Virtuous Leadership: An Agenda for Personal Excellence

In times like these we badly need leaders we can trust, and trust is only possible when leaders are both capable and virtuous. Alexandre Havard, in his book Virtuous Leadership: An Agenda for Personal Excellence, makes a strong case that "leadership is character". He clearly defines what he means by character and outlines a process for cultivating personal excellence, which is the foundation for leadership excellence. Well worth reading.

Dr. Havard has assembled an excellent counter-balance to a number of books out there that focus primarily upon temperaments or dispositions in leadership. The book's strength lies primarily in the constellation of virtues he presents: magnanimity, humility, prudence, courage, temperance and courage. The author offers apt descriptions of the virtues and also numerous illustrations of the virtues in action. One would hope for more guidance on the appropriation of the necessary virtues, but it strikes the reader that the book is a summary of a further-reaching program delivered by the leadership institute directed by Dr. Havard.

Finally, a book on leadership that puts the horse before the cart----where it belongs. Leaders require followers and why should anyone follow a leader? There seems to be an eternal tension between followers and leaders because there is a clash or at least a confrontation of wills. A leader who depends on coercion or manipulative techniques may achieve certain objectives but only in a precise setting and given limited objectives. A military officer is handed position power and the force of authority along with assigned followers and may or may not bloom into a true leader over time. Likewise, a politician may rely on manipulation, personality, and scripted talking points to win office but that victory does not confer leadership status. The "better man" theory of leadership has survived through history. The question that often went unasked is how does one become a better man? Alexandre Havard teaches us that leadership is service and service is virtue in action. The natural virtues are developed through an act of will. Developing virtue molds character and forms a leader. The authority of a true leader stems from the character they display which gives rise to trust. The natural tension between leaders and followers dissolves because followers know that their leader has their best interests at heart and they recognize in the leader a role model for their own character development. I find it interesting that to the secular mind and also from the Christian perspective, the trait most often ascribed to leaders is "charisma". A charism is a gift conferred through the grace of God. The theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity are gifts of God. When they are combined with the natural virtues of judgment, courage, self-control, and justice plus the leadership virtues of magnanimity and humility, the result is a "better man" and a great leader. One does not need to be a CEO, NFL coach, or general to be a leader. We all function in a sphere in which leadership is desperately needed.

Somebody has finally written a book about virtue for those engaged in the business world. Too many books spill out of the presses on being EFFECTIVE, on getting YOUR WAY, on making big bucks quick--it's as if the business world were ruled by little Machiavellis and Napoleons. Havard gives them what they really need, something for the good of their souls, rather than merely their bank accounts. This book should be in every airport across Europe and America! (And ditch all the other quick-read, make-million business books that litter the bookstore shelves.) Bravo Havard!

Alexandre Havard's Virtuous Leadership is a book long-needed on every level of public life in the developed nations. In its examination of the theoretical and practical aspects of the successful exercise of authority--be it in commercial enterprises, basic social organizations of the human community, and pastoral situations--he probes deeply into not only the ethical basis of good management, but the higher implications of moral order in men's dealings with one another. In doing so, he also demonstrates that the exercise of genuine virtue results in growth of character, and that this is possible for all leaders, with their varying temperaments and personalities. He emphasizes that this mode of leadership is more than a technique for increased "productivity" but one which brings about something greater, that is, the creation of working environments and communities that retain their essential humanity while increasing fruitfulness in the forms appropriate to the organization's intended purpose. The author also reveals to us some fractures in our thinking in the industrialized/technologized societies of the modern age, and how the development of a personalist use of authority can help mend these often self-defeating tendencies, bringing untold benefits not only for the individual leader and his organization but for society in general. A vitally important and timely book. --Michael D. O'Brien