In the recent article by Joe Thornell titled: 21st Century Leadership requires Moral Courage, the author states: “Moral Courage is in great demand today from our leaders”, and he identifies three elements of moral courage:
1.Strong, unwavering Core values that are in 100% compliance with the values of the organization.
- Accountability which seems to be lacking in many parts of our society.
- Proper example = walking the talk
So how does this happen? How does a leader become morally courageous? Are these three key elements learned or innate?
If values are caught not taught, on what criterion does an organization hire or promote someone? How are values identified, clarified and recognized? Doesn’t there need to be a process to set the “proper example?”
When it comes to accountability, shouldn’t one be taught that accountability is non-negotiable?
I believe that moral courage is in demand because there seems to be so little of it. When medical errors are the third leading cause of deaths in hospitals, when over 40 million Takada airbags need to be replaced due to deaths and injuries when ignition parts in cars have caused deaths and injuries, to name a few, where is the accountability? Where are the unwavering core values of leadership much less proper example?
I suggest that the book, Moral Courage by Rushworth Kidder be required reading in every leadership development course, be part of every training initiative to getting everybody on the same moral direction.

fbucaro
Like you, business ethics and ethical leadership expert, Frank Bucaro has seen the challenges and problems of corporate leadership, particularly over the past few years in regards to poor decision-making, SEC violations, and record breaking financial settlements in a number of different industries.
With over two decades of executive training, speaking, writing and with real life experiences, his view and approach to ethics in the workplace is uniquely different. He emphasizes that ethics is a moment-to-moment choice and has little to do with position, titles, personalities or education. Ethics is everybody’s responsibility from the top down.
His goal is to help organizations to:
a. Strengthen their ethics training initiatives in order to significantly decrease the odds of an ethical/compliance violation.
b. Energize, train and motivate employees to understand the value of consistent “high road” behavior as a business advantage.
c. Support individuals and thereby the organization by contributing to its success by quality, ongoing values based leadership development.
Frank is known for his very practical, slightly irreverent, yet somewhat humorous approach to ethics and leadership development. His conversational style and real life stories connect with his audience in a personal, intense and practical level.
Companies such as Bayer Healthcare, BP, ReMax International, EnMax Energy, Danone, etc. have partnered with Frank when they want to proactively stress the message, tools, insights and practical applications that good ethics IS good for business!