Wanted: Principled Leadership

We’ve been inundated in recent weeks and months by one word “crisis”. No one seems to know how bad things really are and fewer still have solid, common sense ideas for fixing what is wrong. What seems obvious is that the problems we face are global and it will be a while until things get better.

I have been observing our political and business leaders pontificating about their plans and defending their actions but one thing has been absent from much of the dialogue – principles. When things are going badly, either personally or professionally, it can often be attributed to a lack of principles (or straying from them). For example, if you eat unhealthy foods while seldom exercising, the consequences of your actions will likely lead to an early death. There are fundamental principles associated with our bad habits and they can kill us.

In the case of the financial malaise our nation is facing the principles seem clear. If you lend money to a homeowner with bad credit the loan will default, regardless of how many ways you repackage the equity investment. When a business gets greedy and makes bad choices they need to fail and reorganize with a different structure and oversight. A child that is repeatedly rewarded for mediocre behavior will never learn responsibility and how to cope with disappointment.

I believe most people look for ways to delay suffering and pain. Leaders are not immune to this practice and it is bad for business. When we make a poor hiring decision but avoid dealing with it the rest of the team must now live with the consequences. If we fail to act in the face of a market downturn or new industry trend, sales will likely fall. Leading without principles may provide short-term relief but the underlying problems will remain unresolved.

What principles are important when things are going badly? One is simply to tell the truth. Another is admitting you don’t have all the answers. We must be willing to make real sacrifices instead of just delaying the pain. These are not easy choices which is why many leaders aren’t willing to make them.

Imagine what would happen if our political leaders stopped pointing fingers and started accepting responsibility. Suppose they focused on renewing the founding moral and religious principles of our nation. The best thing we can do in this, or any crisis, is take our medicine (regardless of how bad it tastes). Denying reality, delaying the inevitable, or rewarding bad behavior is the hallmark of unprincipled leadership. Let’s hope we have the courage and discipline to find and live by principles again before it’s too late.