Virtues & Ethics

A CEO who has clarity in what they stand for, doesn't fall for everything

People are 83% more committed to leaders who stand for something and are more 86% more likely to follow leaders who are take the lead on ethical change - 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer

Spinoza, the 17th century Dutch philosopher, famous for his comprehensive works on ethics said the following: "We do not find joy in virtue because we control our lusts, but contrariwise, because we find joy in virtue we control our lusts". If you are like me, it will take you a few reads to grasp that what Spinoza is saying is that we must find joy in virtues if we have any chance of leading an ethical life.
 

So what are virtues? Virtues are behaviours showing high moral standards. In researching the role virtues play in self-mastery and leadership for the book Rise Warrior Rise, I found that there are 26 virtues to rise in life and 6 that pull us into misery and wrong-doing. 

Virtues and self-respect are reciprocal

Living according to moral virtues leads to self-respect and self-respect leads us to making morally correct decisions. You see they are reciprocal to each other, in that you can not have one without the other. Your level of morality determines your level of self-respect. People with a lack of clarity in what they stand for will have a lower level of self-respect and are more susceptible to being corrupted and led astray towards self-destruction and bringing harm to others. 

A lot is changing in our worlds creating lots of moral grey areas which are confusing so many among us. For proof just look at the news headlines of people in trusted positions doing wrong as a result of laziness, lust or anger. We have had executives behaving badly, priests who molest children to organisations charging fees to the dead and chairs of companies resigning due to their organisations taking advantage of their customers. The list goes on and on.

If you haven't been grounded in the 26 virtues to rise and thrive and do not get joy from these virtues, then you are in danger. We can't simply say we are a good person and will not do wrong. The reality is so many good people end up doing wrong and destroying not only their lives but that of others in the process. The two questions that keep coming up over and over again to me on personal morality are: 'what virtues should I live by' and 'how do I control my lusts so I am not led down a bad path?'  The answer to the latter is that you must find joy in the virtuous by making the virtues you stand for part of your character. And the answer to the first question is that you must intensely study the 26 virtues to rise. You can go on your own search for the virtues to define your life or feel free to lean on the 26 virtues defined in Rise Warrior Rise.
 

Developing Personal Virtues:

1. Define the virtues you stand for. Access a complementary resource from Rise Warrior Rise and test how virtuous you currently are against the 26 virtues to rise and thrive. www.excelerateyou.com/virtues-test
    
2. Study and discuss the virtues you stand for with like-minded people and mentors; and make the virtues part of your personal and family values. 
    
3. Incorporate daily rituals to gain total self-mastery so you can control your desires and senses against lust, anger and greed, while awakening fearlessness, determination, freedom and vitality.
    

The challenge

As the world expands through globalisation and technological advances, many people are losing touch with their culture and community and with it people are finding it harder to gain guidance and support that usually comes from elders and extended families. 

Every broken executive and entrepreneur I guide towards self-mastery started out wanting to do the right thing but never really thought through what that explicitly looked like or what it took to live virtuously. Finding your way to a place where you live and lead virtuously takes a commitment to understand all the moral virtues. 

Why wait until you lose what matters most to find joy in virtues? 

Make a decision to understand the moral virtues that resonate best with you and build your character around those virtues. However you must learn all the 26 moral virtues.

You must have a good command of all the virtues

Aristotle put forth the motion that "Living according to moral virtues leads to self-respect, and self-respect promotes making virtuous decisions". Living virtuously also leads to being happy with one’s life, but some virtues contribute to one’s happiness much more than others. In order to have self-respect, you must have good command of all the moral virtues. Virtue is about strength of will. Reason must constrain desires. Those virtues which are most beneficial to others are considered the greatest. Become a leader who serves your community and people fearlessly. Remember that there is a reciprocal link between virtues and self-respect, in that you don’t have one without the other. Self-respect comes from being a virtuous, moral person. And having self-respect makes one act in a virtuous manner. They feed into each other. Self-respect empowers you with the freedom to be fearless in living an authentic life. - Rise Warrior Rise: Awaken Your Soul.

Living and leading ethically requires that you have an excellent command of all the 26 moral virtues, so much so they become part of your character. If you think your organisation's ethical charter is enough, let me assure you it is not. If you do not think so, just look at examples at the top of this blog and you will see how easy it is for good people who are highly educated and surrounded by strong ethical charters fell down terrible paths. 

The three steps to running ethically sound organisations:

1. Gain input from all your people, and representatives of your community and customer base when developing your organization's ethical charter. People want their leaders to take the lead on ethical change'; and they will choose to work for companies who measure success by their impact on the world.
    
2. Assure your leadership team understand all the moral virtues and provide to all your staff a clear set of moral virtues the organisation values. It is no longer good enough just to expect people to turn up and do good. Assure that leadership behaviours exemplify doing the right thing ahead of personal progress). You must be concerned with building a reputation where only the most morally sound are attracted to your organisation.
    
3. Provide ongoing training on developing personal virtues. People want to do the right thing but lack the explicit knowledge of what that looks like and how to build a character that is morally unshakeable, so as leaders you must concern yourselves with educating and empowering yourselves and your people with the characteristics to lead morally strong lives.

My work with organisational leaders, entrepreneurs, universities and rehabilitation centres has taught me that in general people want to do the right thing, however most lack the know-how, which is why so many are confused and susceptible to fall victim to their environment pressures and vices. Those who have succumbed to anxiety, alcohol or drugs, I generally take them through a process to re-think what success is before we deep dive into what they value as virtuous character traits and start the process of working towards awakening those characteristics within them. Take a moment, if not for yourself then do it for those you love or lead and ask yourself what virtuous characteristics do you value most? Here are 5 of favourites:
 

1. Fearlessness

2. Freedom from fear and greedy cravings

3. Truth

4. Non-violence in thought, speech and act

5. Senses Control
    

Five bonus Virtues:
 

1. Unwavering Determination

2. Vitality

3. Purity of Heart

4. Aversion from Fault Finding

5. Serenity

Test your virtuous score

I started this blog with a quote from Spinoza, whose teaching have served me to understand ethics and virtues are not to be taken as a given but something that must be discussed vigorously and regularly to keep us on track in building a positive world, so it is only fitting that I conclude in the same manner to make the point that "all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare" - Spinoza

Roh Singh is the Author of Rise Warrior Rise and Love: The Wellbeing Journal. Roh serves as coach and board advisor. Roh is CEO of Populis, a boutique consultancy serving organisations to build ethical high performing leaders, strategy development and execution through the use of the award winning Leadership Framework™️. Contact Roh at roh@populis.com.au