Leadership and Ethics

Recently there has been a disastrous flood in the south of Thailand claiming lives of many and leaving thousands of people homeless.  Thousand of local people suffered from the lack of food, flooding-related disease and the lost of their loved ones.  Both private and government sectors reached out to help the victims.  However, the government did not seem to work hard and efficient enough to help the victimized in real time manners.  They were harshly criticized especially when people compared them to the Thai most popular news channel's real time and effective relief aid.  The spokesperson of the Thai Government boldly attacked that TV channels that "Let me start by saying that the news channel or media who is now in the flood-affected area is doing so just to promote their channel not for the sake of the victim and the nation as a whole. This also makes us the Government look like we did nothing." ("Government spokesperson slahes," 2011)


I was dumbstruck.  I could not believe what I read was coming from the representative of the government, the leader of the nation.  It seemed to me that they took priority in 'saving face' over the easing the pain and hardship of the fellowmen.  This speaks for some ethics and moral issues of the government.  Instead of adopting the effective approach that the TV channel used to help the victims or thanking them for helping the government as a helping hand, they felt they were being discredited and overshadowed. 


But wait...what is ethics? According to Carroll and Buchholtz (2006), ethics can be regarded as a set of moral principles or values.  It is the discipline that deals with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.  The words 'good' and 'bad' are quite vague. It depends on an individual's interpretation or an organization's interpretation.  However according to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 250 Section 279, those who hold political positions, civil service officials, or government officer must abide by the established Code of Ethics of the Civil Service.  One of them which can be applied to this case is that those who hold political positions and government officers should "adhere to the national interest than personal interest and have no conflicts of interest" Apparently, this spokesperson was more concerned about the reputation of the government than the hardship people in the south were enduring.


Such behavior shows the lack of leadership and ethics.  No need to talk about enabling leadership, credible leadership, transactional leadership or transformational leadership.  If being positive, he clearly lacks the efficient communication skill.  It might not be the message he tried to convey to the public.  Yet such arrogant behavior and attitude conveyed by his words was repulsive and insensitive.  I cannot see leadership in this person who represents the government.


Leadership is action, not position.  I have found one relevant quote speaking the volume of this issue.

"No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it." 

              --Andrew Carnegie

Undeniably, what I can draw from this news piece is how important communication skill is.  I do not think it is necessary or a must for a leader to be a great public speaker.  As long as he articulates his thoughts, ideas and vision well, is committed to what he says or promises, and is authentic to himself, that is what matters.  Any word that is not thoroughly and thoughtfully expressed can have an adverse effect on the speaker especially if he/she is in a leadership position in time of crisis, when harmony and reassurance are needed. 

This poses a challenge for me when I go back to Thailand to work at the Department of Promotion of Ethics.  My prospect supervisor has already touched upon an issue they have been having.  They have been trying to make sure all officers both at local and national government levels are effectively communicated about codes of ethics specified in the constitution of the kingdom of Thailand.  Moreover, they are trying to come up with a way to reinforce, keep track and assess those codes of ethics among all officers.  To be honest, I do not quite have an idea yet how to do it.  i hope attending three workshops at OPM before I leave would serve as a platform for me and give me substantial information and knowledge on this field.


Last but not least, I will end this post with an excerpt in the article, Ethics and Moral Leadership: Quality Linkages by Maguad and Krone.  It is relevant to this topic and can be applied to my future job.

To sustain the quality initiative in the organisation, top management must demonstrate commitment by displaying con- sistently high ethical standards and by cultivating a high level of trust and respect from members, based not just on stated values but on their willingness to make personal sacrifices for the sake of upholding these values (Lussier & Achua, 2001).

References

Carroll, A.B., & Buchholtz, A.K. (2006). Business and society: Ethics and stakeholder management (6th ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

Government spokesperson slahes at channel 3 . (2011, April 13). Retrieved from http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1302688487&grpid=01&catid=02

Lussier, R.N., & Achua, C.F. (2001). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development. Mason, OH: South-Western College Publishing.
Maguad, B. A., & Krone, R. M. (2009). Ethics and moral leadership: Quality linkages. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 20(2), 209-222. doi:10.1080/14783360802623043