When Leaders Violate the Moral Dimension

In 1993, former U.S. Secretary of Health, psychologist, and noted author John Gardner wrote On Leadership, a masterpiece on management and leadership. I’ll never forget when I read the series of short pieces that eventually led to this classic leadership tome. Afterward, the concept of a moral dimension of leadership was permanently embedded in my brain.

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of Gardner’s book, but I think it’s safe to say this theme resonates intensely with many of us right now.

On Leadership includes an entire chapter on the moral dimension of leadership, where  Gardner expounds on our universal values, such as love, justice, human dignity, freedom, caring, and fairness. He explains what happens when world and business leaders transgress, act antithetically to, or even seek to destroy these values. The results can be catastrophic.

Four Ways Leaders Violate the Moral Dimension

While this transgression may occur in many ways, I’ve observed four primary examples of what Gardner is talking about. Here’s what we often see in this situation:

1. All followers and constituents are mistreated. In a fairy tale, this would be the evil king who hurts everyone and everything over whom they have dominion.
2. The positional leader treats their loyal followers well but maltreats everyone else.
3. Fear and intimidation are used to gain and keep followers as a path to amass and maintain power.
4. The “leader” actively seeks to dismantle and destroy the structures and processes that support a democratic society.

Unfortunately, the fourth one may seem all too familiar right now. Besides an obvious example, others include diminishing voting rights, eliminating ways for people to protest or disagree with leadership policies or decisions, and/or weakening rules of law that enable people to challenge decisions. You might think these examples above are primarily associated with political leadership. Unfortunately, this kind of leadership shows up in many ways in our organizations, departments, communities, and volunteer associations.

Scaling the Transgression Against the Moral Dimension

Many of us have experienced this kind of leadership. We know the damage it causes to ourselves, our organizations, and anyone subjected to it.

One of the most significant impacts is attrition. When leaders violate the moral dimension, the organization is damaged. If they can, the most talented people usually leave. The leader is left with people who feel “stuck.” In this situation, some people do what they can to minimize the damage to themselves, their colleagues, and the organization’s mission, which is usually quite draining. Others operate from the point of fear and engage in what a phrase I’ve coined as “devious yes-manship.” Some actually agree with the leader’s actions; these people we would call sycophants.

All of the above develops and reinforces the destructive, toxic leader’s warped view of their power over others. Soon, they stop receiving any and all feedback that disagrees with their view of reality. Things become unreal. 

Sadly, this behavior isn’t limited to positional leaders. Informal team leaders engage in similar behaviors that hurt the team, the organization, and the mission. Leadership that violates the moral dimension scales up and down our society. This leadership behavioral pattern not only hurts us, it blocks all of our aspirations to be better.

Perceptions of Elected Officials

I’ve been trying to understand why we are so seduced by individual politicians who behave in a way that violates our universal values. Why are we sometimes drawn to public figures who transgress aspects of the moral dimension humanity holds dear?

One theory is that perhaps we don’t see politicians as leaders. Instead, we see them as people striving to gain political power. We simply don’t expect them to behave in a way that lifts society and the people they represent. These lower expectations make it easier for us to be taken over by political leaders who transgress our morals and values.

I encourage us to raise our expectations of political and organizational leaders. In John Gardner’s words, we expect our leaders to actively support and lead in a way that aligns with our universal human values.