Service & Leadership

By Mary Merrill

The inscription in the book on my library shelf reads, "For Mary Merrill, with great gratitude for all you’re doing to create a more ethical future," Rushworth M. Kidder

The book was given to me in 1996 when I helped organize an ethical decision-making workshop with Mr. Kidder, founding president of the Institute for Global Ethics, for a state conference on volunteerism. At the time I considered his words as a thank you for the workshops. But over the years these words have taken on greater meaning as I have worked to strengthen leadership and organizational structures that support volunteerism and civic engagement. I believe ethics lie at the core of leadership and thus at the core of volunteer administration. John Gardner, cofounder of the Independent Sector said,

Line workers and managers alike are increasingly concerned with the honesty and integrity of behavior, personally, organizationally and within their professions. (Johnston & Waymire, 1992, p. 1) defines ethics as "the discipline of dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation." The Oxford English Dictionary (Compact Edition, 1970) indicates the word "ethics" was derived from the Greek term "ethos," meaning "custom, usage, manner or habit," and offers the following definitions: "the moral principles by which a person is guided" and "the rules of conduct recognized in certain associations or departments of human life."

Values are the foundation of ethics. Background, experience, family, friends, faith and community all shape our personal values. These values are "deep-rooted principles which influence our attitudes and decision" (Johnston &Waymire, 1992, p.16).

As professionals engaged in the management of volunteer programs we are faced daily with the pressures of increasing program expectations, decreasing funding sources, increasing requests for short term or project oriented opportunities, pressures to maintain our traditional programs and resources, and pressures to change, be innovative, creative and different. We may find our days filled with dilemmas and tough choices as we are forced to make decisions that will have direct impacts on programs and people–people who have offered their time and talents to help us fulfill our mission. We make choices between right and wrong based on laws, rules, procedures, etc.

One choice is correct, based on stated criteria, and one choice is wrong. Ethical decisions require us to make decisions based on right versus right choices. Often there is no "correct" answer. Instead we must weight both sides of the question and make a decision based on a core value or belief.

Consider this example. A long time volunteer asked me if she could use my name for an employment reference. She has been with us for a long time and I know her well as a friend. She’s a good person and a dependable volunteer. But, I am very uncomfortable about giving a job reference. I do not feel she has the skills or ability to tackle the job she is seeking. I would personally never hire her for that job. That’s not to say she wouldn’t be great in a lot of other things. But this position is not where her strengths lie. So what do I do?

What kind of friend would I be if I refused to give a reference? Besides, what harm is there. All I have to do is answer a few questions and keep my personal opinions to myself. But if she gets the job and fails, have I really been a friend? Do I give a reference based on the value of loyalty?

She is not a good match for this job, no matter how much she wants it. She has great strengths, but not in the areas required in this position. If I give her a recommendation and she doesn’t make it on the job that reflects on me as well. If she doesn’t get the job because of me she will be disappointed and discouraged. Do I not give a reference based on the value of honesty?

There is no "correct" answer to this dilemma. If I place a high value on honesty, the ethical response is not to give the reference and to explain my reasons fully. If I value loyalty, I may write a letter of reference carefully choosing my words to highlight her actual skills.

Knowing your own value system doesn’t make the decision less difficult, but it does help clarify why I am choosing a certain course or action. "They are genuine dilemmas because each side is firmly rooted in one of our basic core values" (Kidder, 1995). Our ethics are reflected in the decisions we make.

Applying one’s core values in a consistent manner leads to integrity. Earlier I shared that the word ethos means usage or habit. Ethos relates to people’s integrity, their character, and their credibility as persons. If your ethos is sound, you inspire trust; you help people believe in your integrity. An ethical person consistently applies their values so that there is congruence between what they believe, say and do. Ethics are concerned with how a person behaves, while values are concerned with the beliefs and attitudes that determine how a person behaves.

Ethics are ‘values transformed into action.’ In other words, our values are reflected in the things we do. If we are to be respected and credible as individuals and as professionals, it is important there be some consistency in the values that are demonstrated by our actions. (Johnston &Waymire, 1992, p.5)

Personal values are uniquely individual and we each tend to set priorities based on our core values and beliefs to help us decide how to act. Because we each have this personal value system that helps us judge what it right and what is wrong, does not mean that ethics is purely a personal matter.

The Josephson Institute for Ethics has identified Six Pillars of Character - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship - as universal values that form the universal foundation for ethical behavior. The Jefferson Center for Character Education has identified ten "Universal Values:" honesty, integrity, promise-keeping, fidelity, fairness, caring for others, respect for others, responsible citizenship, pursuit of excellence and accountability. Thomas Jeavons names five values that are essential in the character and behavior of nonprofit, especially philanthropic, organizations: integrity, openness, accountability, service, and a caring demeanor (Herman, 1994). The International Association for Volunteer Administration (AVA) has identified six core professional values: citizenship, respect, responsibility, caring, justice and fairness, and trustworthiness. These collective values help us determine our behavior within our level of society.

Organizations and professions identify shared values to express public commitment to a set of goals or social purposes and use these values as standards for practice. Collective values build on personal values. "A belief in collective standards suggests that there is a community beyond our individual sphere" (Johnston &Waymire, 1992, p.23).

One of the most important challenges for leaders is to identify collective values and then translate those values into behavior. Anyone who has ever worked on a process to identify organizational or association values knows that the exercise itself is helpful in terms of gaining clarity about core values. But the real challenge of leadership is to align values with practices. "The believability and credibility so essential for leadership are earned when your behavior is consistent with your beliefs" (Kouzes and Posner, 1987, p. 302)

To put values into action consider each identified core value and ask, "What does it mean to live this out in our day to day operation?" I find that many times several people will use the same word to describe a value but when I ask them to explain what they mean by that word there are very different explanations.

A group of employees told me they placed a very high value on communication in the workplace. After talking in small groups about what it means to live the value of communication, one group defined communication as a consistent, timely flow of information from management to employees and volunteers. Another group defined communication as respectfully listening to one another and valuing each person’s input and opinions. We had two very diverse interpretations of the same value. One-word lists of values often need to be clarified with preferred behavior descriptions. It is easier to walk the talk if the talk is clearly and appropriately stated.

AVA has defined each of its professional values with a short statement that describes preferred behavior. For example, the value of Autonomy is defined as "involving persons in decisions which directly affect them, promoting understanding and the actualization of mutual benefits inherent in any act of volunteer service" (AVA, 1999). The first part of this statement is a very clear description of behavior. . . involving people in the decisions that affect them and promoting understanding. The second part, actualizing the inherent mutual benefits, is much harder to grasp and is an example of a statement that sounds wonderful but may have little meaning to those reading it. I would recommend being careful to not be verbose or complex in your descriptions.

Value statements and behavior descriptions that are simply stated and easy to understand will be easier to live.

As leaders we can play an important role by facilitating discussions around the meanings and behaviors associated with values identified for the field We can help others understand what we believe and what guides our decision making process. We can help to make our values shared values.

As a profession AVA has identified a set of core values that set the standard for how professionals will act. Our leadership role is to help make those values the collective standards of the organization so that there is congruence between what the organization says it believes and how it acts. Developing volunteer resources is not a "lone ranger" operation. If the organization does not value its volunteer resources, does not involve them in decisions that directly affect them, you cannot do it alone. Successful volunteer programs are built on a contract between the organization and the volunteers to reach a chosen outcome. Volunteers coming into our organizations know very quickly how sincerely they are wanted and valued. Effective leaders build teams that function as cohesive units that feel like families when possible. The best way to do this is to identify and talk about shared values to help everyone realize that the there is a common basis for how we reach our mission and vision.

As managers of volunteer resources we need to weave the ethics of our profession into the fabric of our organizations. We articulate and model a set of core values so that they become part of the organization’s values. We act on our values by using them as the basis for decision-making.

Acting on our values can be very difficult and also very freeing. The leadership in an organization where I worked changed and over time I noticed that there was a different atmosphere and different expectation. I found myself feeling sort of "out of step" with others around me. One day during a management staff meeting I initiated a conversation about workplace values. It became very clear that our new management had a new set of values. While I valued creativity, openness and inclusion, management valued conformity, control and hierarchy. At first I was shocked. Then I actually felt relieved to understand that my internal discomfort was because I was not in a situation where I could live my values. I spent about a year trying to affect a change. But, the group values were different from my values and most of the group was comfortable with the values in place. The choice then was mine. I could compromise my values or I could leave.

Based on how I had felt for many months I knew I could not compromise my values and so I chose to leave. This whole experience was not easy, but it was freeing for me to be able to understand what was happening and what choices I had. I could not bring new employees and new volunteers into an organization that did not value openness, inclusion and creativity. I was called to walk my talk.

I began and ended this article with a personal reflection, because any discussion of ethics and leadership begins with the individual. Ethics begins with identifying personal and then collective values. Leadership development also begins with a personal quest to discover who we are. Every manager of volunteer resources should take the time to develop a personal philosophy of volunteer management. Think about what you believe about volunteerism and the work of volunteers. Read the professional values identified by the International Association of Volunteer Administration and internalize what it means to live those values. Rushworth Kidder, How good People Make Tough Choices, would say that ethical fitness is like physical fitness. You have to work on it all the time so that it becomes a way of life - it is reflected in your integrity and your leadership. A mature sense of ethics is one of the most dominant of all leadership characteristics.

References:
Association for Volunteer Administration (1999). Professional ethics in volunteer administration. Richmond, VA: Association for Volunteer Administration
Blanchard K & O’Connor, M. (1997). Managing by values. San Francisco: Kerrit-Koehler Publishers
Herman, R & Associates (1994). The jossey-bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers
Johnston G. & Waymire, J. (1992). What if . . . A guide to ethical decision making. Carp Ontario: Johnston Training and Consulting.
Kidder, R. (1995). How good people make tough choices. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
Kidder, R. (1994). Shared values in a troubled world. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers
Merriam-Webster (1996). Collegiate dictionary, tenth edition. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
What is ethics anyway?(n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2001 from: http://www.josephsoninstitite.org
Why ethics? Why now?(n.d.) Retrieved August 8, 1999 from http://www.ethics.org/awhy.html

Character Not Charisma is the
Critical Measure of Leadership Excellence
By Y. Sankar

“Charisma is not connected to ethics, moral literacy, mentoring or the design of an ethical culture for the organization by the leader. It is the character of the leader that is connected to these elements of a leader’s behavior. Leadership, variously and however defined, has been well researched. Leadership, especially since the end of the last world war, has become the object of intensive and extensive scrutiny. The tendency is to concentrate the study under the rubric of psychology so there has come about a certain specialization and monopolization: what we might call the psychologizing of leadership. What began in antiquity as a profoundly philosophical concern – how to find the guardian – has become demythologized, secularized, empiricized, democratized, and psychologized, and now flourishes as a thickly tangled web where the notions of values, ethics, and morality have been leached away, ignored, or depreciated as irrelevant (Hodgkinson, 1993).

The underlying value system of an organization cannot be managed in the traditional way. Issuing an authoritative directive, for example, has little or no impact on an organization’s value system. Organizational values are developed and reinforced primarily through value based leadership, a relationship between a leader and followers that is based on shared, strongly internalized values that are advocated and acted upon by the leader. Leaders influence cultural and ethical values by clearly articulating a vision for organizational values that employees can believe in, communicating the vision throughout the organization, and institutionalizing the vision through everyday behavior, rituals, ceremonies, and symbols, as well as through organizational systems and policies (Daft, 2002).

Charisma focuses on personality attributes such as dynamism, style, image, inspiration, symbolic behaviors (House, 1977) impression management, emotional intelligence (Coleman, 1998), extroverted style, self-confidence, empathetic understanding, and admiration for articulating a vision (Shamir, 1995). Leaders whose personalities are characterized by a high degree of narcissism are driven by intense needs for power and prestige. The use of coercive power, intimidation, and deception are some of the strategies used to enhance the power visibility of these charismatic leaders. As seen by most researchers, charisma is not a concept that is feasible in today’s modern workplace. Charisma draws its motivational power from the followers’ adoption of the transcendent mission of the leader and their belief in the divine source of this transcendence.

The dark side of charisma is essentially a crisis in character or character flaws of the charismatic leader, which neutralize his/her core value of integrity and his search for excellence. Charismatic leaders can be prone to extreme narcissism that leads them to promote highly self-serving and grandiose aims. As a result, the leader’s behaviors can become exaggerated, lose touch with reality, or become vehicles for pure personal gain. In turn, they may harm the leader, followers, and the organization. House et al (1991) have gone so far as to speculate that there is a unique set of personality characteristics and behaviors that distinguish these positive and negative forms of charismatic leadership – are as they term them, socialized and personalized charisma. Their theory holds that although the socialized charismatic leader has a high need for power, it is counterbalanced with high activity inhibition, low authoritarianism, an internal locus of control, high self-esteem, and low Machiavellianism. In contrast, the personalized leader has a high need for power that is instead coupled with low activity inhibition, high authoritarianism, an external locus of control, low self-esteem, high narcissism, and high Machiavellianism. These characteristics promote leadership behavior that is largely self-service.

Character is based on the core values of the leader. Character influences his/her vision, goals, self-concept, strategies, work ethic, attitude, perception, code of ethics, behavior, and the search for excellence (Sankar, 1997). Character, therefore is an evaluation of personality. Becker (1998) grounds character of the leader on integrity ‘Good character’ means at least in part, that the individual has integrity. This is directly related to performance on the job.

Zauderer (2000) identifies specific behaviors of a leader associated with integrity as a super ordinate value on which character is rooted. How does one’s integrity affect the trust of others and the strength of the commonwealth? In attempting to identify specific behaviors, a far-reaching search of literature that included religion, philosophy, biographies of great leaders, psychology, and business and government ethics was conducted. Cross-cutting moral themes and principles were identified and described in the following list: (The behaviors are expressed in a negative form – the opposite behavior follows in parentheses and italics) A leader’s integrity is compromised when he or she: displays arrogance (possess humility), promotes self-interest (maintain concern for the greater good), practices deception (be truthful), breaches agreements (fulfill commitments), deals unfairly (strive for fairness), shifts blame (take responsibility), diminishes dignity (have respect for the individual), retains envy (celebrate the good fortune of others), neglects employee development (develop others), avoids risks (reproach unjust acts), holds grudges (be forgiving), declines to extend self (extend self for others).

A strategy based on integrity holds organizations to a more robust standard. While compliance is rooted in avoiding legal sanctions, organizational integrity is based on the concept of self-governance in accordance with a set of guiding principles (Paine, 2000). From the perspective of integrity, the task of ethics management is to define and give life to an organization’s guiding values, to create an environment that supports ethically sound behavior, and to instill a sense of shared accountability among employees. An integrity strategy is characterized by a conception of ethics as a driving force of an enterprise and the leader. Ethical values shape the search for opportunities, the design of organizational systems, and the decision-making process used by individuals and groups. Kets de Vries (1994) connects some sub-values of a leader’s character. Among the traits that have been discerned regularly among effective leaders are conscientiousness, dependability, achievement orientation, dominance, self-confidence, energy, agreeableness, intelligence, openness to experience, and emotional stability.

The current ethical – moral crisis in many occupations, business law, medicine, politics, and education can be partially attributed to the absence of moral leadership in these occupations. The crisis is a crisis of character. Many charismatic leaders suffer from basic flaws in their character and these impact on their vision, goals, strategies, judgment, choices, ground rules and behavior. The character of the leader is the building block or root system of his/her personality and of leadership excellence. Excellence unlike efficiency and effectiveness is a value based construct, it is the ethical ground rules of the leader that guide his vision, style, commitment, and the design of the corporate culture. Character is the missing critical variable in leadership research.

The leader can be a mentor or role model because of his/her character not his charisma. Mentoring is a value-based concept. The leader’s credibility as a mentor is enhanced by her core values, ethical vision, moral commitment and her conception of her duty to organizational members. A leader’s behavior speaks louder than his personality. Behavior is a function of values. To change problematic behaviors, such as mistrust, malice, manipulation, deceit, etc…, on changes such values as egoism, power obsessions, and greed. One practices one’s moral calculus or virtues in the search for effective mentoring.

Virtue based ethics is the moral guidance system for changing the negative elements of one’s character (MacIntyre, 1985). Character is grounded on virtues such as love, integrity, duty, patience, compassion, peace, fortitude, trust, truth and right conduct. Charisma is not connected to virtue-based ethics but to personality ethic focusing on etiquette, courtesy, style, image and dynamism. Character leads to transformation of one’s personality, primarily to self-transformation of needs, self-concept, habits, moods, values, attitudes, perception, goals and style. Values or virtues are also the building blocks of a leader’s self concept and therefore her self esteem and self confidence are more positive than if these were based on elements of charisma – image, style, and dynamism. As a mentor, the leader with a virtuous character will promote empowerment of his/her followers rather than a culture of silence because of intimidation and the coercive use of power and deception.

The moral intelligence, insight and imagination of a leader are connected to his character not charisma. What the CEO needs today in the business world is not more information but transformation, transformation of his vision, goals, intelligence, core values and behavior. The transformational leader is one who couples information with insight and ideals. Moral literacy consists of the basics of ethics, ethical principles, rules of conduct, conceptions of right and wrong, moral intelligence, imagination and moral commitment to our moral heritage and ground rules for decision-making. Moral literacy is connected to character, not to charisma. It is from moral literacy that a leader can articulate the core values that drive his or her vision and the ABC of ethics namely, the essentials of an ethical culture of his or her organization.

Leadership is crucial to the organization’s ethical culture, as integrity (or the lack of it) flows from the top down. According to a report from the Business Roundtable, a group of senior executives from major American corporations, leadership is crucial to organizational ethics. The report issued by the Business Roundtable – also – discussed ethics, policy, and practice in one hundred member companies, including GTE, Xerox, Johnson & Johnson, Boeing, and Hewlett-Packard. In the experience of the surveyed companies, the single most important factor in ethical decision-making was the role of top management in providing commitment, leadership, and example for ethical values.

This article contributes to our understanding of leadership excellence by providing a more comprehensive focus on two variables, namely, character and charisma, than previous research. Another contribution of this article is the integration of ethics, personality and mentoring literature. Finally, the greatest contribution of our research may well be the generation of future research. In future research, an attempt should be made to further define the elements of the key construct, namely, character in terms of core values.

The leader plays a critical role in the propagation of an ethical culture within his/her organization. In view of the ethical-moral crisis in many occupations it can be deduced that this crisis is indicative of the absence of moral leadership in these organizations. Too often, the emphasis has been placed on the expertise, power, charisma, information, personality traits, strategic vision, and organizational characteristics in leadership research at the expense of the leader’s moral character. The leader’s character is a strategic source of power for in fusing the culture of his/her organization with a code of ethics, moral vision, imagination, and courage. Leadership excellence cannot be evaluated without an assessment of the leader’s character (Sankar, 2003, p. 45-55).”

Reference: Sankar, Y. (2003). Character not charisma is the critical measure of leadership excellence. The Journal of Leadership Studies, 9, No 4.

The Journal of Leadership Studies is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center. To borrow this resource or any other resource please go to the resource search page http://140.254.85.212/winnebago/search/search.asp?lib

Tom has been with BestCo Foods for twenty-five years. In the early years, he moved up quickly, becoming an assistant store manager within seven years of being hired. He was promoted to store manager in another five years. Tom was good with customers. He could “turn on the charm” when he needed to, and customers often loved him. In the past he had good relationships with his bosses. Things haven’t always been so positive, though, with the folks he’s managed. Good department heads began asking for transfers, and two years ago, as the labor market tightened, he began to have real retention problems. In exit interviews his employees said that Tom would explode when someone made a suggestion he didn’t like or reported something that had gone wrong with a customer. They said that Tom never seemed to care about them - ignored them when their children were born or when close family members died. Tom has recently been moved to a regional staff role at a lower salary, and now has only a few people reporting to him.

Tom is lacking in Emotional Intelligence (EQ) - the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, the capacity for managing our own emotions, and the capacity for building relationships with others. According to research by Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence is

twice as important as any other factor in predicting outstanding performance in the workplace - more important than technical competence or IQ.

At high levels of leadership EQ is even more important. When star senior leaders are compared to average ones, more than 85% of the difference in their profiles was attributable to emotional intelligence factors, not cognitive ones. Research at Turknett Leadership Group shows the same trend. When comparing the best leaders we have coached (those rated highest by their coworkers) with those rated lowest, there is almost no difference in technical skill. The greatest differences come in EQ dimensions - the ability to facilitate teamwork, to motivate others, and to be an inspirational role model.

Research by Center for Creative Leadership, confirmed by our research, shows that arrogance and the inability to manage relationships with others are the top causes of executive derailment.

Self-Awareness: The ability to recognize one’s feelings, to monitor them and know how one is coming across to others

Self-Regulation: The ability to handle feelings so they are appropriate. Involves the capacity to soothe oneself, to shake off worries, gloom or irritability, and to bounce back from setbacks.

Self-Motivation: The ability to marshal one’s emotions in the service of a goal. Involves being able to delay gratification, stifle impulsiveness, and stay focused on the task or goal at hand.

Empathy: The ability to recognize emotions in others. People who are empathic are more attuned to the subtle social signals that indicate what others need or want.

Social Skills: The ability to relate well with others and manage the emotions of others. People who excel in this area are able to interact smoothly with others, are persuasive, and understand how to motivate others.

Some level of emotional intelligence has always been important for success in the workplace. The old style leaders who moved to top levels in organizations usually had an ability to manage upward and could relate well with customers. They often, however, lacked real empathy, and

they didn’t spend a lot of time reflecting on their impact on others. They definitely didn’t worry about managing emotions. If they were angry, they let it show. They berated bearers of bad news, and taught their underlings by their behavior to “keep your face to the boss and your

backside to the customer.” They didn’t view creating a motivating environment as part of their job. Their attitude was, “You should thank me for giving you a job.” Many old style successful leaders were socially astute and self aware enough to manage customers, build superficial

The situation has changed now. It takes higher levels of emotional intelligence to build a strong company in the information age. It takes empathy, self regulation, and true engagement to get commitment and the best work from today’s workers, it takes a higher level of EQ to deal with more demanding customers, and it takes high levels of emotional intelligence to retain employees in any kind of business.

Managers who are both self-aware and empathetic are sensitive to the feelings of others and really care about them. Their understanding of and ability to form lasting relationships with employees and customers is much greater. They can tell whether employees are challenged and

engaged. According to research by Gallup, one of the twelve questions that makes a difference in whether people stay or leave an organization is “Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?”

When managers develop the highest levels of emotional intelligence, they have the relationship-building skills that can create an organization that moves fast and solves problems quickly, and whose employees are committed and energized. Managers set the tone so that employees are honest with them - they let employees know that getting issues on the table quickly is important, and they don’t explode when they hear bad news. Managers with high emotional intelligence think before acting. They can hear the truth, whether it comes from customers or within the organization. They move around the organization, listening and building relationships. They are able to understand the needs of others, to read emotional reactions, and to motivate through what’s important to the other person. They are able to motivate themselves to achieve, and can inspire commitment and hard work from others even in difficult times.

For more information, please call Turknett Leadership Group at 770–270–1723.

Three Legs of Persuasion
By Chris widener

If you have heard me talk about leadership at all, you will know that I have a very simple definition of Leadership. Leadership is simply: Influence. That’s it. Simple. When you lead, you influence. To lead others is to influence them through various means to follow you to your vision of a preferred thought, belief or action.

One of the key ways to do so is to increase your ability to persuade people. Now, at first glance you may do as many do and think of persuasion as simply a verbal plea or argument (in the positive sense of the word) that seeks to change someone’s mind. I want to focus in on what I believe to be a much more well rounded view of persuasion, one that has been around for many hundreds of years, and which, when applied, will increase your ability to persuade others, or influence them.

My basic points for this article are found from Aristotle’s “The Rhetoric.” They are what I call the “Three Legs of Persuasion.” Together they enable us to fully persuade people. Miss any of the three legs and it is like trying to sit on a three-legged stool that is missing one leg!

Let’s start with the two that are most prevalent, Logic and Passion, and end with what I consider to be the most important, Ethics. In order to master the art of persuasion, you must have:

1. Logic. Your vision must make sense to the person who is following you (or the one you are trying to get to follow you!). How is this done?

Vision. Do you have a vision of where it is that you want to go? Do you have the destination in mind? If you want people to follow you, you need to have a vision, an end result that you are targeting.

Clarity. Is the vision clear? Can it be articulated clearly? Is it simple enough to grasp? Does it make sense?

Communication. Can you communicate your vision so that it is understandable and compelling? Do you communicate it regularly so that the logic of it sinks in?

Strategy. The strategy for getting to your destination must be logical for your followers. Does it make sense for them to follow you on the journey of your vision for your organization? A well-thought out strategy for getting to your vision is a must.

2. Passion. People underestimate the principle of passion. Today more than ever, this element of being passionate about your vision is paramount to the idea of persuasion.

As we leave the modern era and move into what sociologists are calling the “post-modern” era, people are going to be persuaded less by logic and reason than they are passion. We live in a video age that uses images and music to move people more than sense and reason. For example, think about how basketball shoes are sold today. They ads don’t say, “These shoes are made from the finest rubber and leather and will sustain the shock of x amount of pounds of pressure, etc, etc.” No, today shoes are sold by showing basketball players dribbling the ball to a methodical beat. Image. Passion.

So do we throw out logic? Certainly not, but we understand that the passion we demonstrate is extremely important. Probably more important than logic and increasingly so in the years to come.

Are you passionate about your vision? Does that come through when you speak about it? Does it come through in the materials that you distribute to support your vision?

People want to know that you are passionate about your vision. If you aren’t passionate about it, then why should they be? Your vision must be passionately compelling. After all, you are asking them to put themselves on the line, to give it all to get the group to the vision. It takes a passionate person to move a group toward a vision. And the bigger the vision, the more passion you need to get there!

3. Ethics. This is what I believe to be the most important aspect of these three legs of persuasion. Ethics. Integrity. Character. However you want to say it, people look at you and are constantly judging your character.

You may have tremendous skills. You may have all the logic in the world and passion to fill a sporting arena, but if your followers see a crack in your character, they will run for the hills. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not talking about mistakes. Followers will allow for mistakes. But they will not allow for poor character.

I know what you must be thinking: Wait a minute. We have all sorts of leaders with poor character - just look at the politicians! A few thoughts on that very good question:

Many of the people we think have poor character have many others (and in a politician’s case, they just need 51%) who think their character is fine, or at least sufficient. So for some the question of ethics has been answered, just differently than we would answer it. For example, polls show that most people think that politicians are unethical and corrupt in general. But when polled on their own representative, they answer that that person is just fine, thank you very much.

Secondly, we have seen that very talented public leaders are eventually undone by their lack of character, or at least thwarted in their goals of leadership. Where does this leave us? Hopefully you aren’t dealing with the kind of issues we have seen in our political process lately, but you should be asking yourself what your character is like.

Am I honest? Am I who I say I am? Do I do what is right? Am I responsible? Am I the same behind closed doors as I am in public? Am I a person of integrity? These are the most important questions. The way your followers answer them about you will determine to what degree they follow you. Will people follow you if your character is less than stellar? Maybe. But all other things being the same, a strong character will put you over the top.

Logic, passion and ethics are the three legs of persuasion. Become a person with a vision that is logical and well thought out, combine that with a passionate pursuit, and you are well on your way to persuading people and achieving the goal for your organization. The key will be what kind of character you have. If you develop a fine, strong character, with high personal ethics, you will have all three legs of persuasion - and you will become an Extraordinary Leader!

Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of Made for Success and Extraordinary Leaders, two companies helping individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their dreams. Join subscribers in over 100 countries around the world! Get Chris' FREE weekly Made for Success Ezine by sending a blank email to success-on@mail-list.com <mailto:success-on@mail-list.com>. Get his FREE daily SuccessQuote™ with action point by sending a blank email to SQ@infogeneratorpro.com

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