Role Of Ethics In Towering Personality Development

THE ROLE OF ETHICS IN TOWERING PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT1 By Professor Datuk Dr. Syed Othman Alhabshi INCEIF [email protected] INTRODUCTION Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation. -- Thucydides What Thucydides, the Athenian aristocrat, suggested I believe summarises the most important attributes of a towering personality. The two key words here are power and justice. He clearly pointed out that these people are human in the sense they would certainly enjoy when given power. Yet, they do not abuse the power they have, even if situations would compel them to do so. On the contrary, they go against all odds in order to give close attention to justice particularly to their followers or those who allow themselves to be led by them. The above words also imply the difficulty to consistently rule with justice when one is in power. The temptation is too great to be unjust. The main reason is because these two can be fundamentally opposing forces when other human inclinations are allowed to intervene. Of course, they also can be used to reinforce each other. What is most interesting to my mind is the fact that what Thucydides said more than 3000 years ago has been recently confirmed empirically by Jim Collins in his article in Harvard Business Review of July-August 2005 issue2. Based on 1,435 companies in Fortune 500 from 1965 to 1995 and more than 6,000 articles, his team started the research in 1996 to answer only one question. Can a good company become a great company, if so how? After setting his strict criteria, only 11 of the 1,435 companies passed the test. All these 11 companies show one common answer. They have to have a Level 5 Leader in whom genuine personal humility blends with intense professional will. If we match “justice” and “power” of Thucydides with “personal humility” and “professional will” of Jim Collins, respectively, I do not think they are far apart. Indeed, they match very well. ETHICAL DIMENSION OF TOWERING PERSONALITY 1

Presented at the Tenth Civil Service Conference on the theme “Development with a Human Touch: Maximizing Human Capital Potential”, Organized by the Administrative and Diplomatic Service Association, Malaysia in collaboration with National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) held at INTAN, Bukit Kiara, on 12 – 13 September 2005 2 Jim Collins, “Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve”, in Harvard Business Review, July-August 2005, pp. 1-12

If we scrutinize closely both Thucydides’ statement and Jim Collins’ research findings we shall find not only that they reinforce each other but they are also completely value loaded. One cannot dispute that the personality we are talking about has to be deeply rooted with strong commitment to some principles, values or more generally ethics in order to behave in the manner described above. It is most unlikely that one who is very knowledgeable would care to be humble. Similarly, a very powerful man would not have to pay more attention to justice. It is certainly the influence of some inner conscience that makes him behave with humility or with justice while he is highly knowledgeable or having absolute power. Why do they choose to behave in a more humane but effective way? I would argue that the ethical dimension inherent in such a personality is self-evident. As Jim Collins found out, his 11 subjects demonstrated their “personal humility” with compelling modesty, shunning public adulation and never boastful. They act with quiet, calm determination, relies principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate. They channel ambition into the company, not to the self, sets up successors for even more greatness in the next generation. They look in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors or bad luck. Their “professional will” help them create superb results, a clear catalyst in the transition from good to great. They also demonstrate an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long term results, no matter how difficult. They set the standard of building an enduring great company, and will settle for nothing less. They look out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company to other people, external factors and good luck. ETHICS EDUCATION AND PRACTICE OVER THE CENTURIES The preceding paragraphs clearly illustrate sufficient evidence that the subject of ethics in relation to excellent leadership or towering personality is not new. It is an age-old subject. However, it becomes relevant and probably fashionable only when other preventive approaches or cures for human weaknesses have failed. As is often said, people would only think of God in times of distress and despair. Apparently, this is true with the education and practice of ethics as well. When everything turns out alright, no one thinks of ethics. But when suddenly things are out of control, ethics suddenly is considered to be the only answer. Indeed century after century philosophers and thinkers have reinforced the need for ethical and moral discourses to bring society back to the right track. It started with the ancient philosophy of the Greeks before the most celebrated names of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle right through the modern philosophy of the West to the modern day, ethics has been one of the disciplines that had been much laboured to influence society. The Muslim philosophers were also noted for their concern of the level of morality of their times.

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Just to pick out one or two examples, Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (450AH/1058AD – 505AH/1111AD) the famous 12th century Muslim jurist, theologian, philosopher, spent the later part of his life writing on ethics because he felt that the Muslims were loosing their grip on their religion. He was certain that there was no other solution to the moral decadence of his time except through ethics. Abdul Rahman Ibn Mohammad or better known as Ibn Khaldun (1332 – 1395 CE), the famous Arab historian, sociologist and philosopher also remarked two centuries after alGhazali, that affluence is one of the main causes of moral decadence in society. Until the 1970’s, ethics was not considered as an important discipline in business schools, whether it be at the undergraduate or graduate level. It was not felt important because corporations and business houses were doing well. However in 1988, Kenneth Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale had this to say, “Everywhere we turn today there are signs of ethical deterioration. In business, bright young people have made immoral millions by using insider trading information. In government, hardly a day goes by without some public official being involved in an ethical dilemma on Capitol Hill. In education, cheating scandals among students and under-the-table payments to college athletes by alumni have become commonplace. Obviously, all these people, many of them supposedly outstanding citizens, believed that they had to cheat to win. They, along with many others, believe that nice guys finish last. We, however, disagree.”3 By 1980, 90% of graduate business schools in USA taught ethics or business ethics. Probably by now, ethics or business ethics is made compulsory for all business students. Numerous journals and books have been written on ethics since then in order, at least, to inform students of the importance of ethics in business. Professorial chairs on ethics were also created in schools such as Harvard, to facilitate research on the subject. Despite all the efforts to teach and research on ethics in USA, the beginning of this century was marred by the biggest financial and corporate scandals ever, namely the Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and others. Corporate governance suddenly became relevant everywhere including here in Malaysia, to ensure that companies and corporations are prudent, truthful, transparent and accountable. Although we do not have Enron and WorldCom, the financial crisis of 1997-98 brought into the open the many weaknesses in the control and financial management systems of our corporations. In education, out of the 47 public and private universities and university colleges in this country, probably none has established a department of philosophy of which ethics is one of its important branches. Of course we have produced thousands of Doctors of Philosophy, but with very little or no knowledge of philosophy. I must admit that there are universities in this country that have taught ethics and some have made ethics compulsory to all students.

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Kenneth Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Ethical Management, William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York, 1988, p.6

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The government, under the leadership of the previous Prime Minister declared at the beginning of his reign in 1981 to conduct a clean, trustworthy and efficient government. Despite such an undertaking, our country was placed on the higher international corruption ladder for bribery and corruption. We also faced an increasing number of social ills especially drug addicts, rapes, murders and robberies. Slightly more than two decades later our current Prime Minister came out very strong on integrity and has taken to task even a very high ranking politician in the country for his involvement in money politics. The establishment of Institut Integriti Malaysia (IIM) is certainly most welcome at this juncture to reinforce our commitment towards a clean society. Just to note, a survey conducted by IIM on some university students revealed that about 30 percent of them admitted they would accept bribes. The question is where do we go from here? I must congratulate the organisers of this conference, namely the Association of Public and Diplomatic Services, Malaysia and National Institute of Public Administration for having chosen a very timely and appropriate theme for this conference, namely: “Development With A Human Touch: Maximizing Human Capital Potential”. Let us not just leave it as a good and timely theme of a conference, but let us fully commit ourselves to it. I think we are all very concerned about the future of our beloved country. We cannot leave it to chance. We should indeed do something while we can. I am sure all of you can. THE TOWERING PERSONALITY ILLUSTRATED A tower is always associated with a building which is of some considerable height. In order for any building to be of considerable height, it has to have a strong foundation to withstand the various destructive forces. The foundation has to be strong enough to withstand the weight of the building so that it does not sink or slant towards any direction. If any one of these happens to a tower, it will not be stable and would not endure the test of time. The foundation for a very tall building would also be provided with some mechanism to withstand the swaying due to occasional strong winds. A building will also not be considered as a tower if it is not taller than the buildings surrounding it. It has to be the tallest as compared to the other buildings surrounding it. In fact, the difference in height should be significant, otherwise, it is considered as just the tallest among the buildings in that location. The tower is often unique in its design apart from being very tall so that it will easily attract attention. These are some of the characteristic features of a tower. When we consider an individual with a towering personality, it does not necessarily mean that he must be as tall as a tower. The term towering when applied to a personality implies that this individual rises above everybody else in his character, capacity and capability.

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Character, according to Al-Ghazali, is “an established state [of the soul] from which actions proceed easily, without any need for reflection and deliberation. If this state is such that good actions – i.e. those which are praised by reason and the Shari’a – proceed from it, it is called good character. If the actions which proceed from the state are evil, the state from which they derive is called bad character.”4 Character therefore is the result of ethical training. It is for this reason that an individual is considered to have a towering personality if he is imbued with a very strong ethical foundation. His ethical conduct is consistent, never wavering, irrespective of any context or situation. He holds fast to the ethical principles that he believes in which necessarily becomes his guide for direction and decision. Capacity in this case would include physical (which may include skill), mental (in the form of knowledge and experience) and even spiritual. In fact he should be considered as a master in his field. Capability defines what he can do which normally is more than many others around him. It also includes his strong determination to do well and to succeed. Following both Thucydides and Collins, a towering personality blends at least two opposing characteristics in the most harmonious way. The power of Thucydides is equivalent to Collins’ intense professional will. Power in this case need not be given to him by some authority, but acquired through knowledge, experience and skill that is inherent in him. The resulting power out of knowledge, experience and skill is much more powerful and convincing than that which is bestowed on him by some authority. In other words, the power that he has is a deserving one. The second key ingredient for the towering personality here is Thucydides’ “justice” and Collins’ “extreme personal humility”. Humility will not always work without unwavering firmness, as shown by almost all the 11 towering personalities cited by Collins. Firmness cannot be easily accepted if it is not conducted with justice. This, I think, is how one should connect the ideas of Thucydides and Collins. By having these characteristics, the towering personalities should certainly have the aura that would easily attract the attention of people who come into contact with him. He would certainly leave a very positive impression to those who come near him. The more one associate with him, the more one feels the greatness in him. THE RELEVANCE OF ETHICS TO TOWERING PERSONALITY The dual virtues of justice and humility are not readily practised by the common mortals. Justice in particular is an absolute rather than relative concept. There is no such thing as less or more just. It is either just or unjust. There is nothing in between. Justice is also dependent on absolute truth. When there is any element of doubt, then there can be no justice at all. Justice prevails only when there is no iota of doubt in the case, information or fact. A slight distortion of fact is enough to throw justice out of the window. 4

Muhammad Abul Quasem, The Ethics of Al-Ghazali: A Composite Ethics In Islam, 1975, pp. 79

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Humility is certainly not easy to practise. It requires so much sacrifice of the self in terms of credit, recognition, appreciation, merit and even self satisfaction. One can only be humble if he is selfless, generous with what he has and ever willing to share them with others. He does not need to satisfy his ego or may be he has none of it. He probably believes with what Kenneth Blanchard once said, “EGO is Edging God Out”. I like to reiterate here that both justice and humility are two most difficult virtues to live by. What more when they are combined with professional knowledge, skill and experience and more so when one is also endowed with power. It is most likely that those with power and professional knowledge would be very brash, arrogant and egoistic. It is only when he is subdued by his own principles, values and proper virtues that he will pay more attention to justice and humility. This is where ethics becomes relevant and plays a very important role to influence the behaviour of individuals to reach the level of towering personalities. In other words, to be ethical is a necessary and sufficient condition for one to be considered as a towering personality. CONCLUSION A towering personality certainly has all the ingredients to be arrogant, egoistic and brash. Fortunately he also has those virtues that subdue them to be selfless, caring and mindful of others. Most of them are able not only to transform organisations from good to great but more importantly they are able to sustain the success for considerably long time. This is the role ethics plays on their lives. Let me leave you with the following quote: “People with humility don’t think less of themselves. They just think about themselves less”5

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Kenneth Blanchard and Margret McBride, The One Minute Apology, Harper Collins, 2003, p. 77

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