Are Markets Moral? … Reflecting on Economics and Virtue

January 6, 2016December 2, 2016 / Justin Irving / 1 Comment

Photo Credit: Economy is Doing Well, by Colleen Lane, Flickr

I’m not an economist, but am fascinated by conversations about economics. The reality is that we all live within economies, and yet rarely reflect on the morality of these systems within which we live.

Here are some of my reflections on the relationship between economics and virtue as I address this question: Are markets moral?

Healthy Cultures Included Healthy Economies

I would argue that healthy cultures are characterized in part by healthy economies. While most individuals quickly associate economies with transacted goods and services, the heart of economic systems is relational in nature—“the incredible social networks that capital both creates and depends upon.” Economies are the relational context within which we serve one another and contribute to human flourishing.

Healthy Economies Depend on a Healthy Environment or Culture

But one of the key challenges to healthy economies and markets is the environment or ecology that surrounds the economies or markets. If the surrounding ecology is healthy, this typically translates into a healthy economy. Conversely, if the surrounding ecology is unhealthy, this typically translates into a challenged and unhealthy economy.

Daniel Finn puts it this way: “An awareness of the interplay of markets and their contexts is critical for understanding under what conditions the outcomes of voluntary interactions of individuals and businesses in the market will be considered just.” Finn sees four dimensions the “context” or ecology surrounding economies:

The Construction of Markets by Government (markets being properly defined by law)
The Provision of Essential Goods and Services
The Presence of Morality among Individuals and Groups
The Existence of a Vibrant Civil Society

Depending on That which Markets Cannot Create

To answer the question of whether markets are moral therefore requires us to look outside economic markets. Markets depend on forces—such as individual and group morality—that markets themselves are not able to produce.

On this point William McGurn notes that the economy “depends on virtues—self-restraint, honesty, courage, diligence, the willingness to defer gratification—that it cannot itself create.” Restating it—healthy economy is dependent on something that the economy itself cannot produce.

Moral Markets Surrounded by Multiple Sectors

In light of such arguments by Finn and McGurn, health and morality of economic markets are dependent on the health and morality of the surrounding culture and ecology. As someone working to train leaders especially in the non-profit and church realms, I feel the need for leaders in these sectors to better understand their contribution to healthy economies and healthy cultures.

Such leaders play an important role in nurturing this dimension of virtue—virtue that serves as the social or spiritual capital upon which healthy economies are dependent. Just as the business and government sectors play vital roles, the non-profit and religious sectors also play a key role in nurturing healthy economies and the virtue upon which healthy markets may function.

Because of the power of healthy economies to contribute to human flourishing, it is vital for the people of God in religious sectors to engage in theological reflection and practical conversation that will help contribute to the social and spiritual capital upon which the incredible social network of the economy may flourish.

Virtues and Leadership

Though not specifically dealing with economics, for those wanting to engage the importance of virtue in leadership a bit more, I recommend you take a look at an article Jim Lanctot and I wrote for the International Journal of Leadership Studies entitled Character and Leadership: Situating Servant Leadership in a Proposed Virtues Framework.

The Moral Market and You

It is easy to look around and feel powerless to affect the economy in a positive and healthy manner. Drawing on the insights of William McGurn and others, perhaps a great first and best place to start is with your closest sphere of influence.

Are you working to nurture virtue and morality within your own life and the life of those closest to you (children, family friends)?
Are you using your place in the market as a voice and presence to help create what the market itself cannot create?
Are you engaging in your work and market activity with responsible action, a spirit of value creation (giving more than you take), and commitment to steward your gifts and talents in a way that productively contributes to the flourishing of the world around you?

Such action at the personal and local level leaves a powerful ripple in the markets and economies of which you are part.

So, are markets moral? It depends on the surrounding environment, which means it also depends on you. Let’s be a force for positive and healthy economic flourishing within our sphere of influence.

The Power of Vision, Part 4

December 21, 2015January 3, 2016 / Justin Irving / 8 Comments

Photo Credit: Colorful Vision, by Lu Lacerda, Flickr

I’m in a mini-series focused on the power of vision.

In Part 1 I began by providing the following definition of vision: vision is a picture of a preferred future. Further, I described the major work of leaders as communicating this picture of a preferred future in a manner that is compelling and unifying.

In Part 2, I engaged the capacity of vision to provide passion, motivation, direction, and purpose for life and leadership.

In Part 3, I engaged how leaders can help to make vision stick by casting the vision well, celebrating the vision well, and living the vision well.

This week, I’d like to take on how leaders can identifying their burning vision.

“What Precedes Vision?”

In a 2005 talk at the Global Leadership Summit, bill Hybels provided his reflections on “The Leader’s State of Mind.” The focus of Hybels’ speech was engaging the following important questions:

“What precedes vision?”
“What gives birth to vision?”

Most leaders understand the importance of casting a vision for their people. Just yesterday I heard about a family company that spent a part of their day focusing on vision casting. As I sat in the stands at my girls’ high school basketball game this friend shared with me that the president of the family-owned company he works for spent a couple hours with employees sharing and talking about the implications of their company vision.

This work of vision casting is vital. When leaders have a vision, the advice shared last week is critical—cast the vision, celebrate the vision, live the vision.

But … how do leaders arrive at a vision for their team, division, or organization? Or, in the words of Hybels, “what gives birth to vision?”

Finding Your Burning Vision

What an important question to engage.

As Hybels discussed this he shared the example from the cartoon Popeye the Sailor man. When Olive was threatened, Popeye would get to a breaking point where he would say:

“That’s all I can stand, and I canst stands no more.”

In many ways, this line captures the heart of what passionate leadership is about. Rather than simply having a functional and lackluster vision, visions that change businesses, organizations, and societies arise from “Popeye-like” passion that sees something and says, “That’s all I can stand, and I canst stands no more.”

“I Canst Stands No More”

So what in your life raises that type of passion? In Hybels’ words, “What can’t you stand?”

This is the seed from which passionate vision often arises. When you consider your life, your leadership, your team, your organization, your work, your context for life, what in your life raises the response, “That’s all I can stand, and I canst stands no more?”

Is it the need to see students effectively engaging in learning in the K-12 environment?
Is it companies providing real value through effective research and product development?
Is it about your industry operating ethical standards?
Is it about working toward justice in some tangible way due to the needs of the oppressed or marginalized?
Is it about creating health rather than dysfunction in organizations?
Is it…?

Of course the list could go on to many other areas.

The key is to think through your life, your leadership, your context.

What bothers you?
What do you see that needs to be fixed?
What problems can you not stop thinking about and want to contribute toward a solution?

Living into Your Passion

Identifying your passion is the first step to identifying your burning vision. If this is not immediately clear to you, take some time in the week ahead to consider what it is that you “canst stands no more,” and then find a tangible way to live into this passion in your life. What first step can you take to consider a visionary response to this area of helpful discontentment?

The reality is, you will likely have multiple passions based on the multiple spheres of your life. Consider:

What is your burning vision for your team, business, or organization
What is your burning vision for your family?
What is your burning vision for your personal and professional life?

Although Popeye may not be the first “sage” we think of in identifying our passion and burning vision, it is a great metaphor to spur us on as we consider our burning vision and work to live into this vision with passion.

Next week we’ll take up some final vision reflections as we think through the visions we are meant to pursue in the year ahead.

As always, I love to hear your thoughts. Please share your reflections below.

Here are all of the post links for this series:

The Power of Vision, Part 1
The Power of Vision, Part 2
The Power of Vision, Part 3
The Power of Vision, Part 4
The Power of Vision, Part 5

8 Keys for Building Trust as a Leader

September 14, 2015September 12, 2015 / Justin Irving / 1 Comment

Trust, by Terry Johnston, Flickr

Leader trust is a powerful currency in today’s world. As we continue to see examples of leaders who lose trust in the eyes of their people and stakeholders, it is easy to see how a lack of leader trust quickly erodes businesses, organizations, and relationships.

And, while leader trust often takes years to build, this trust can be lost in a moment.

So how can leaders build and maintain trust? In his book The Trust Edge, David Horsager provides his readers with the 8 Pillars of Trust:

Clarity: “People trust the clear and mistrust the ambiguous.”
Compassion: “People put faith in those who care beyond themselves.”
Character: “People notice those who do what is right over what is easy.”
Competency: “People have confidence in those who stay fresh, relevant, and capable.”
Commitment: “People believe in those who stand through adversity.”
Connection: “People want to follow, buy from, and be around friends.”
Contribution: “People immediately respond to results.”
Consistency: “People love to see the little things done consistently.”

What steps are you taking to build your trust as a leader? As your most powerful currency in today’s world, intentional trust building is well worth the investment of your time and effort. For the sake of your leadership effectiveness, and for the sake of your organization’s health and results, invest in building your leader trust.

For those interested in a deeper look at The Trust Edge, check out David’s website at: davidhorsager.com

Easter, The Gospel, & Virtuous Leadership

March 29, 2015April 12, 2020 / Justin Irving / 1 Comment

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Easter week is just around the corner as I write this post. At the heart of Easter is the message of the gospel. In this brief post, I’d like to make some connections between the core message of Easter and leadership practice.

Ethics matter for those working at diverse organizational levels. But ethics especially matter for leaders.

We want to know that what our leaders say is true. We want to see that the actions of our leaders are consistent with what they say as leaders.

General Ethical Approaches

Though certainly an oversimplification of ethical theory, we can argue that there are three primary approaches to ethics:

Virtue Ethics
Duty Ethics
Utilitarian Ethics

Here is a brief overview of these approaches drawn from an article I wrote with a colleague:

	Virtue Ethics	Duty Ethics	Utilitarian Ethics
Key operational question	Who ought I to be?	What ought I to do?	What brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number?
Definition of Happiness	Fulfilling one’s purpose or function	Adherence to moral absolutes	Maximization of pleasure, absence of pain
Focus	Character of the individual	Rules and resulting obligations of the individual	Outcomes and consequences

A utilitarian approach to ethics bases decisions on what brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number.
A duty-based approach (or deontological approach) to ethics bases decisions on what one ought to do.
A virtue-based approach to ethics bases decisions on who one ought to be.

The Priority of Virtue Ethics

While there are supporting arguments for each of these ethical paths, I find that the most effective form of ethical practice is grounded in virtue-oriented approaches. Why is this?

In times of crisis and ethically challenging circumstances, people will tend to do what is natural to them. They will act in accordance with who they are. Because of this, the most powerful approach to ethics is one that takes seriously the formation of ethical people at a level of virtues and character.

Though we need moral guidance (a deontological and duty-based approach), the capacity to act on this comes from moral fortitude (an ontological and virtue-based approach).

Virtuous leadership requires virtuous leaders. Ethical leadership requires ethical leaders.

Because of this, a foundational question in this discussion is how does one become a virtuous person/leader?

The Gospel and Virtue Ethics

I don’t want to imply that only Christians may be virtuous leaders. Certainly, we can all think of Christians we know who have not acted virtuously and those of other non-Christian commitments who do act virtuously.

I do want to emphasize that the Christian gospel provides a powerful answer to the question of how one becomes a virtuous person/leader.

At the heart of Easter is the gospel. The gospel centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ death on the cross, remembered in the heart of Holy Week, is at the center of the Christian faith. Jesus died on a cross to pay the penalty for sinful people and to restore wholeness to our broken world. Those who trust in Jesus’ work on their behalf are offered forgiveness for their sins and are welcomed into both God’s family and God’s mission of restoring and healing a broken world. At Easter, we celebrate not only Jesus’ death, but also his being raised to life three days later to demonstrate His power over sin and death.

So How Does this Relate to Virtue-Based Leadership?

The gospel is not about good, moral, or virtuous people offering themselves to God. The gospel is about sinful, immoral, and broken people being made new by Christ’s work in their lives.

We can never be good enough, moral enough, or righteous enough to make ourselves right before God. Only God’s work in us by the gospel can do that.

What does this mean for a Christian approach to virtue ethics?

Rather than seeking to be virtuous in order to make ourselves right before God, in the gospel we yield to the God who is able to make us right before him.

The gospel does not lower the ethical bar. The gospel does not say that sin and unethical leader behavior doesn’t matter. Rather, the gospel gives us a pathway for changing us from the inside out. The gospel gives us a hopeful path on which we can start to see change. The gospel gives us a credible answer to the question of how one may become a virtuous person/leader.

The answer is not in our own virtuous behavior, but rather in looking to the God of Easter who is able to do in us what we are not able to do ourselves.

C.S. Lewis on Empowerment — Exploring Leadership Development

August 16, 2014January 3, 2016 / Justin Irving / 1 Comment

Photo Credit: C. S. Lewis, Sigurdur Jonsson, Flickr

Empowerment is vital for effective leadership. It is core to most of our relationships…from teaching, to parenting, to leading.

Leading People to Not Need Us

In discussing love and giving, C.S. Lewis implicitly engages the practice of empowerment. Lewis writes:

“The proper aim of giving is to put the recipient in a state where he no longer needs our gift. We feed children in order that they may soon be able to feed themselves; we teach them in order that they may soon not need our teaching.”

Celebrating Growth toward Independence

This principle is not only essential for effective parenting or teaching, it is also essential for effective leading. It raises a heart-searching question for us as leaders: Are we leading our people to dependency on our leadership, or are we leading them to a place of independence and interdependence?

Recognizing Leader Struggles Along the Way

Organizational leaders who hunger for power and position will have difficulty leading followers to a place of independence. Organizational leaders who struggle with personal insecurity will struggle to free followers to this place as well.

Secure and follower-focused leaders recognize that it is a win for both their followers and their organizations to create pathways where leaders may be both developed and empowered for service.

Finding the Reward of Empowerment

Lewis continues to press his argument:

“Thus a heavy task is laid upon the Gift-love. It must work towards its own abdication. We must aim at making ourselves superfluous. The hour when we can say ‘They need me no longer’ should be our reward.”

All too often, our saying “they need me no longer” is viewed as a threat rather than a reward. But true love—love that holds the importance of others and their goals alongside our own goals—will lead in such a way that both leader and follower values, goals, aspirations, and dreams may be pursued.

Developing and Deploying Emerging Leaders

In reality, leaders who get the concept of developing and deploying their people do not work themselves out of a job, for such leaders are constantly creating new opportunities for new developing leaders. Great leaders create space for others to flourish. Great leaders identify potential, develop this potential, and release this potential into new roles and opportunities.

Leadership development does not need to be a zero sum game. Thriving organizations and entrepreneurial communities benefit from a regular flow of developed and empowered leaders released into new opportunities.

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How are you wired as a leader around these themes? Do you tend to hold onto authority over others, or are you wired to identify, develop, and release talent in the cause of your organization’s mission? Great leaders empower their people!

Servant Leadership and #GLS14

August 15, 2014January 3, 2016 / Justin Irving / Leave a comment

Photo Credit: Jesus Washing Feet, Fulbourn St. Vigor, Steve Day, Flickr

The 2014 Global Leadership Summit, put on by the Willow Creek Association, is taking place yesterday and today (August 14-15). Although I’m not present at the conference, I’m following key trending insights, particularly on Twitter (#GLS14).

Leadership and the Introvert

There are several takeaways from Day One. Bill Hybels shared key lessons in his opening session. Susan Cain’s reminder of the presence and importance of introverts in our organizations was also a welcome addition to the public leadership discourse.

Susan Cain called us to “remember that one-third of your workforce is probably introverted,” that “most introverts are deeply passionate about a few things,” and that “they are leaders because they were passionate first.”

Patrick Lencioni on Servant Leadership

While the reports coming out throughout the first day were many, I especially appreciated the themes Patrick Lencioni addressed. Here are a few key tweets from Lencioni session:

“Leaders sacrifice themselves for the good of others.”
“If we’re doing it for ourselves, we’re going to leave a trail of tears behind.”
“If you’re not interested in developing yourself, don’t be a leader.”
“The best reason for someone to become a leader is to sacrifice themselves for the good of others.”
“Most people don’t really want to change the world, thy want to become known as the person who changed the world.”
“I’m tired of hearing about servant leadership because I don’t think there’s any other kind of leadership.”
“Servant leadership is the only leadership. All else is economics.”

Servant Leadership for the Good of Others

I’m passionate about servant leadership. Though I would not express this quite the same as Lencioni (I like hearing more about servant leadership!), the point is well-taken. Leadership at its core is about service. It is about valuing others. It is about focusing on their needs. It is about sacrificing for their good of those we lead.

Servant Leadership Next Steps

While this post is just a quick highlight of some of the servant leadership themes raised at #GLS14, some may wish to dig a bit deeper. Here is one of my journal articles on the topic, providing both a biblical and research-based frame for engaging servant leadership. Servant leadership is not only an ethical approach to leadership—it is also effective!

Enjoy the article, and enjoy Day 2 of #GLS14

Power to the People — Leaders and the Ethical Use of Power

July 31, 2014January 3, 2016 / Justin Irving / 2 Comments

Vuisten (fists) - Power, by Bolwidt on Flickr

Photo Credit: Vuisten (fists) – Power, by Bolwidt, Flickr

Power to the People

The public exercise of power is often disliked, mistrusted, or undermined in our society. Roots of this suspicion of power are deep, but this suspicion is often grounded in the exercise of positional power that is not founded upon personal power. It is distasteful to see people occupying positions of power without also embodying the personal credibility to support and enact this power effectively. In contrast to resistance that is often the result of excessive use of positional power, personal power helps to develop followers and their commitment to organizational goals.

Asking the Right Questions

In terms of when and how power can be used most effectively and more acceptably, I would point to the importance of the ethical use of power. On this point Richard Daft identifies key questions leaders need to ask. Some of these questions ask whether the action and use of power…

…is consistent with the organization’s goals,
…respects the rights of individuals,
…meets standards of equity and fairness, and
…is consistent with how one would behalf if the action would affect them personally.

These guidelines for ethical action help in thinking through how power is being utilized. To engage power effectively, acceptably, and ethically, leader’s need to be comfortable that the answers to such questions are focused on the good of others and the organization rather than simply serving themselves as leaders.

A Commitment to Serving Others

On this point, I appreciate the emphasis of people like Robert K. Greenleaf who write on the theme of servant leadership. Greenleaf emphasized that the servant leader was to be servant first. In other words, Greenleaf emphasized that the most acceptable or beneficial leader for a community is the one who at their core is a servant, and who then expresses this servant-oriented heart through a leadership role. Greenleaf emphasized that true power rested with followers who recognize a servant-oriented person and then attribute personal power to them. From this personal power, the servant-leader may then lead effectively and ethically.

In my view, this is the best place from which to use power—using it from a place that recognizes the best power is that which has been freely granted to the leader by the personal trust of followers.

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What do you think of Greenleaf’s point? How do you see leaders using power ethically and responsibly?