Foresight.

“The failure (or refusal) of a leader to foresee may be viewed as an ethical failure, because a serious ethical compromise today (when the usual judgment on ethical inadequacy is made) is sometimes the result of a failure to make the effort at an earlier date to foresee today’s events and take the right actions when there was freedom for initiative to act.”

This quote comes from Robert Greenleaf’s essay “The Servant as Leader”. According to Greenleaf foresight is “The Central Ethic of Leadership.”

Thanks again to reader Chris for inspiration to delve into the topics of ethics in leadership. Chris posted a link to Michael Josephson’s Obstacles to Ethical Decision Making: Rationalizations in his recent comment to my last blog. After reading Josephson’s list of rationalizations for making unethical decisions, I could not help but be reminded of the controversy that United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is facing for the firings of U.S. attorneys.
What follows are some quotes from Gonzales’ recent interview on NBC regarding the controversy that are examples of Josephson’s rationalizations for failures to lead with foresight.

If It’s Necessary, It’s Ethical. “And our record here in the past two years in the area of civil rights, in the area of protecting our kids against child predators, protecting the country against terrorism, making our neighborhoods safe from drugs and gangs has really been outstanding.”

If It’s Legal and Permissible, It’s Proper. “The United States attorneys that were asked — to resign — were appointed by this president, they serve, like me, at the pleasure of the president.”

It’s All for a Good Cause. “So we've done some great things. I believe that that can still continue.”

It Doesn’t Hurt Anyone. “We have to reassure the American people that nothing improper happened here.”

Greenleaf went on to write that,

“Foresight is the “lead” that the leader has. Once leaders lose this lead and events start to force their hand, they are leaders in name only. They are not leading but reacting to immediate events, and they will probably not long be leaders.”

Time will tell if Attorney General Gonzales will face the consequences of failing to lead without foresight. These events are a good reminder of the need to think with the future in mind when we make leadership decisions.

So how do we remember to practice the art of foresight?