DTIC ADA528850: Leadership, Community, and Virtue

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by  Defense Technical Information Center

n
Leadership,
Community,
D
O
D
and Virtue
By J A M E S H. T O N E R
James MacGregor Burns has stated that “Leadership over human
beings is exercised when persons with certain motives and pur-
poses mobilize . . . institutional, political, psychological, and
other resources so as to arouse, engage, and satisfy the motives
of followers.”1 Although he is an acclaimed scholar, this propo-
sition, though not erroneous, seems somehow incomplete, color-
less, and impotent. But if Burns’s grasp of leadership is inade-
quate, one can peruse hundreds of works in search of a
definition of leadership without finding a wholly satisfying ex-
planation. Augustine of Hippo, the fifth century philosopher
and Father of the Church, noted that one knows what time is
until asked to define it. Leader-
ship may resist definition in
James H. Toner teaches international relations and military ethics at
the Air War College and is the author of The Sword and the Cross: the same way.
Reflections on Command and Conscience.
98 JFQ / Spring 1996
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Leadership, Community, and Virtue
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Toner
Terms which have the greatest meaning for The definition proposed herein emphasizes
us—love, faith, honor, and justice—invariably that leaders inspire appropriate (correct, fitting,
withstand simple (or even complex) definition. suitable, rightful) conduct. Leadership that pro-
But can one really comprehend something with- motes inappropriate (incorrect or wrongful) con-
out being able to define it? Thus I offer this suc- duct may be tyranny, despotism, or dictatorship,
cinctdefinition:leadershipistheabilitytoinspire but it is not genuine leadership, which one takes
appropriateactionbeyondtheexpectable.2While to be a positive influence. The dictionary states
thisdenotationisunlikelytofinditswayintothe that to lead is “to go before or with to show the
academic literature on the subject, it serves as a way.” One must again acknowledge that “the
pointofdepartureforlookingatleadership. way” can be harmful—such as when gang leaders
If some action or conduct is routine, ordi- incite followers to violence and crime—though a
nary, and predictable—that is, expectable in every fair reading seems to suggest something construc-
sense—leadership is very tive as well as hopeful. Therefore leadership in-
likely unnecessary. It is spires appropriate conduct beyond the expectable.
leadership inspires appropriate
in the nature of leader- That is, I contend, what leadership does. But if
conduct beyond the expectable ship to offer something that is what leadership does, howdoes it do it?
beyond the expectable. If a
How Leadership Works
group of people may be
expected, for instance, to achieve a desirable out- Over the course of decades, military profes-
come regardless of leadership, one might fairly as- sionalshaverightlyinsistedthatleadersinspireap-
sume that, with effective leadership, the same propriate conduct beyond the expectable by ap-
group might be able to achieve even greater pealingtoduty,honor,andcountry—andrefusing
things. Thus, leadership contributes to success on to lie, cheat, and steal. Yet these venerable con-
the margins—it is value added. One might think cepts,whichhaveencouragedthousandsofleaders
of it as yeast that has a positive catalytic effect. todowhattheyoughttoevenintimesofperiland
For example, the motto of the U.S. Army In- crisis, are vague. Strong adjurations to virtue and
fantry School at Fort Benning is “Follow Me!” It is admonitionsagainstvicearenecessarilyindistinct.
an effective credo, capturing in two words the The ancient Greeks told us that exceptions to
essence of leadership: the infantry leader, exert- broad rules might sometimes have to be granted.
ing the power of his own will and influence, en- Equity means fairness. Aristotle taught that equity
ables a squad or platoon to do things that they couldmeantherectification(correction)ofthelaw
would be unlikely to do absent his direction. But when law was deficient by reason of its universal-
most of this is pretty self evident. If leaders are ef- ity.Thatis,ifrulesandregulationsapplytoevery-
fective, they get results not otherwise calculated one,alawmightwellbewrongwhenitappliesto
in and from people. someone under certain circumstances. It is wrong
Most definitions of leadership contain syn- tosteal.Butwhatoftakingaloafofbreadtofeeda
onyms. One thesaurus gives direction, guidance, starvingfamily?Cantherebemitigatingorextenu-
instruction, administration, authority, command, ating circumstances? Can the injunctions of duty,
control, domination, superiority, and supremacy, honor, and country always teach what we want
whichareallveryusefulterms.Butnounsdodgea themto?Ifsoldiers,sailors,airmen,ormarinesin-
very critical adjectival question: How do we sepa- scribeduty,honor,countryontheirhearts,willthey
rate good leadership from bad? Returning to the leadappropriately?
analysisofferedbyBurns,onefindsthathisdissec- We know how critical the notion of duty
tion of the subject (at least in the brief quotation must be to soldiers who exist—and leaders who
cited above) is value-neutral. My definition sug- lead—in order to accomplish the mission. Sol-
gests that leadership inspires: a positive, produc- diers go into harm’s way—they risk life and
tive influence. Another denotation, “to guide or limb—to get the job done. They are, properly,
control by divine influence,” reveals that the in- taught to say “yes sir” or “yes ma’am” when
finitive is intended almost exclusively to convey given an order—and to execute that order
something affirmative and beneficial. While one promptly and efficiently. At the U.S. Military
mightrefertoHitlerashavinginspiredGermansin Academy, cadets are taught to say “No excuse,
the1930s,ashavingbeencharismatic(whichorigi- sir” when confronted with their shortcomings.
nally meant a spiritual or divine gift), using such Results matter, and complaints are impermissible
terms in the context of Nazi Germany is wrong. about why the orders or magnitude of the job
Bennis and Nanus correctly point out that “Man- precluded success in the assignment. “Duty,” said
agers are people who do things right and leaders Robert E. Lee, “is the sublimest word in the Eng-
arepeoplewhodotherightthing.”3Useofthead- lish language.”
jectiverightisofparamountimportance.
Spring 1996 / JFQ 99
n
LEADERSHIP
But we also know, since the post-World War II order.Integrityisthemostimportantresponsibil-
war crimes tribunals, that devotion to duty is not ity of command.”4 Legal orders must be obeyed.
enough. Orders occasionally must be questioned. Leadersinspireappropriateconduct.
The notion that only the superior officer responds We try in so many ways to soften the lan-
to questions of propriety is gone, as it should be. guage, but the soldier’s job is to kill and prepare
Every soldier is responsible for the orders that he to kill, to die and prepare to die. The Code of
or she issues—or follows. Blind obedience is Conduct is very clear about the ultimate obliga-
wrong. There may well be a duty not to be dutiful. tion of the soldier, whose very life may be put in
Duty is not the highest good of the soldier. danger to accomplish the mission. Officers are
Honor sometimes seems so rare that I shrink never to endanger the lives of their soldiers for
from writing that honor itself is not enough, for light reasons; but never must they shrink from
what is meant can be terribly mistaken. In the the terrible responsibility of accepting risks, even
film A Few Good Men, a young Marine NCO re- mortal danger, for their troops and themselves if
gards unit, Corps, God, and country—one pre- necessary. The military may well be involved in
sumes in that order—as his source of honor. The operations other than war, but the first responsi-
story presents two twisted, grotesque leaders, a bility of the Armed Forces is to win the Nation’s
lieutenant and a colonel, with a sense of “honor” wars. When a choice must be made between
that is warped beyond recognition. A twisted troop safety and mission accomplishment, the
sense of honor may be worse than no honor at all. duty of the soldier must be mission first.
At the Naval Academy, midshipmen recently The infantry lieutenant forever has the re-
cheated on an exam and sponsibilityofpointingatonesoldierandsaying,
the highest obligation must subsequently covered up “Smith, point man!” None but the cavalier, how-
for one another, contend- ever,wouldsaysuchthingscarelessly.Theremust
be to honor, and then to duty,
ing that loyalty to one’s be no question that genuine concern for the wel-
and then to countrymen buddies was higher than fareofsoldiers(orpatients,pupils,clients,orcus-
loyalty to the honor con- tomers)iskeytoleadership.Whattheleadergives
cept at Annapolis. That no- to followers is very likely to be returned. But for
tion may hold sway among members of a street the military leader, concern for troops cannot re-
gang but cannot be allowed to take root in an in- placedevotiontoduty;anddevotiontodutycan-
stitution educating commissioned officers. Honor not replace fidelity to a high sense of honor. The
of this sort is not the highest good of the soldier. trinityofprinciple,purpose,andpeoplethuscomple-
Country—a short term for patriotism—is a mentstheideaofhonor,duty,country(men).5The
desirable quality to most Americans. We react highest obligation of a soldier must be to honor,
with sorrow and anger to a traitor who sells out and thentoduty,andthentocountrymen.Ifany
his homeland for greed and personal debauchery. leader mistakes the proper order—putting, say,
We expect the Armed Forces to represent our peopleaheadofprincipleandthusimplicitlycon-
country well. Every day soldiers don the uniform doningcheatingattheNavalAcademy—heorshe
of the United States, and they should understand cannot inspire appropriate conduct. The leader-
that wearing it is a privilege and responsibility. shipofferedwillbedefectiveanddangerous.
But patriotism can be carried to extremes, and But we have said that principle can be mis-
history is replete with cases of those whose first understood. How can leaders be educated to un-
loyalty to their homeland resulted in evil. Reli- derstand the proper order of principle (honor),
gious people, for example, cannot value loyalty to purpose (duty), and people (countrymen)? Since
country ahead of faithfulness to God. Patriotism the ancient Greeks, educators have sought to in-
is a valuable sentiment and a worthy conviction, culcate wisdom and virtue into students, fre-
but it is not the highest good of the soldier. quently without success. Indeed, in many if not
But if the watchwords and creed of “duty, most universities and colleges today, even discus-
honor, country” are not enough to tell us how to sion of trying to teach “wisdom and virtue” will
be leaders—and which values to exalt—who do terrify professors and, in particular, administra-
we consult? This is not to offer a new formula to tors. “You shall know the truth, and the truth
West Point but to suggest, for purposes of instruc- shall make you free” has been transmuted into
tion, a new ordering of “duty, honor, country.” “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall
Takenproperly,thehighestvirtueofasoldier, make you flee.” Whose version of “wisdom” shall
and hence his leader, is honor—authentic, not we teach? Whose notions of “virtue” shall we in-
warped. Things done in the line of duty that vio- culcate? In a multicultural society, does any pub-
lateaproperawarenessofhonortarnishtheshield lic university have the right to teach “wisdom
anddisgracetheuniform.Genuinehonorisbased and virtue?”
onintegrity.Asaformerservicechiefputit,“Any
order to compromise integrity is not a lawful
100 JFQ / Spring 1996
Toner
Pixler)
R.J.
Corps (
Marine
S.
U.
Specific questions of campus politics can be asitis,onecanforgetthatthecolonelsofthefu-
left to faculties in Tuscaloosa, Ann Arbor, and turearethelieutenantsoftoday.Ifthelieutenants
Tempe—until graduates of those institutions pin are poorly educated, we must expect misfits and
on the gold bars of second lieutenant or ensign. malcontentsamongcolonelswithinageneration.
Once commissioned, those young leaders must Leaders educated by Federal service academies,
know how to order principle, purpose, and peo- ROTC,andOCS/OTSarelikelytohavetherawin-
ple, for there is the fountain of leadership. Per- telligence to become—I do not say to be—good
sonal background, even educational experience, leaders.Buttheywillrequiretheseasoning,expe-
may be at odds with the views, values, and veri- rience, conditioning, and mentoring of their pro-
ties which have sustained the Armed Forces for fessioninordertomatureintothekindsofleaders
more than two hundred years. How are young of- theNationwantsandverymuchneeds.
ficers to learn the time-tested truths of military In one word, leaders will learn virtue (and
leadership? How are they to master what “princi- thus be able to inspire appropriate conduct) by
ple” and “honor” are about? How are they to dis- being responsable. I have not misspelled the word
cover what “purpose” and “duty” really mean? responsible; I mean “responsable”—being able to
How are they to grasp what taking care of people respond. Leaders must know what to respond to.
demands? Experience in the workplace or the If they respond first to opportunities for success
streets is hardly enough. An education—at Al- and advancement, they will be careerists but not
abama, William and Mary, Holy Cross, even An- professionals. If they misunderstand the order of
napolis, it seems—is not enough. This is certainly principle, purpose, and people, they will make
not to impugn any institution; nor is it anti-intel- the kinds of mistakes referred to earlier. Leaders
lectual, intended to denigrate higher education. must be able to respond to the chief challenge of
Rather, the point is that leaders today need a so- leadership: being technically and tactically and ethi-
cialization, maturation, and seasoning beyond cally proficient.
the academic expertise represented by degrees. It is obvious that good leaders must know
That socialization process is the responsibility of their profession. Competence in soldierly skill is
each service. fundamental. But competence without character
is an invitation only to masterful despotism. And
The Source of Integrity
character consists in “responsability”—that is,
To lead well—to inspire appropriate action being able to respond to challenge and crisis in a
beyond the expectable—leaders must have both manner based on integrity. Here we have at last
wisdom and virtue, customary products of long come to the chief difficulty in almost all writing
experienceandworthwhileeducation.Asobvious
Spring 1996 / JFQ 101
n
LEADERSHIP
profession. In making decisions, leaders are re-
sponding not just to present circumstances but to
standards set in the past, and aspirations and op-
portunities of the future. As professionals, leaders
profess faith in comrades. They are responsable—
thatis,abletorespond—tothosecomrades.
Alasdair MacIntyre of Notre Dame, perhaps
our foremost moral philosopher, observed that “I
inherit from the past of my family, my city, my
tribe, my nation, a variety of debts, inheritances,
rightful expectations, and obligations. These con-
stitute the given of my life, my moral starting
point. This is in part what gives my life its own
moral particularity.”6 It is this inheritance, this
sense of community, from which we derive a
sense of purpose and ethical orientation. It is to
this feeling of oneness, bonding, and confrater-
nity that we are responsable. This brotherhoodis
found in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “What I
wish is that we may be mutually encouraged by
our common faith.” That feeling was described by
Walter Lippmann when he wrote that there is a
sense of community which, “though so insub-
stantial to our senses binds, in Burke’s words, a
man to his country with ‘ties which though light
Ward) as air, are as strong as links of iron.’ That is why
D. young men die in battle for their country’s sake
D (R. and why old men plant trees they will never sit
O
D under.”7 In his farewell at West Point, Douglas
MacArthur made much the same point: “The
long, gray line has never failed us. Were you to do
on the ethics of leadership. It requires little study, so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki,
after all, to say that good leaders are men and in blue and gray would rise from their white
women of integrity. But what is integrity? I offer crosses....”8
the simple definition that it is “responsability.” A simple definition of integrity tells us that it
Those with integrity respond to crisis and chal- means “the quality or state of being complete;
lenge as their profession would urge. In moments unbroken condition; wholeness; entirety.” In the
of indecision, leaders with in- sense that an integer is a whole number and not a
tegrity respond to the silent fraction, integrity suggests community. Young
as vital as honor is, another promptings and the unspoken leaders who absorb the sense of wholeness and of
concept of compelling guidance of those who have tradition and of common faith which writers
gone before; in moral and from Paul of Tarsus to Lippmann and MacArthur
importance is shame military emergency, leaders have believed and taught thus ground their moral
find unvoiced counsel in the educations in virtue; they begin to know how to
history of their services and biographies of the order appropriate conduct and how to conduct
champions of yesteryear. themselves wisely.
Leaders are never alone. They walk in the As vital as honor is, another concept of com-
shadow of great lieutenants.Each service has rites pelling importance is shame, the feeling that by
and rituals, trappings and traditions, customs and inappropriate words and actions, one has disap-
conventions, that disclose volumes on what is pointed the best of his community. Shame is the
doneandmustbedone,whatisnotdoneandmust belief that, by failure of moral or physical
neverbedone.Leaderssoonperpetuateacommu- courage, one has proven unworthy of the tradi-
nity of service. Those who went before—and tion he or she is expected to uphold and exalt.
served well and nobly—admonish, instruct, and The shamed one is thus unable to look profes-
counselyoungleaderswhoareprudentenoughto sional colleagues squarely in the eye and implic-
listen. Heroic murals and statues, customs, uni- itly say, “I took this action because, in my best
forms,andreveilleandtaps—allthesethingsfaith-
fully teach new leaders that they have entered a
102 JFQ / Spring 1996
Toner
judgment, it was right.” Actions and words that
NOTES
produce shame are ordinarily wrong. They de-
stroy the wholeness (past, present, future) of a 1Inabookbythesamename(NewYork:HarperCol-
profession and devastate the bonding, commu- ophon,1978),Burnsdefinesleadershipas“inducingfol-
lowerstoactforcertaingoalsthatrepresentthevaluesand
nity, and sense of unity of those whose deeds
themotivations...ofbothleadersandfollowers”(p.19).
built the integrity of that profession.
2James H. Toner, The Sword and the Cross(New York:
Integrity, then, is about wholeness and com-
Praeger, 1992), p. 49; and The American Military Ethic
munity and having sufficient piety and decency
(New York: Praeger, 1992), p. 54.
to know when one ought to be ashamed of be- 3WarrenBennisandBurtNanus,Leaders:TheStrate-
traying it. Every leadership decision but the most gistsforTakingCharge(NewYork:HarperandRow,1985),
mundane involves ethical judgment. Therefore, p. 21. But their next sentencetotallymisses the point:
every significant leadership decision is potentially “The difference may be summarized as activities of vi-
“transforming,” leadership that occurs when we sionandjudgment—effectivenessversus...efficiency.”
“engage with others in such a way that leaders 4John D. Ryan, quoted in War, Morality, and the Mil-
itary Profession, 2d ed., edited by Malham Wakin (Boul-
and followers raise one another to higher levels of
der, Colo.: Westview Press, 1986), p. 180.
motivation and morality.”9 Good leaders do not
5See my book True Faith and Allegiance: The Burden
simply want their followers to do something; good
of Military Ethics (Lexington: The University Press of
leaders want their followers to be somebody. The
Kentucky, 1995), chapter 4, for more detail.
repetition of appropriate action develops the 6Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, 2ded. (Notre Dame,
kinds of habits which help us act as we should. In Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1982), p. 220.
doing the right thing, leaders set examples, build 7Walter Lippmann, Essays in the Public Philosophy
purposeful organizations, create and enhance (Boston: Little, Brown, 1955), p. 36.
community, inculcate virtue because they are 8“Duty, Honor, and Country,” Vital Speeches of the
wise, and are wise because they are virtuous. Day, vol. 28, no. 17 (June 15, 1962), p. 520. The power
of this valedictory is not denied; but “duty, honor,
“Good leaders,” Malham Wakin observed, “are
country,” though valuable and venerable as rhetoric, is
good teachers.”10Teachers do more than transmit
not an amulet that guarantees good leadership.
ideas; they practice a kind of transforming leader-
9Burns, Leadership, p. 20. His other type of leader-
ship, educating students, soldiers, and patients.
ship is “transactional,” which means “one person
Good leaders show their subordinates “the way.” tak[ing] the initiative in making contact with others for
James Bond Stockdale, a prisoner of war in the purpose of an exchange of valued things.”
Vietnam for eight years, contends that good lead- 10MalhamW.Wakin,“Foreword,”inMilitaryLeader-
ers“needtobemoralists—notjustposeurswho... ship:InPursuitofExcellence,editedbyR.L.TaylorandW.E.
exhortmentobegood,butthinkerswhoelucidate Rosenbach(Boulder,Colo.:WestviewPress,1984),p.xiv.
whatthegoodis.Thisrequiresfirstandforemosta 11See James Bond Stockdale, “Educating Leaders,” in
Military Leadership: In Pursuit of Excellence, edited by R.
clear idea of right and wrong and the integrity to
L. Taylor and W. E. Rosenbach (Boulder, Colo.: West-
stand behind your assessment of any situation.”11
view Press, 1984), p. 67. See also Roger H. Nye, The
Good ethics must be taught by good leaders; and
Challenge of Command(Wayne, N.J.: Avery, 1986).
goodethicsiscaughtfromgoodleaderswhoinspire
appropriateconductbeyondtheexpectable.Lead-
erslearnfromthepast,areresponsibleinthepre-
sent,andplanforthefuture.Theyknowtheirprin-
ciples, purposes, and people; and their sense of
community and their pride of profession endow
theiractionsandorderswithmaturejudgment.In
such mature, settled judgment will be found the
union of leadership and virtue, of effective com-
mandandwiseconscience. JFQ
Spring 1996 / JFQ 103