Importance of Ethical Behavior and Morality in Leaders

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Recommended: ethics is a crucial aspect of effective leadership

The role of the government has evolved over time and in this day and age, its purpose is to govern the nation well by ensuring peace and prosperity in the country. The People’s Action Party (PAP) in Singapore encapsulates this in their manifesto which is “to build a fair and just society where the benefits of progress are spread widely to all”. It aims to achieve this through its core values system, honesty, being multi-racial, meritocracy and self-reliance.

This is no mean feat and requires the group of leaders to be reliable, pragmatic, united, far-sighted, decisive, compassionate and resilient. (PAP, 2013) As Confucius states, a person is to first, cultivate his moral character; only then would he be able to order his family well; upon being able to order one’s family, one is then fit to govern the nation. (Confucius, 1979) Therefore, leaders of the state will need to have good moral character and highest standards of personal conduct in order to govern the country well.

Michael Palmer, in this case study, has tainted the squeaky clean image of a Member of Parliament (MP). He had an extra-marital affair and came clean about it one year after it started. He confessed to DPM Teo Chee Hean and proceeded to resign from the service. He apologised to his superiors, colleagues and the public about his misconduct. He admitted that “his conduct was improper and a serious error of judgement”. (Tan J, 2012)

Despite being very successful in his political career, his misconduct was severely unacceptable. This is mainly due to the nature of his job. This mistake Palmer made showed that he lacked morality as, according to Aristotle, morality lies in a person’s character and a person’s character can be judged from his conduct. Aristotle po...

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...6 June 2012). Ex-SCDF chief charged in widening sex-for-contracts scandal. Yahoo! Newsroom, Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ex-scdf-chief-peter-lim-charged-in-court.html.
Tan, J. (14 February 2013). Former CNB chief Ng Boon Gay acquitted. Yahoo! Newsroom, Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/former-cnb-chief-ng-boon-gay-acquitted-072825790.html.
Swanton, C. (2003). Virtue ethics: A pluralistic view.

Rosenstand, N. (2013). Using Your Reason, Part 2: Kant's Deontology (7th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education.
Rosenstand, N. (2013). Aristotle’s Virtue Theory: Everything In Moderation (7th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education.
Rosenstand, N. (2013). Case Studies In Virtue (7th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education.
PAP. (2013). People’s Action Party: Our Core Values. Retrieved 3 April 2014, from https://www.pap.org.sg/about-pap/our-core-values

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