Authors: Doug Lenick and Fed Kiel
Critiqued by:
October 10, 2007
Fall 2007
Class Honor Code: “I declare and affirm that the work submitted herein is my own work product from my own labor, efforts, and endeavors, and that I did not seek, receive, offer, or accept unauthorized aid or assistance or use of the work product of another, unless otherwise so stated fully and completely herein.”
What does it take to be a great leader? Doug Lennick, author of Moral Intelligence, tells us that it takes being in tuned with our moral compass. Your moral compass consists of moral intelligence, the ability to know the right thing to do, and moral competence, having the ability to do the right thing. In the heart of this book Lennick points out that there are four principle values to maintaining a balanced moral compass: integrity, responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness. This book successfully instructs leaders on the importance of being in tuned with their moral compass and what the positive and negative aspects of following or not following it are. After reading this book one could determine that these lessons can be applied not only to ones professional life but also to their personal life as well. This book does not just portray the thoughts and ideas of one person. Lennick and his co-author, Fred Kiel, performed extensive research on the topics of management and leadership before writing this book. They interviewed executives and top leaders of highly successful companies to test their theories of the importance to having a balanced moral compass. Interviewees discussed what negative effects occurred not only to their companies but also to the morale of the employees when they did not follow their moral compass. John Simmons (pseudonym) realized his moral compass was misaligned when he was confronted by his fellow business partners regarding his rigid behavior at a meeting. After much reflection he