Please forward this message to friends and colleagues whom you believe would be interested in it. Click on the link in the left column for a form on which you can quickly and easily add their email address.

Politics and Morality??
October, 2005
By Donna Zajonc ©2005

Current political leaders in Washington DC give us plenty of reasons to wonder whether it is possible to be a moral political leader. The prevailing mantra seems to be "say or do whatever it takes to stay in power" rather than what is right.

In recent days we have learned that a powerful US Senator is being investigated by the SEC, the House majority leader was indicted, a Congressional inquiry into the botched government's response to hurricane Katrina is ongoing, the arrest of a White House staff assistant charged with abuse of power and the Vice-President's chief of staff's admission that he leaked the identify of a secret CIA agent.

While the Republicans are involved in the current situations, there have been plenty of damning headlines for Democrats over the years. We don't need to be reminded of Clinton's inability to fess up when it came to his personal indiscretions.

It seems that stretching the truth is the norm rather than the exception. Where are our moral politicians?

In their new book, Moral Intelligence, authors Doug Lennick and Dr. Fred Kiel define moral intelligence as "the mental capacity to determine how universal human principles should be applied to our values, goals and actions." Building on cognitive intelligence (our IQ) in 1995, Daniel Goleman brought emotional intelligence (EQ) into the leadership discussion. "Moral intelligence" goes deeper than our IQ or EQ and gives us clues about how to consistently lead with a strong moral compass.

Moral intelligence is another distinctive type of intelligence that is urgently required for today's leaders to lead with honesty and integrity. Lennick and Kiel argue that moral and emotional intelligence are essential partners and neither are truly effective without the other.

They write: "Moral intelligence is not just important for effective leadership but is the "central intelligence" for all humans. Why? It is because moral intelligence directs our other forms of intelligence to do something worthwhile and gives our life purpose. Without moral intelligence we would not know why we do what we do---or even what difference our existence makes in the great cosmic scheme of things."

A lack of moral intelligence could explain how a politician promotes a campaign platform on honesty and high values yet may allow their staff to falsify their work resume in order to improve their chance of election. They do this because they believe their values (personal beliefs that determine our attitudes and behavior) are superior to the other candidates and therefore may stretch the truth to justifie their election.

In their minds, straying from the truth may be allowed in order to gain power and promote their values and beliefs. Winning at all costs is justified so they have the power to do good by imposing their values onto others. This describes a politician who has a low moral quotient.

Emotional intelligence is generally defined as our ability to:

• appraise our emotions in our self and others
• regulate our emotions in self and others
• use emotions in appropriate situations

The danger of having a high emotional intelligence without an equally high moral intelligence is that a leader may use their intellect and personal charm to manipulative their message (political spin) and fool the public.

A high emotional intelligence won't keep a political leader from doing what is wrong or dishonest. In fact, a high IQ and high EQ may allow a charismatic leader to influence the public in vicious and immoral ways.

Moral competency is the difference but how do we begin to develop our moral intelligence? I agree with Lenncik and Kiel that it begins with personal integrity.

In my book, The Politics of Hope I suggest developing our internal integrity by spending less time finding fault with others but rather begin with our own integrity gaps.

Are you ready for a difficult challenge? Make a commitment to yourself to speak the complete truth without exception during a 24 hour period. Carry a notebook with you and record even the slightest tendency to lie or deceive yourself or others. For example:

• If you are late for an appointment, admit you are late rather than blame the traffic.
• If you use the company copy machine for personal copies but do not pay for them.
• At the end of the day, look back and reflect on the times you were tempted to be untruthful.
• Did you notice more self-integrity when you told the complete truth?

Most people find this exercise surprisingly difficult. Our fast paced cultural has created a tendency to tolerate our lies (they are only "little white lies") yet criticize others when they do the same.

If we want more moral politicians, we must become a more truthful society and that begins at our own doorstep.

When do you recognize high moral intelligence in yourself and others?

Lennick and Kiel's book and the profound new insights of moral intelligence are based upon research in the business world. Political leaders should read this book and simply insert politics for business. A high moral intelligence quotient is urgently needed for all citizens---and most certainly our political leaders!

Congratulations are called for!

Donna Zajonc and David Womeldorff were married on September 10th and spent seven lovely honeymoon days in Paris.

D&D or D2 (as they are affectionately known) have been professional partners since 2003. They have formally combined their work by co-founding The Bainbridge Leadership Center.

Schedule Donna as Your Keynote Speaker

I am now scheduling keynote speeches. If you belong to an organization, church, or community gathering where I might present The Politics of Hope ideas, please contact me for speaking opportunities.

Donna Zajonc is a Political Leadership Coach, a former three-term Oregon Legislator and was her party's nominee for Secretary of State. She has also managed several campaigns including a highly visible governor's campaign. Donna challenges her clients to prepare for public office with the same rigor that all professionals seek.