Posts Tagged ‘ALTRUISM as a Leadership Value’

In further contemplation of the HBR article July 21 by Rakesh Khurana and associated responses I would like to add some additional thoughts about leadership and it being designated as a profession.

Underlying this discussion is the reason I believe for the discussion; that is the decline in public trust & confidence in leadership as a consequence of the egregious behavior of leaders in many arenas. I’m not slamming all leaders because surely there are many altruistic, effective leaders of integrity and accountability.

In my perspective and in the many conversations that I have with people about the state of leadership today, there is a lot of cynicism and distrust of leadership in general; many have given up on having respect for leaders at all.

I believe that this lack of confidence and trust is at the root of the need to even have a conversation about professionalizing leadership.

With that said, I believe that something needs to be done to elevate the behaviors, conduct and quality of leadership. Something needs to be done to restore public trust and confidence. And not just for the sake of restoring respect but for the sake of the future as it is affected by the conduct of leaders.

Developing a professional designation is in my opinion one way to solve what I consider to be a real issue around the poor regard that leaders hold now for all the reasons and more stated above.

A professional designation doesn’t have to be like accountants or physicians. It can be unique to leadership and developed through pulling together a diverse group of actual leaders, academics, consultants and employees to tackle the issue and arrive at solutions. They could start with a future vision of how leadership could look in the future and go from there with a strategy.

The Hippocratic Oath wasn’t a designation or something in a book for my father. It was an expression of what he believed in his heart was the reason that he was a physician. The plaque on the wall that he proudly displayed had nothing to do with money and everything to do with serving others. It was an ideal that he believed in. Imagine if leaders felt that way about their responsibility to and influence on the quality of the lives of others?

To me it’s not naïve to think that leadership can be moved I this direction; it’s necessary to our future.

Leadership in its positional authority can have a great influence on people and society. In that role leaders can do good or do harm. If a designation and program can be developed that will remind leaders of this then it is a project truly worthwhile.