BY MERRETT STIERHEIM

Harper Lee, who penned the classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, wrote that, “Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”¹ Said another way, moral courage is the act of taking a stand, of holding firm to your convictions despite encountering disdain, contempt, and even hatred of the principle you are defending. It was exemplified by 15-year old Malala Yousafzai, who in 2012, was shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to believe young Pakistani women are entitled to an education. Undeterred, Yousafzai started an international education organization. It was also seen in the quiet conviction of Rosa Parks, who in 1955, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and sparked a civil rights movement.

After my appointment in 1976 as Miami-Dade County manager, it became evident to me that if the future law enforcement needs of Miami-Dade citizens were to be realized, there had to be significant changes in how the county police department functioned, including its leadership. My management experience, as well as my ethical and moral convictions, made it clear that law enforcement needed to work and be representative of all our citizens, not just segments of the population.

After becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the chief’s delays in carrying out my mandates, I sat with him and personally requested that he resign. He was very popular in some quarters and perhaps thinking I would back down, he steadfastly refused. I then fired him. Although I had many sound reasons for my decision, my only comment was: “It was for the good of the service.” My decision, as fully expected, ignited a press and public firestorm. Petitions were quickly circulated, with many citizens urging county commissioners to fire me or calling for my resignation and the reinstatement of the chief. While my decision received support from minority leaders, it was a very stressful time. I didn’t flinch. I stood for what I believed was morally right and after a tense period, the mayor and commissioners never publicly challenged my decision. While a painful process, it was a necessary step toward the creation of a metropolitan police force that would protect and defend every citizen fairly and respectfully regardless of the color of their skin, creed, or ethnicity. In the years that followed, working with an outstanding, progressive new chief, we were able to transform that department into one of the most modern and forward-thinking law enforcement police forces in the nation.

The great American poet Maya Angelou said, “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”² To live an ethical life is more than a choice, it is a commitment. As public managers, we must come to terms with our potential and have the courage to exercise our moral convictions. In a world where the integrity of a number of corporations and public institutions has already eroded—and where there is great peer pressure “to go along to get along”—it is important to ask ourselves, where do we stand or, more importantly, where do I stand?

Let me be very clear; I’m not suggesting that city and county managers combat every social ill or ethical issue confronting society in their own communities. What I am suggesting and strongly believe is that to ignore and close our eyes to serious ethical transgressions, moral abuses, or corruption that can and should be confronted, or to duck issues that demand our leadership, is to fail in our professional responsibility to exemplify moral courage and public trust.

Miami-Dade County government, where I served a second time as a reform county manager, due to recurring scandals, is a large organization with over 25,000 employees and a multi-billion-dollar budget. It also has a small army of lobbyists who aggressively lobby elected commissioners over bids and contracts that involve large sums of public money. Before commission meetings, I would study the clients that these individual lobbyists represented and knowing which commissioner(s) those lobbyists were closest to, I knew who I would likely hear from when their item came up on the agenda. Before our meetings I would try to convince that commissioner why our professional recommendation was the correct decision and I never backed down. Commissioners knew that my staff and I would vigorously defend our recommendations. For me it was an ethically moral issue, a right-versus-wrong issue, and it was in that arena where some of my biggest battles were fought.

To be ethical and assert leadership can be a challenging path and it takes courage, even more so in trying times. Doing what is right is seldom easy. Sometimes the courage of your convictions may lose some friends, and sometimes you will be surprised by who steps up to lend a hand. Ethical leadership is not for the faint of heart. Most people, it seems, would rather follow than lead, which may explain why many pundits today bemoan the lack of ethical leadership in the public and private sectors. Unfortunately, some of those who vie for political leadership are ethically flawed and, in some cases, even corrupt. From personal experience, three of the five Pinellas County commissioners that hired me went to jail for zoning payoffs that all transpired before my appointment.

While a crooked politician is deplorable, an unethical or corrupt administrator is even worse. That is because ethical public administrators are the last line of defense against the corrosive actions of unethical politicians and their surrogates. A professional manager is the backbone of a public organization. They are on the inside of the bureaucracy and should sound the alarm against the political raider, sometimes becoming a whistleblower to stem the tide of malfeasance. To do otherwise is not to have the moral courage to act in the best interest of the community being served.

As a life-long career public manager, I believe ethical leadership requires three distinct characteristics: competence, courage, and commitment.

Competence is a measure of our abilities, our skills, and intellectual capacities; including the level of our intelligence and judgement and how emotionally secure we feel about ourselves.

Courage takes many forms and includes moral courage as well as the willingness to express ourselves with unvarnished truthfulness; our bravery and willingness to face unjust criticism; and when necessary, our strength of character and resiliency. To meet the tests of competence and courage we must know ourselves, spiritually and morally, as well as being mentally mature and in control of our ego.

Commitment means having the personal discipline to share our values and beliefs and practice them daily; faithfully and judiciously.

To exert ethical leadership, managers must have strong personal and professional ethics. Ethics for us defines the moral principles of what is good and bad and what we consider right and wrong behavior. It is an individual’s code of conduct and an integral part of leadership. Our ICMA Code of Ethics provides excellent advice and ethical guideposts for our professional conduct. Ethics is about making moral choices and our nation’s ethics are based on its people’s moral principles, which Thomas Jefferson said is the moral foundation upon which governments are founded; hence, ethics provides society with a rationale for its morality—a mechanism for individuals to reason why a decision is moral.

Ethical conduct and moral courage are part and parcel of enlightened leadership. An enlightened organization, as I define it, has a leader and a management team that values its stakeholders and its employees and interacts with them both. I strongly believe that the establishment and maintenance of an ethical culture must be the core responsibility of the leader and his or her management team. An organization’s ethical standards should reflect its values, attitudes, and behavior—in other words, the inherent ethical culture of the organization and its leadership. In the workplace, ethical practices should be central to the culture of an organization and should be as conspicuous as the furniture, computers, and other tools used by employees in their tasks.

Most successful, ethical leaders set a bold vision and inspire others to follow. Helping each of them in that visionary process is their commitment to establish a caring workplace environment—an environment that values and respects employees, no matter their station within the organization. These ethical leaders are fair and just, and they lead by example. They are self-aware and live in the present. They understand their weaknesses and strengths, yet they are confident in their abilities to lead. They are not reluctant to surround themselves with experienced men and women—perhaps some even smarter and more experienced than they are—who will help them realize their vision, and in that process, feel free to challenge or present constructive alternatives to the leader.

Ethical leaders seek and value men and women who aspire to lead, to learn, and listen and are genuinely respectful of the opinion of others. They keep an open mind and practice empowerment. For me empowerment is the cornerstone of ethical leadership and that powerful word, more than any other, describes my management philosophy. I try to empower my staff and department directors to take risks and make decisions when they feel it is the right thing to do. I have their backs, but I do insist that they not pass on a problem to me without a recommended solution. I believe in teamwork and always try to appoint or hire people that are smarter than me— the smarter the better.

Ethical leaders have love and respect for the people they lead and serve. They are patient and have love for humanity and are confident enough in themselves to share emotions with those they lead. Above all, ethical leadership requires men and women to have empathy, humility, and a sense of humor—even being able to laugh at themselves. They must be willing to admit failure and have the courage and resiliency to adjust, innovate, and find solutions consistent with their vision.

Ethical leaders are neither saints nor sinners. They are not perfect. Everyone who aspires to lead has within themselves ambition and a sense of self-interest, otherwise they would not be seeking to rise above the field and make a mark in their chosen endeavor. Ambition imparts purpose and engenders self-esteem. In possessing those qualities, however, ethical leaders have control of their egos and do not allow themselves to be either consumed by power or overwhelmed by altruism. They embrace the good and the bad in themselves—as they do in others—guided by their ethics and moral principles.

Without leadership, decisions are not made, opportunities are squandered, and dissension and mistrust abound. Regardless of the stage—whether national, private sector, or local government—moral courage and ethical leadership matters. In most of mankind’s endeavors, circumstances have determined the response, but it is the exercise of ethical leadership practiced by those engaged in the moral struggle that made the difference between success or failure. President Harry S. Truman declared that, “Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”³

Whether in the fulfillment of our responsibilities as citizens or in our personal lives or in our chosen profession, each of us must be ready to rise to the challenges of our own times.

 

MERRETT R. STIERHEIM holds a master’s degree in governmental administration from the Wharton School’s Fels Institute and two honorary university doctorates. He just completed his first book, Ethical Leadership in Challenging Times, from which this article contains excerpts. He is donating that book to Florida Atlantic University (FAU), where it will be copyrighted and sold with all proceeds used for public administration scholarships at FAU. Mr. Stierheim is also an ICMA Life Member. (mrstierheim@msn.com)

 

ENDNOTES

¹ “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” —Atticus Finch” Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Published May 23, 2006. Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

² Angelou, Maya. USA TODAY Interview. March 5, 1988. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/05/28/maya-angelou-quotes/9663257.

³ Harry S. Truman Quotes. (n.d.). Brainy Quote.com. Retrieved June 6, 2019, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/harry_s_truman_130667.