Ethics:
A Core
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Culture of
Excellence
By Lodis Rhodes, Ph.D.
W
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e have an epidemic
of ethical lapses
by highly visible
public figures. And
each new case reveals a more stunning level of stupidity. Would clearer
guidelines on professional conduct and
conflicts help? Maybe, but they cannot
improve on the simple advice from the late
Barbara Jordan, who served in the U.S.
House of Representatives in the 1970s:
“Be honest, and if you’re going to play the
game properly, you’d better know every
rule.” These ethical lapses remind me of
an obligation we have as Black public
figures—a special one requiring a commonsense morality and particularly high
standards of ethical behavior.
I struggled about how to speak of this
special obligation until recently, when out
walking one morning, I noticed a flock
of geese flying in a tight V formation. It
reminded me of a story I’d read about this
natural phenomenon.
According to the story, geese use this formation because, as each bird flaps its wings it
creates an uplift for the birds following behind.
By flying this way, the flock adds more than 70
percent to its flying range than if each bird flew
on its own.
Another interesting aspect of the V formation
is that when the lead goose gets tired it rotates
back and another one flies point. The geese in
the back honk to encourage those up front
to maintain their speed.
And when a goose gets sick or
wounded and falls out of formation, two other geese fall
out and follow the goose
down to lend help and
protection. They
stay with the
fallen goose
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until it’s able to fly, or until it dies. Only then
do they launch out on their own, or with another
formation to catch up with their old group.
You’re probably wondering: What do geese
have to do with ethics? They fly high in the sky,
driven by unseen forces, and willfully head toward a shared destination. This image is instructive. It captures much about the Black experience
in America—a culture of resistance.
I use the V formation image to link two ideas.
One is what I call the ethics of accountability—the
special relationship between the individual and the
group in the Black experience. The other is NFBPA’s signature Marks of Excellence that promotes
the habits of high ethics and performance. This
link shows us ethical behavior more expansively,
as a call to re-invigorate this country’s Black political and intellectual leadership.
Staying in formation and out of trouble’s range has an immediate, practical
purpose: It creates a smaller target—an
important consideration if you’re a goose
during hunting season. The same holds
for Black public figures working in the
shooting gallery of American politics and
public opinion. The formation also has
a less obvious purpose: an obligation to
protect others.
Novelist James Baldwin touched on
this reciprocal obligation in his book Notes
of a Native Son. He talks of salvation and
birthright, and explains them by describing
inheritance as time, history and circumstance. He says we share history and time
with others, while circumstance is unique.
Inheritance gives us an identity and claim to a
birthright—our individuality. But he stresses
that identity and birthright have little meaning
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apart from the group.
strations. Call-and-response is a powerful moral
According to Baldwin, the
force, a defining feature of our core culture.
Black cultural experience in
The Marks of Excellence is the
America, a uniquely group experience, desecond idea related
fines our individual places in a shared history and
to ethics. Geese
time. I would add that the experience is anchored
fly high in the
by a specific set of commonsense values and
sky from habit.
character traits.
The young learn from
History and time are unseen forces. They
older, wiser members of
mold individuals into a coherent, cohesive group.
the group. They then practice,
Instinct is a life-shaping, protective force, such
practice, practice for the mias the V formation of geese. It provides intent,
gratory journey. They learn
direction and a destination. Instinct creates the
that consistently doing the
flock and sustains it on its journey even if some
right thing is the only way
individuals don’t reach the final destination. Culto reach a common goal.
ture is the shaping, protective force. The culture
These instinctive habits
of interest here is the ethics of accountability,
are also drawn from
meaning everyone is accountable.
the Marks of Excel75x4 75.pdf
9/21/06
11:08:01 AM
Accountability acknowledges our identity 13617_c155_4
lence.
and obligations to each other
and to the group. It also speaks
to values—our sense of right
and wrong, which determine
how we evaluate and act toward
each other. If our values are out
of whack, so is the relationship.
Ethical lapses are a problem with
values and accountability.
We share a vision for the future
What values can we see in
and are proud to help build it.
the V formation and in our core
culture? I suggest justice, compassion and fairness. These are
fancy words for knowing right
and wrong. They give meaning to
Lehman Brothers salutes the
who and what we are.
Our experience in America is
National Forum for Black Public Administrators
an object lesson in right, wrong
and reliance on the group to
protect the individual and provide
sanctuary. If you doubt the link
between these values and our
cultural legacy, understand it as
the “call-and-response” of congregational singing in our churches.
Call-and-response in song is not
entertainment. It is protection
and sanctuary. It was the secret
talk of the plantation—the signal
©2006 Lehman Brothers Inc. All rights reserved. Member SIPC.
markers of the Underground
Railroad—and it displaced fear for
civil rights workers during demon-
Excellence is an ethic of commitment, courage
and confidence. Bob Moses calls this ethic ‘radical’ in his book, Radical Equations: Civil Rights
from Mississippi to the Algebra Project. Ella
Baker, an early executive director of the Southern
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Christian Leadership Conference, taught Moses
and other activists of the 1960s civil rights era
that radical “… means facing a system that does
not lend itself to your needs and devising means
by which you change that system.” Habits of
“Competence lies in
knowing while not
revealing all that you
know.”
— Lodis Rhodes
excellence mean committing to a goal, a destination. It also involves the courage to face down all
obstacles. Finally, it is the confidence of competence. Competence lies in knowing while not
revealing all that you know.
You can’t change a system by yourself. You
must be connected to others to reach that destination. Cultural excellence is the proper preparation
for the journey.
In conclusion, I want to mention some specific models of
high ethical, political and intellectual leadership. I have already
mentioned Jordan, Baldwin,
Moses and Baker. Others are Ida
B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer,
Charles Hamilton Houston and
his protégé, Thurgood Marshall.
Each had a rock-solid sense of
right and wrong. Each found a
way to express that sense. Each
led from within the flock, “calling out” encouragement and
support to others. Note that none
was a self-proclaimed or mediaanointed leader. Also note that
none was ever the visible leader
flying point. However, they all left
distinctive marks of excellence
along their journey.
We must continue their struggle
because it is our own. In our work,
we must avoid political and professional arrogance and the ethical
lapses that are frequent companions. By staying in formation
and out of range, we can reach
our destination of the first-class
citizenship and equality that is
America’s promise.
Lodis Rhodes, Ph.D., is a professor
of public affairs at the University of
Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He is a
former member of the National Forum
for Black Public Administrator’s
Board of Directors, and helped develop the Executive
Leadership Institute and the Mentor Programs.
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