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March 2004

ANNOUNCEMENTS

LEADING HIGH STAKES, LARGE SCALE MEETINGS

Herb Rubenstein Consulting was hired by a large housing association with 1299 units in Florida to lead a two day meeting where the members were faced with an important governance issue and an important challenge relating to the future of the organization. Herb Rubenstein held an open town hall meeting the day before the two day “congress” and over 100 people from the community came to share their opinions. By the end of the two day session led by Herb Rubenstein, where over 50 people participated in framing and discussing the issues, the members had reached a consensus on a very thorny governance issue and had set a date for a vote on March 25th regarding whether to embark on a path that would dramatically alter the future of the community. This type of assignment typifies the leadership and governance expertise of Herb Rubenstein Consulting and will pave the way for Growth Strategies, Inc. to undertake leadership and facilitator roles in large scale, high stakes meetings in the future.

Herb Rubenstein Consulting TO BUILD LEADERSHIP COURSE AND WRITE BOOK
ON LEADERSHIP FOR LAWYERS AND LAW STUDENTS

Herb Rubenstein Consulting has held a central role in the leadership education community serving on the board of directors of the International Leadership Association (ILA) and as co-chair of the ILA annual conference in Washington, DC November 4-6, 2004. Herb Rubenstein Consulting has published widely on leadership topics and has introduced a new theory of leadership . This theory suggests that there is a huge difference between the roles and activities of “leaders of leaders” that the proper role and activities of leaders of followers. This new theory will be the subject of a leadership keynote address by Herb Rubenstein at Washington and Lee University on March 27th. Herb Rubenstein is joining forces with Larry Center, the Director of Continuing Legal Education at Georgetown University, to write a book on leadership specifically directed to lawyers, law students and the legal community. Tentatively titled, “Inspired Leadership: Leadership Lessons for Lawyers,” this book will finally bring modern leadership theory, knowledge, skills and practices to the legal community. Currently, other than one course in Cincinnati, there is no course taught to law students or practicing attorneys in the field of leadership. This book will address this serious gap in law school education and in the continuing education of lawyers.

Herb Rubenstein Consulting TO LEAD PANEL ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE
AT THE WORLD FUTURE SOCIETY ANNUAL CONFERENCE.

Herb Rubenstein has been selected to lead a panel discussing the Future of Health Care at the World Future Society’s annual conference in Washington, DC in July, 2004. This panel will address the issue that most Americans rank as the number one social issue they face in their lives. New technological solutions to health care problems, new insurance and delivery systems and new research on pain mnagement will be three key topic areas covered by the distinguished panel selected for this conference.

Herb Rubenstein Consulting’s “article” this month is on Ethical Leadership: The State of the Art. Surprisingly, there is no general theory of ethical leadership in the leadership education literature. Scholars like Dr. Joanne Cuilla of the Jepsen School of Leadership at the University of Richmond and Dr. Ron Heifetz at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University are among a group of scholars who have worked diligently on the development of such a theory. Modern business, educational, religious and political practitioners, while generally ethical, are faced with decisions every day that test their own individual interpretation of what is ethical. Often, they fail and the cost to Americans alone may exceed 40 billion dollars annually plus untold anguish and sorrow. Today, we can not afford to be led by those who either have a misguided interpretation of what is ethical or simply do not have the courage, fortitude, proper training or individual personal makeup to lead ethically.
This paper is part of an emerging strategy in the United States to improve the general knowledge and understanding concerning the true standards of ethical leadership and to inform the world that in our society a zero tolerance policy is being shaped that will rapidly depose those in leadership positions who fail to meet American society’s improving standards for ethical leadership. I hope you find this article not only educational and stimulating, but that you also share it with others and use it to begin to be more demanding of those who lead the organizations in which you invest your time, your money, your identity and your employment. This article was written and published nearly a year ago and after the recent verdicts in our courts, the recent Medicare budget estimate scandal, and the challenges to whether our intelligence information was accurately portrayed to us and the world over the past eighteen months, this article, now, is more timely than ever. I welcome your comments and feedback on this most critical topic.

ARTICLE

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: THE STATE OF THE ART

Article by Herb Rubenstein
CEO, Herb Rubenstein Consulting

Introduction

There has been much work attempting to develop a general theory of leadership. Trait, transactional, transformational, path-goal, contingency and situational theories, all abound. These theoretical constructs seek to both define and explain leadership. In 2003, there is no generally accepted or even widely disseminated theory of ethical leadership. As Northouse in Leadership: Theory and Practice (Sage Publications, 2001) states twice in the book: “… very little research has been published on theoretical foundation of leadership ethics …” Without a theoretical foundation of support, the concept of ethical leadership is impotent to guide human behavior.

Toward A General Theory of Ethical Leadership

We start with the understanding that what one culture considers ethical, another culture will consider unethical. The fact that there is not one universal set of behaviors one considers ethical and the fact that the terms moral and ethical are often used interchangeably should not dissuade people from seeking to develop a general theory of ethical leadership. “Leadership,” in the broadest sense of the term encompasses behaviors that are ethical as well as those that are generally considered unethical.
Leaders can lead by misinforming their followers, making false claims to justify their actions and can base their actions on the convenient point of view that the “ends justify the means.” Lying, which one can reasonably assert is unethical (except possibly to “spare an innocent life”) is the standard operating procedure often practiced by many sales leaders, political leaders and business leaders. Unethical behavior is today but one tool in the arsenal of many that leaders use in the world to accomplish goals. The New Jersey rule (“it is not unethical until you get caught”) seems to be a popular view when it comes to assessing whether a behavior is unethical.

Since, there is no general theory of ethical leadership, there is no research or solid evidence that shows that ethical behavior produces superior “leadership results” in the long term or the short term. And as long as we define “leadership results” as success (e.g. sales, revenues, sports victories, promotions, awards, etc.), and do not monitor or analyze the underlying leadership behavior in terms of whether it was ethical or not, that produced these results we can never show statistically that ethical behavior, however defined, is a superior result producer than unethical behavior.

In order to begin to develop a theory of ethical leadership, one must realize that the term “ethical” in front of the word “leadership” today is merely seen as imposing constraints on the leader. Ethics today is taught from a negative point of view. One studies ethics in law school, other graduate schools and in new courses springing up in the business and non-profit worlds and each of these courses tries to teach people what not to do. No body of knowledge and certainly no successful behavioral modification training can ever be based on trying to teach people what not to do. The number and categories of unethical behavior are infinite and only limited by the imaginations of the six billion people on the planet. No course can ever tell someone all the things not to do or even describe all of the categories of actions that are proscribed.

Any theory of ethical leadership must be based on two new premises. First, ethical leadership is a system of thought based on setting rules for what to do, not on what not to do. Second, our definition of leadership must evolve to include ethical behavior not because ethical behavior is simply a natural good in and of itself, but mainly as part of the core of what leadership is for pragmatic reasons.

Toward a New Definition of Leadership

The world does not exist for only one moment. It exists as a continuum of time and any definition of leadership must recognize that leadership is not an event that occurs in one second, but is a process that takes time. While an act of leadership may appear episodic, for true leadership to occur it must be built on a series of actions that produces a very useful range of results. I would like to offer a new definition of leadership that incorporates this time dimension. The definition is:

“Leadership is the creation and fulfillment of worthwhile opportunities by honorable means”

This definition of leadership is unusual because it includes the word worthwhile and the phrase “by honorable means.” My justification for including this word and this phrase is simple. If leadership occurs over a period of time and constitutes a series of acts and relationships, then inherent in the concept of leadership is the concept of “repeatability.” For a leader to maintain a leadership role or position or lead over a significant period of time, the leader’s actions must be repeatable by him or herself and be repeatable by his or her followers. If a leader’s actions are either not worthwhile or by honorable means as defined by the leader’s followers and other powerful stakeholders outside the leader-follower relationship or not, then these actions can not be repeatable over the long run. History shows that if a leader does not use his or her leadership actions on worthwhile opportunities or facts to use honorable means, the world will rise up against him or her and destroy the leader. Hitler, Stalin and other leaders who led by less than honorable means and pursued less than worthwhile opportunities in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s could not get away with their behavior today for very long because the world has a much greater capacity to observe the actions of world leaders and take decisive action against them. Clinton could not sneak a few minutes with an intern, lie about it and get away with it. Nixon could not attempt to steal a few files and try to hide it without being forced from office.

If our definition of leadership evolves to include a longer run time dimension and a definition similar to the one I propose, then studies can be performed that can show the relative efficiency of ethical leadership as opposed to unethical leadership. Then a theory can be developed that both defines ethical leadership and proves why it works in the era in which we now live where leaders actions are more observable and harder to hide than ever before.

Conclusion

A significant part of the world is destroyed every day by unethical behavior. The billions of dollars of lost asset value of Enron, Anderson, WorldCom, Ardelphia, Global Crossing, MicroStrategy, the huge cost in trust in government by everyday people due to Nixon, Agnew and Clinton, all take a huge toll on the world. Until we develop a solid theory of ethical leadership, begin to monitor leadership from an ethical perspective, and begin to define ethical leadership in positive terms as opposed to today’s set of “don’t do’s”, we can not generate the consensus and political will to demand that all leadership consist of ethical leadership.

There are steps we can take, but today we may be moving in the opposite direction. With 34% of resumes being false (Coombs, The Living Workplace, 1999), with no standard course in ethics taught in K-12 or required as a college course, ethics is merely “an elective”, in school, in the business world and in politics and government. General theories can not be formulated when society is so ambivalent about the importance of a topic. Our theories in mathematics and physics often came about to form a solid underpinning to solve important, immediate and long term problems. Until we begin to redefine leadership and begin to place more emphasis on ethical behavior than on the mere accomplishment of results, we will find it very impossible to develop and generate the financial resources necessary to develop a general theory of ethical leadership and conduct significant research on the effectiveness and utility of “ethical leadership.”

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