











When you are in a leadership role, your state of alignment is palpable and
appealing to followers. Your state of alignment contributes to an emotionally
positive and high-performing work environment for others.
Moral misalignment: the most successful leaders spend the majority of
their time in alignment.
Misalignment occurs because moral viruses or destructive emotions are
interfering with ability to use moral and emotional competencies we have
used in the past. P. 68
Moral viruses are disabling and inaccurate negative beliefs that interfere
with alignment
Diagnosing a Moral virus: Moral viruses are unfounded negative beliefs that
are in conflict with universal principles.
Common moral viruses:
o Most people can’t be trusted
o I’m not worth much.
o I’m better than most other people
o Might makes right
o If it feels good, do it.
o My needs are more important than anyone else’s
o Most people care more about themselves than anyone else.
o People of (races, religions, nationalities) are not as good as people of
y (race, religion, nationality).
Dealing with moral viruses—scan for them in your thoughts—tune in to your
“self talk” , particularly when you are experiencing strong emotion, either
positive or negative. P. 71
Disabling a Moral virus: When you detect a moral virus, you can replace the
thought with a different one, but that is not a permanent fix. When under
stress, those viruses often reappear. Therefore, important to scan
thoughts regularly. If you find yourself asking, Why did I act/think that
way? Talk it out with trusted colleague/friend
Destructive Emotions: most common culprits in keeping us from acting
consistently with goals.
Managing Destructive Emotions: Can’t eliminate them—goal is to manage
them so they don’t derail you. Powerful antidote to negative emotions is the
deliberate cultivation of a positive emotional state. Controlling emotion must
come from within. Techniques such as deep breathing exercises, deep muscle
relaxation exercise, and meditation are strategies to use.
You cannot have two incompatible physiological states at same time e.g. can’t
be angry when you are happy. Regular practice of preferred technique is key
to ability to manage emotions. Through practice you can crate calm and
peaceful internal state that automatically kicks in when you need it. P. 73
26
Moral Leadership notes
Experiential Triangle—We operate within experiential triangle of thoughts,
emotions, and behavior. Which all influence one another. They are found
together and often reinforce the negative effects of each.
 Preventive maintenance: Staying in alignment requires regular tune-ups to
monitor and prevent damaging effects of moral viruses and destructive
emotions. Most important, alignment depends on continuously developing our
moral and emotional competence p. 76
Part Two
Developing Moral Skills
 Each of the 4 principles—integrity, responsibility, compassion, forgiveness—
have related moral competencies
Chapter 5: Integrity
Integrity Competencies=
o acting consistently with principles, values, and beliefs,
o telling the truth
o standing up for what is right
o keeping promises
 Acting Consistently with Principles, Values and Beliefs: This is the primary
moral competency that encompasses the others. Integrity is authenticity.
 Awareness is first step to being able to act with consistent integrity
 Must let others know which principles are most important to you.
 High cost of inconsistency—leaders who blatantly ignore universal principles
do great harm to their constituencies and ultimately to their bottom line.
 In corporate settings a lack of integrity usually signals a lack of moral
competence. p. 80
 Telling the truth: often means defining reality under challenging
circumstance. P. 83
 Telling the truth about performance: Many of us afraid to talk about poor
performance with subordinate. But it is absolutely crucial to be honest.
 Exceptions to Rule of Honesty: Important to know when NOT to tell truth,
p. 85
 Sometimes leader has information that cannot be divulged. There may be
legal requirements that prevent complete honesty, such as protecting
privacy. Leader may have to say something like “We have plans but we
cannot discuss them at this time. Please know that we will discuss this as
soon as we are able.” P. 85.
 Painful Truth: Telling the truth and tact are not incompatible. Honesty is
not an excuse to vent hostility. “I’m being honest” is a classic Minnesota
passive-aggressive way of being hurtful.” P. 86
 If we feel obligated to tell another something “for his own good,” we need
first to examine our motivations. Are we competitive? Jealous? Trying to
et even? P. 86

26
Moral Leadership notes
Good intentions: Truth telling works best when paired with emotional
competency of elf-awareness. Need emotional competence to understand
other’s emotions and be able to discuss truth in ways people can accept and
use productively.
 How truth fuels performance: truth telling has huge impact on leadership
effectiveness and workforce engagement. People who work for dishonest
superiors spend a lot of time wondering about their manager’s agenda, trying
to gather information, trying to jockey for power, and doing only those
things they think will keep them out of harm’s way.
 People who work for honest superiors, generate powerful climate of trust. P.
87
Standing up for what is right; Taking a principled stand is challenging because of
pressure to agree with popular positions. Taking a stand means accepting the risks
because the moral consequences of looking the other way are unacceptable.
 Keeping Promises: Hallmark of integrity, because it demonstrates that we
can be trusted. P, 89
 Keeping promises difficult in this 24/7 world p. 89
 We have good intentions but we allow ever-expanding “to do” list overtake
earlier promises.
 Honoring confidences: One of most frequent promises leaders are asked to
keep is to preserve privacy of others. Sharing a confidence believing that
the third party will not repeat it is a betrayal. P. 90
 If you share something with a 3rd party, assume that it will be shared.
 When leaders betray confidences they dry up valuable sources of
information. p 90
 Integrity competencies are clearly central to effectiveness as leader. P. 91
Chapter 6: Responsibility

The Responsibility Competencies:
 Taking responsibility for personal choices
 Admitting mistakes and failures
 Embracing responsibility for serving others
We live in a culture that tolerates a high degree of daily responsibility—dodging,
but when it gets to the level of , say, widespread corporate scandals, it’s the
failures of responsibility that upset us most e.g. Enron, WorldComm, banks etc
lacked integrity.
 Leaders are responsible. It comes with the job.
 We do it because it’s morally right and then discover that it’s right for our
business as well.
Taking Responsibiity:
26
Moral Leadership notes

















Hallmark of personal responsibiltiiy is our willingness to accept that we are
accountable for the results of the choices we make. Everything we do
follows the law of cause and effect.
Middle managers frequently struggle with the responsibility competency
because they often feel caught between their responsibility for the people
they lead and the demands of their senior managers. P. 95
Responsibility is a radical competency because it requires that we accept
personal responsibility for everything we do—no excuses. P. 95
No excuses:--Accepting responsibility for personal choice does not mean
mindlessly holding to decisions no matter how unproductive they turn out to
be.
It also doesn’t mean that we have to be sure we have made the perfect
choice. P. 96
Responsibility is not about making the perfect choice
It is a bout making the choice you have made the perfect choice for you. P.
96
Some leaders make it a priority to find work that is consistent with their
moral compass.
Admitting Mistakes and Failures:Important aspect of responsibility is to
take responsibility when things go wrong.
The higher you go in organization, the easier it is for you to confuse power
with perfection
Higher you go, more important it is for you to solicit feedback actively about
your weaknesses. P. 987
In some organizations cost of failure is high. If you work in organization
that does not tolerate mistakes, our advice is to get out as soon as you can.
P. 97
Admitting personal mistakes helps organization be healthier in several ways:
o Prevents someone else from being blamed for your mistake
o Creates bond with other employees who feel you are more
approachable by virtue of your admission of fallibility
o Communicates a strong message of tolerance to organization at large..
Says we all make mistakes, p. 98
Covering up mistakes takes a lot of time and energy and often makes a
situation far worse than it need be. P. 99
Even if you admit mistake, it does not absolve you of responsibility for
situation you crated or magically undo the harm you have caused. P. 99
Embracing Responsibility for Serving Others: We are all responsible for
contributing to the well-being of others p. 100 Happiness is hard to come by
without help from others.
For most people, lasting happiness comes from activities that give us a sense
of meaning and purpose—such as serving others. Recent studies on longevity
26
Moral Leadership notes
have found that serving as a volunteer with some worthwhile organization
adds years to our lives (not to mention life to our years.) p. 101
 One of best ways to encourage people to unleash their creative energy in
service to their company is for their leaders to serve them. P. 101
 People have insatiable need for personal growth. Left to their own devices,
employees will spontaneously contribute to your organization as their way of
growing and succeeding in life. P. 102 That’s why leaders don’t need to
impose goals from on high.
 Retention Value of Servant Leadership:--If you demonstrate consistently
that your leadership is to help employees accomplish they goals, employees
will stay and be highly motivated to give best efforts. P. 102
Chapter 7: Compassion and Forgiveness
Compassion Competency:
Actively caring about others—When you are a leader, embracing your
responsibility to serve others flows into compassion. You support the personal
choices of others.
Forgiveness Competencies:
Letting go of one’s own mistakes
Letting go of others’ mistakes
 Two forgiveness competencies are “mirror competencies” because they are
related. P. f109 Can’t talk about one without the other but the are not the
same skill.
 Many of us are hard on ourselves because of perfectionism. Sometimes
easier to forgive others than to forgive selves. P. 109
Letting Go of Your own mistakes:
 Letting go mistakes doesn’t mean we have to excuse or explain away
unacceptable behavior. Important to keep responsibility for what you did
and commit to do better going forward.
 Have to give up negative self-talk that can crowd our brain when we have
disappointed ourselves. If we can’t forgive ourselves, we stay stuck and hold
ourselves back from fresh opportunities and experiences.
 In some professions, constant self-forgiveness is only way to survive. P. 111
Letting Go of Others’ Mistakes—
Forgiving Leader’s Perspective—Forgiving you doesn’t mean I endorse what you have
done. You are still accountable but forgiving you demonstrates the belief in your
probably good intentions.
 Forgiveness allows anger to recede and I do not define you completely in
terms of your flaws.
 I allow for the possibility that you have strengths I can draw upon in future.
 Without forgiveness, human life is virtually impossible. One cannot have
intimate relationships without forgiveness.
26
Moral Leadership notes
Without forgiveness, a leader’s organizational performance is capped
artificially. P. 112.
 Moral competencies are glue that binds together all the frames of alignment
model. P. 113
 Rare to find moral competencies in isolation.
 They overlap because universal principles themselves overlap.
 Moral competencies act synergistically to keep our day-to-day actions lined
up with who we want to become and what we hope to achieve. We each have
relative strengths and weaknesses in our moral competencies.
 The more competent we become across the full spectrum of moral
competencies, the more we live in alignment. P. 113
Chapter 8: Emotions
Self-Awareness:--Every day we live within an experiential triangle of
thoughts, emotions, and actions. No matter what we do those things
simultaneously although some feel more comfortable in one over the others.
 People around you see and interpret the outward behavior that
manifests from which of the 3 you are exhibiting.
 It’s important for each of us to be aware of our own patterns, p. 118
Recognizing Feelings: Important to be aware of how our actions will affect
others emotionally. Allows us to communicate more honestly, p. 119

Inner Feelings: Awareness of inner feelings allows us to crate positive work climate
for employees. Employees shouldn’t have to wonder what type of mood the boss is
in. p. 119
Understanding your thoughts: We are always exhibiting self talk. If you pay
attention to that voice, you can see the impact on emotions and physical state.
Effective leaders are highly conscious of inner talk. P. 120
 Our thoughts are not random
 We can control our thoughts. P. 120
 When we change our thoughts, everything changes.
Personal Effectiveness: When we channel our emotions we are able to be more
effective personally. The goal is to increase our competencies so we can achieve
greater alignment and moral intelligence.
Personal effectiveness encompasses:
 Changing self-defeating beliefs that lead to upsetting emotions
 Deciding to behave well under trying circumstances
 Rolling with the punches when things don’t go our way
 Taking care of ourselves so we can better handle stressful situations
26
Moral Leadership notes
Deciding what to think:Negative self-talk is program for failure, while positive selftalk frees you to do your best. P. 121
 When in a morally charged situation it helps to remind yourself of your
principles, values, and beliefs. P. 122
Self-control: Effective leaders rely on self-control to maintain alignment with
principles. An emotionally intelligent leaders knows when NOT to trust gut
reactions.
Nurturing Emotional Health: Leaders need emotional reserves to deal effectively
with moral challenges.
 Balance—Leading a balanced life is one of best emotional nutrients. P. 124
 Should spend time, energy, and money on areas of life that make sense to
create a balance of work and play. Companies that support balanced lives
soon discover business benefits. P. 126
 Recharging emotional batteries: physical fitness, daily relaxation,
meditation, etc all help. [This information was stress in Resonant Leaders by
Boyatzis and McKee—also in this blog].
 Managing emotions for peak performance—The more we practice selfawareness and personal effectiveness the more often we will outperform
ourselves and the more we will find ourselves conforming to our moral
principles. P. 127
Interpersonal Effectiveness: To serve the needs of others we have to understand
them. To be compassionate or forgiving, we need to be able to see the world
through another’s eyes. Interpersonal effectiveness is indispensable leadership
too.
 Leaders get very little done by themselves. P. 128
Empathy: Critical to moral competence because it neutralizes destructive emotions
that can interfere with living in alignment.
Empathy as conflict antidote: When we are at odds with others, often the last
thing we want to do is to consider the situation from their point of view.
 However, empathy is powerful tool for managing conflict.
 Without empathy, you are limit3ed by your own subjective view of reality.
 With empathy, you are more willing to let go of the mistakes of others and
are more disposed to help them accomplish their goals. P. 129
Misplaced Compassion: It’s important to understand difference between
understanding another’s world and being controlled by another’s needs and
preferences.
26
Moral Leadership notes
Be careful not to translate empathy into unproductive caretaking. [You must
know yourself very well to prevent this and you must maintain appropriate
boundaries. Note mine]
Listening: Listening attentively is active skill requiring concentration and
emotional intelligence.
 Listening essential to moral competence because it demonstrates respect
for values, beliefs, goals, an emotions of others.
 Listening skillfully also makes empathy possible because it provides the data
on which compassion and forgiveness are based. P. 130
 Very little meaning comes from words themselves. What people really mean
when they speak is found in tone of voice and physical movements that
accompany spoken words. P. 131. [discussion also found in Resonant
Leadership]
Listening o understand the contents of all 3 frames
 Listening well can provide information about all 3 frames
Respecting others—Easy to work with people we like, or whose values match our
own. P. 132
 Respect allows people of different backgrounds, perspectives, and habits
to work together. Moral leaders know that they can only inspire people
they respect.
 Respect comes from deep appreciation of another’s ideal self. When we
respect another, we establish a relationship with their ideal self.
 When you respect a coworker you open yourself to the possibility that
your coworker has something important to teach you that will help both
of you succeed. P. 133
 Not easy to stay connect to ideal self of obnoxious or seemingly wrongheaded co-worker but you can keep channel of respect open if you call on
your capacity for empathy and listening.
Respecting Differences: Very few leaders would deliberately hire their own
clones. In emotionally charges situation it is tempting to over-rely on
opinions you trust the most—yours
 Must cultivate appreciation for others’ ideas. You do that by
ruthlessly challenging your own views, while aggressively looking for
the wisdom in the ideas of others.
 The existence of differences creates great opportunities for synergy
and gives people who work together the potential to accomplish far
more than individuals can achieve on their own. P. 134.
Getting along with others: Empathy, listening ability, and respect are hallmarks of
individuals who get along well with others. They also:
 Show genuine interest in lives of others
 Are open and approachable
 Flexible in accommodating other’s preferences and needs

26
Moral Leadership notes

Enjoy differences among us.
When people are skilled at getting long with us, we like them and are more apt to
view heir ideas positively and are more likely to cooperate with them. P. 135
 Politics is arena where we see how personal likeability can influence actions
for good or ill
Being approachable: Positive personal connections with coworkers fuel highly
committed and creative approaches to work at hand.
 As a leader, vital to be visible an approachable and not hide in office.
 Being approachable means having a willingness to share contents of your
moral compass-your principles, values, and beliefs, and interests and human
foibles.
 Does not mean “telling all.
Being flexible: People who get along with others don’t get stuck on doing things
their way.
Enjoying differences: people who are seen as getting along with others usually have
diverse network of people with whom they have positive relationships. It’s easy to
get along with people we like, but if our network is limited to people who are just
like us, then we will be seen, not as emotionally skilled, but as interpersonally
biased. P. 138
Part 3: Moral Leadership
Chapter 9: The Moral Leader
Leveraging the Spotlight: When you are a leaders, you are always on stage. You can
use the spotlight to promote worthy causes, but it is nearly impossible to hide bad
behavior from the public. P. 144.
 Can capitalize on visibility by modeling moral skills for organization. May
need to “lay it on thick” to make your values clear to all of your audience. P.
145
Leveraging Power: Can use your power to influence your organization to adopt
moral skills. Leadership and power are virtually synonymous. P. 145
 Power can be potentially as dangerous as it helpful Power is addictive and
actually releases endorphins in the brain that give a “rush.” P. 145.
 Some leaders crave it
 Followers allow leaders to be powerful. The higher one goes in an
organization, the more distorted is the information they receive.
 Followers provide information that they believe leaders want to hear and
they censor information that they fear would upset or anger leaders
 The more heavy-handed is a leader is in use of poer, the more distorted th
information they are given.
26
Moral Leadership notes
Even benevolent leaders have trouble establishing accurate communication
channels because of followers’ strong tendency to defer to leader’s position
power, independent of leader’s actual behavior. P. 146
 Deference to power affects quality of “hard” and soft business data that a
leader receives.
 If a leader makes a mistake, it is difficult for followers to tell them so.
[again this is discussed in Resonant Leadership note mine] Consequently the
absence of appropriate negative feedback about our leadership behavior can
leave us with the mistaken notion that we are far better leaders than we
really are. P. 146
 Workaholism can reflect a subtle abuse of power.
 If you insist on doing everything yourself rather than delegating work, you
deprive others of opportunities for development and their own share of
power.
 Use power with caution—can’t be eliminated completely but can be used
carefully to promote health and well-being
Higher Standards: We have never known a consistently successful business leaders
who was not highly skilled in the integrity and responsibility competencies p. 147
 Leaders who inspire followers’ best efforts are compassionate and forgiving
as well. P. 147
 Why does emotional bonding between follower and leader matter? Because
it creates a safe environment. P. 147. Followers feel free to be creative
because they know leaders will tolerate inevitable mistakes that come from
creative risk-taking.
 It is as thought the integrity and responsibility competencies come from the
“head” while compassion and forgiveness come from the “heart.” Most
effective moral leaders have both engaged. P. 147
 Moral competencies of “head” are necessary and sufficient for minimal level
of leadership effectiveness, but moral competencies of “heart” are not
sufficient for effective leadership. P. 147
 Leaders who are known for compassion and forgiveness, but who lack
integrity and responsibility are often considered “nice people” but by virtue
of their lack of integrity, do not command the respect and trust required
for high performance. P. 148
How Moral Leaders look at Followers; Most effective leaders operate from belief
that people are not perfect, make mistakes, and operate from good intentions. This
belief is key to inspiring the bet in others because the leader believes in the
essential goodness of people.
 Allows leader to practice compassion, forgiveness, and integrity.
 Belief in goodness of people is not a “technique.” It is a frame of reference.
Which inspires others to do their best.

26
Moral Leadership notes
Developing Employees: As moral leader you hold yourself responsible for helping
others stay aligned with the ideals that are important to them by:
1. Believing in their potential to do wonderful things for themselves and the
organization
2. Use performance discussions to talk about life goals that employees care
about—not just business goals.
3. Hold them accountable for meeting business and personal goals.
 Employees get energized by your support.
 Developing employees is the central building block of moral leadership
because it is the way you crate a work force committed to moral principles
necessary for sustained success of organization.
 Leaders who accept responsibility to help develop employees spend
substantial amounts of time coaching employees.
Communicating Belief in the Employee: Communicating belief in goodness of
follower needs to be spoken actively as well. Belief alone is not enough.p. 151
 Leaders should look for opportunities to state directly, “I believe in you. I
know that you are capable of even more than you have already achieved.” P.
151.
 If employees under-perform the wise moral leader can concentrate primarily
on how to improve by leveraging their strengths. P. 152
Reciprocal disclosure of the Manager’s and Employee’s Respective Moral Compass
and Goals: Sharing your beliefs and goals invites employees to do the same. Can
lead to discussion about mutual support.
Contracting for feedback: critical feedback that is solicited in environment in
which employee feels empowered is likely to enhance performance. P. 153
 If however, feedback is unsolicited and unwelcome, performance often
deteriorates. P. 153.
 Managers do not have unilateral right to dispense feedback based on their
position. P. 153
 Manager should seek permission to offer feedback and to solicit feedback
from the employee about the manager’s performance.
Mutual accountability: Listening to feedback from employees sets stage for
confronting performance gaps
 When giving negative feedback to employee, it is important to reinforce
context of your belief in them.
When values collide: Valuing people does not necessarily make leadership job easy.
Particularly difficult when individual performance does not match goals of
organization or involves someone you know.
26
Moral Leadership notes
Moral leadership and management techniques: Strong technique is to focus at least
as much on employees’ strengths as weaknesses and invite them to help you improve
your personal performance just as you are trying to help them improve them.
 Leadership techniques infused with spirit of caring tend to work very well,
even when not applied perfectly. P. 156
Chapter 10: Leading Large Organizations
Is There such a thing as a morally intelligent organization? --A morally intelligent
organization is one whose culture is infused with worthwhile values and whose
members consistently act in ways aligned with those values
 Such an organization’s major characteristic is that it is populated with
morally intelligent people. If you populate it with enough morally intelligent
people, the culture will eventually catch on.
 Moral leaders know their job goes beyond simply hiring others who will act in
a certain way just as a morally intelligent organization is more than the sum
of its individual members
 Moral leaders accelerate and enhance high performance by actively
encouraging everyone in the organization to apply their moral principals to
their individual actions while also creating organization-wide policies,
practices, and reward systems based on moral values.p. 160
Morally Intelligent Organization—an aerial view
 What would it look like from an aerial view?
 People would be simply moral, or simply social or simply focused on technical
aspects of their work
 Leaders—would believe that there are shared human moral values that apply
to humankind all over the world and apply at work and outside of work
 Leaders whould speak passionately about beliefs and values
 Leaders are morally competent and strategically gited
 The entire organization—candidates are scrutinized to make sure beliefs and
vaslues are consistent with beliefs and values
 Employees translate values into action
 Managers—share their values at all levels
 Employees go extra mile for leaders and company because they feel trusted
and valued
 Employees are rewarded for results, not for being workaholics
 Employees take part in community service
 Mistakes are treated as normal byproducts of innovation and growth and
people are given chance to correct mistakes
 Organizations don’t abandon values when economy sours.
 The values stretch across the globe to join countries and continents. P. 161
Morally Intelligent Policies
 One way to prevent conflict is to develop a “social contract”—a code of
behavior that everyone agrees to.
26
Moral Leadership notes
Principles that matter most
 Integrity, responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness—important for leaders
and organizations
Organizational Integrity
 Integrity is what keeps successful organizations together. Leaders ned to
create an environment where integrity is an important value
 If an organization acts with integrity it is most likely to have trustworthy,
loyal employees.
 Shareholders also value it.
 Companies should assign 4-8 values as their core.
 Based on those values, organizations can use three key strategies to
promote and demonstrate integrity
o 1. Senior mgmt have communication strategy in which they engage
their employees and public at large to identify and promote their
organization’s values—ideally the CEO leads this
o 2. Senior team needs to practice what they preach and enforce
adherence to company’s declared values.
o 3. Senior mgmt invite workforce to hold them accountable.
 Integrity produces substantial rewards for organizations who embrace it.
The responsible Organization:
 2 hallmarks of responsible organization
o 1. Embraces responsibility for being of service to others
o 2. Acknowledges mistakes and failures
 Companies who make dangerous products or provide questionable services
put their long-term performance at risk.
Compassionate Organization
 Easy to see difference between truly compassionate org. and one that pays
lip service to its values when a major crisis occurs
 For example, the way a company handles layoffs says more about is
corporate character than any other activity.
 Task of moral leader—how to face financial difficulties with and do layoffs
in a way that provides a soft landing for those affected and in a way which
preserves key talent. P. 174
 A morally intelligent leader can show compassion by challenging the
executive about his or her excessive self-criticism, p. 175
Forgiving Organization
 Able to accept mistakes and failures among workforce. Critical for 2
reasons:
1. employees need to know they have room to fail.
26
Moral Leadership notes
2. Forgiveness—fundamental to innovation and growth. Innovation entails
venturing into the unknown, where no formulas exist. Risks will be taken;
mistakes will be made.
3. Without a climate of risk tolerance, employees will be too intimidated to
acknowledge mistakes or other feedback and perpetuate problems that
may cost the company.
 Forgiving companies are often best innovators and know how to set limits.
 Increasing forgiveness is encouraged by establishing a learning organization,
instead of a punitive organization, p. 177
 Forgiveness cannot be practiced in isolation. P. 177
Recruiting for Values
 Organization’s ability to engage in principled actions rests squarely on its
people. P. 178
 Hiring right people is most important lever you have in creating a morally
competent organization. P. 178
 Don’t delegate recruitment to human resources department. Be involved.
Talk about organization’s values.
Reinforcing Values starts at the top
 In Primal Leadership by Goleman, Boyatzis, and Annie McKee, describe the
best leaders as resonant leaders—who use emotional intelligence to create a
positive emotional work climate in which the best work happens. P. 179
 Best leaders create resonance through their moral intelligence as well as
their emotional intelligence p. 179 People want to follow moral leaders.
 We never have luxury of working with fully morally competent workforce but
leaders should look for any opportunity to reinforce values p. 180
 Values start at the top
 Ethics is important
 Making principled decision is a key leadership competency. It takes
practice, even if you are a top executive.
Power of Formal Rewards
 Critical that reward systems reinforce morally competent behavior as well as
goal attainment.
Ideal versus real
 As leader it is important to deal individually with unacceptable behavior.
Values and Global Organization
 Common values, based in universal principles, can knit together a diverse
global workforce. P. 183
Moral Intelligence for the Entrepreneur
 Business savvy relies as much on moral intelligence as it does on a good
business plan.
 Failures of integrity or responsibility might not be terminal in a large
business which ahs the resources to absorb a certain number of mistakes
26
Moral Leadership notes
But for most small organizations the distance between solvency and
bankruptcy is painfully short.p. 187
Driving without a Steering Wheel—case study of a company that learned the
value of guiding principles along the way. P. 190
Moral Values in Small Organizations
 Moral values crucial ot organizations of all sizes. But moral challenges
that dominate an organization are often size-dependent
 Small companies—typically place premium on decision-making freedom.
 Leaders are more visible in small orgs.
 Moral competence particularly crucial to small company leader because
moral gaps can not be hidden and bad choices lead to more than aslap on
the wrist. P. 191
Challenges of Integrity
 For small orgs, internal integrity comes more easily than external
 Small companies promote more direct and hones communication by virtue of
size
 Information flow is easier to come by in small company. P. 191
 Some hierarchical orgs produce cultures of intimidation that discourage
effective communication
Challenges of Responsibility
 Many small companies are trying to reach point of making profit. They don’t
have luxury of irresponsibility.
 Taking too long to admit a mistake can make difference between black ink
and red ink.
 But admitting failure is hard. Admitting mistakes and moving forward
quickly is important.
Challenges of Compassion
 Comes more easily in small organization
 People know others better
 No one anonymous
 Compassion double-edged sword—too little not good. Too much also a
problem
Challenges of Forgiveness
 Because small orgs have to move quickly through mistakes, it is equally
important for small orgs to forgive mistakes
 Important to let go of mistakes and failures.
 In small org it is hard to deal with contentious employees
Moral Importance of Small Organization
 Small business represent about 99% of US employers and nearly 75% of new
jobs.
26
Moral Leadership notes
Some people look to small orgs to provide greater sense of meaning and
purpose. P. 196
Five Maxims of Moral Entrepreneurship
1. Build business that helps others. If your product or service doesn’t make
the world a better place, why bother?
2. Choose your partners wisely—choosing friends as business partners carries a
host of dangers—Choosing fried as partner can make it difficult to deal with
issues
3. Hold on tight to your core values
4. Surround yourself with employees who share your values
5. Put your people—and your organization—first. –Means developing employees
Last Words about business start-ups
 Moral competence is essential for small business leaders
 Doing what is right morally and doing what is right for the business are
inseparable no matter the size of the org.
Epilogue: becoming a Global Moral Leader

 As a business leader, you are de facto a moral educator
 Workforce is learning right and wrong at your workplace.
Raising the Stakes
 Have a responsibility to do no harm
 Responsibility to add current value
 Responsibility to add future value
Watch your wake
 Need to watch potential negative consequences of your presence in the
community where you operate.
 Need to monitor environmental impact
Give Back
 Have responsibility to give back in exchange for resources that they
provide—location, good employees, etc.
 It is more than public relations—
Create the Future
 This is most challenging
 Accepting responsibility for future can be difficult in business environment
that is so attuned to short term
Global Business Opportunity
 Busines case for global moral leadership is strong
 Global business is less about expansive holdings and more about expansive
thinking.
Mark Twain: “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world
and moral courage so rare.” P. 214
Appendix A: Strengthening your Moral Skills
26
Moral Leadership notes
Contains Moral Competency Inventory to take and interpret
Prioritizing Moral Development Efforts
 Can either remove weaknesses or focus on using strengths
 You reach higher levels of performance by capitalizing on strengths rather
than trying to improve weaknesses
 Most organizations, unfortunately, try to remediate deficiencies which
rarely leads to highest org. performance
Road Less Traveled
 It is in our strengths that we most resemble our ideal selves.
 Focusing on strengths is “road less traveled.” But makes the most difference
in creating high performance. P. 219
80/20 Rule
 Spend 80% of your time developing and leveraging strengths and 20% or less
“pumping air into your priority flat spots.” P. 219
 Look for ways to leverage moral strengths you have.
Moral Development plan
1. Describe your ideal self
2. Document your goals
3. Identify the moral competencies you need the most
4. Leveraging your strongest moral competencies:
a. In the next 6 months how can you use those competencies to get
closer to the goals
b. Can you use your strengths in a new situation
c. How might you become even stronger in your use of some of those
strengths
d. If it were possible to use your strengths and use them well enough,
how many gaps would you actually have?
5. Reducing Moral Gaps
a. In next 6 months what could you do to strengthen those moral
competencies in situations that are important to you?
b. If you strengthened one competency, what impact would that have on
your ability to accomplish your goals?
c. In next 6 months what could you do to strengthen those moral
competencies in situations that are important to you?
6. Your Moral Development Short List—putting it all together, what are the 3
to 5 most important actions you can take to boost performance by
developing your moral competence? Put on a note card, enter it into your
planner, or record it to keep handy
Putting Your Moral Development Plan into Practice—Enact your plan
26
Moral Leadership notes
Breaking Bad habits—May have to change habits that get in the way of being moral.
Do the right thing until it feels right.
Reward yourself for positive change—reinforce a new behavior to reward yourself
for doing something new.
Surround yourself with positive people—You need others of like mind to support
you.
Do I really need to change?—Don’;t let anything stand in the way of becoming your
ideal self. Invest in activities that build on your strengths and enhance your moral
competence.
Books, Audio, and video media—read books and watch videos that support your
moral competencies.
Workshops—Look for workshops that support your work
Personal counseling—If you find there are moral viruses that are limiting your
development, seek a counselor. Most of these moral viruses are results of
traumatic childhood events. Therapy can help with this.
Executive coaching—Executive coaches are particularly helpful for those who want
to accelerate their leadership skills.
Appendix B: Moral Competency Inventory (MCI)
There is an inventory as a self-assessment
26
Moral Leadership notes
26