The Practicality of Virtue

When we're talking about virtue, we're talking about what has immediate practical implications for the ability to relate well with others, to make sound and prudent decisions, to make deals fairly as equitably, to govern well, to manage effectively, to think and evaluate strategically, to take appropriate risks, to cultivate clarity and focus, to communicate better, in a word, to lead more effectively because you're leading more humanly. 

We're talking not only emotional intelligence, resilience, grit, empathy, and people skills (though these are included); were also talking about dedication, integrity, mission, strategy, reliability, risk management, and sustained effectiveness. These are real habits of practical skill that can eventually come second-nature. We must not buy into some warmed-over Victorian notion of virtue as merely being nice or respectable, or as merely soft skills. No. Virtue is about real human excellence in all domains. 

To say that Virtuous Leadership is not a technique or a tactic is not to relegate it to mere soft skills or morality but rather that Virtuous Leadership is the engine, the power, that sustainably drives the tactical and the technical with consistency and ensures that these are right and just as well as efficient and effective. 

The ancient Greek word for virtue is arete, which means very simply excellence. A knife is "virtuous" if it is good at being a knife — strong, sharp, and gets the job done well. To be a virtuous leader, then is to be able to lead in a way that helps others achieve personal and professional greatness, by being eminently practical to the real human needs and aspirations of those you lead. Virtue doesn't mean you focus on something less important or less real, it means you finally move beyond the superficial and begin to focus on what's actually real and going on.

And doing this will drive real and sustainable results, but it's not for the faint of heart.

Recommended Reading: After Virtue by A. MacIntyre; Virtuous Leadership by A. Havard; Good to Great by J. Collins; Virtue and Psychology by B. Fowers; Peak by A. Ericsson.