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CHAPTER 6: COURAGE AND MORAL LEADERSHIP 171

IN THE LEAD civilians, Wallenberg had everything to lose and nothing to gain. Yet he left his
life of safety and comfort to enter Hungary under cover as a diplomat, with the
mission of saving as many of Hungary’s Jews as possible. Wallenberg never
returned, but apparently was captured as a suspected anti-Soviet spy, and died in
a Soviet prison. He gave his life fighting for a cause he believed in, and his actions

27
made a real difference in the world.
Raoul Wallenberg emerged from a dismal period in human history as a coura-

geous leader who made the ultimate sacrifice for what he believed Most leaders
never have the opportunity to save lives, and few leaders help as many people
as Wallenberg did, but the principles of moral leadership he demonstrated are
valuable to anyone who aspires to make a positive difference in the world. Moral
leadership uplifts people, enabling them to be better than they were without the
leader. Leaders are responsible for building a foundation that strengthens and
enriches the lives of organization members.

Specific personality characteristics such as ego strength, self-confi dence, and
a sense of independence may enable leaders to behave morally in the face of op-
position. This chapter’s Leader’s Bookshelf argues that confi dence is a key require-
ment of moral courage, because it moves leaders from contemplating what is right
to acting on their moral values. Moreover, leaders can develop these characteris-
tics through their own hard work. People have choices about whether to behave
morally. Consider the following remembrance of Viktor Frankl, who was in one
of the death camps in Nazi Germany.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked
through the huts comforting the others, giving away their last piece of
bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer suffi cient proof
that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the
human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circum-
stances. To choose one’s own way.
And there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered
the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether
you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you
of your very self, your inner freedom. . . . 28
A leader’s capacity to make moral choices is related to the individual’s level
of moral development. Exhibit 6.4 shows a simplifi ed illustration of one model
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Exhibit 6.4 Three Levels of Personal Moral Development

Level 3: Postconventional
Follows internalized
universal principles of
Level 2: Conventional justice and right. Balances
Lives up to expectations concern for self with
of others. Fulfills duties concern for others and the
Level 1: Preconventional and obligations of social common good. Acts in an
Follows rules to avoid system. Upholds laws. independent and ethical
punishment. Acts in own manner regardless of ex-
interest. Blind obedience pectations of others.
to authority for its own
sake.

Sources: Based on Lawrence Kohlberg, “Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Developmental
Approach,” in Moral Development and Behavior: Theory, Research, and Social Issues, ed. Thomas
Likona (Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976), pp. 31–53; and Jill W. Graham, “Leadership, Moral
Development, and Citizenship Behavior,” Business Ethics Quarterly 5, No. 1 (January 1995), pp. 43–54.