Moral Clarity Means Rejecting Double Standards
Robert Glazer
5X Entrepreneur, #1 WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author, Top .1% Podcast Host and Keynote Speaker. Board Chair & Founder @ Acceleration Partners
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Over the past several years, I’ve seen so many people lamenting the lack of moral clarity from our leaders and in our society.
Often, moral clarity describes a person or organization’s ability to clearly distinguish between what is moral and immoral—and to speak out against the latter. But what I suspect people misunderstand about moral clarity is that it’s fraught with subjectivity. What I might consider a morally clear choice, someone else might find objectionable, and vice versa.
I believe moral clarity is exemplified by someone who stands on their principles even when it is inconvenient and reliably meets their stated moral standards. An essential element of this is moral consistency.
There are a couple hallmarks of moral consistency:
When people talk about the decline of moral clarity in our society, I suspect they are most disheartened by the collapse of moral consistency. As social media and tribalism have separated us into rival camps on most issues, leaders have repeatedly failed to apply the same moral standards in different contexts.
For example:
We should expect our leaders, and ourselves, to apply their morals consistently. We cannot advocate for free speech for some but not for others or excuse illegal behavior from the political party we support. Likewise, we cannot treat one hate-speech spewing, intimidating mob as righteous while calling another dangerous.
Sadly, we have repeatedly seen our leaders fail these moral consistency tests. We’ve seen this for years from our elected officials and our superstar CEOs. And, perhaps most troublingly, we’ve seen a clear lack of moral consistency from the campus leaders responsible for shaping the next generation.
For months, there has been clear evidence that campus protests have contained pockets of antisemitic speech and behavior. Administrators have hidden behind free speech or have looked the other way as Jewish students have endured hateful rhetoric, physical intimidation, restriction of movement, and celebration of murder and terrorism as righteous resistance. ?
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However, no one can honestly assert that similar behavior would be tolerated today on a college campus today if participants were telling Black people to go back to Africa, restricting the free movement of Muslim students across campus, or calling for a violent uprising against the transgender community. Similarly, many of the people leading the current campus activities would never tolerate that behavior.
While the average person regularly gets caught up in the heat of the moment and says or does things they regret, we should expect our leaders to hold them accountable. And yet, so many leaders could not find the moral courage to either say “this is not who we are” or to apply the same standards of policy enforcement. That’s the definition of moral inconsistency
Moral clarity requires moral consistency. Great leaders don’t drop their standards or core principles when it’s convenient for them, and they stand up for those values, especially when it’s unpopular and even when it’s not the outcome they would otherwise want.
The world today desperately needs leaders today who can demonstrate moral consistency and uphold values and standards unwaveringly. True clarity begins with steadfast consistency.?
Where have you witnessed moral inconsistency? Have you seen it in yourself?
Quote of The Week
"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.” - Aaron Sorkin
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About Me
Robert Glazer is a serial entrepreneur, award-winning executive, bestselling author, and keynote speaker. He has a passion for helping individuals and organizations build their capacity and elevate their performance.
Learn more at www.robertglazer.com
Part Time PRN Hospital Chaplain at Goshen Health
5 个月Moral clarity is knowing what God says about morals and living within God's guidelines as found within scripture, generally, and The Book of Proverbs specifically. It is not just my moral clarity versus your moral clarity it is my moral clarity versus God's stated morals and Proverbs speaks on behavior that pleases God. https://www.amazon.com/Proverbs-Project-Character-Development-Nations/dp/149845531X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1456232645&sr=1-3&keywords=the+proverbs+project
Founding Partner at Next Step Partners, Executive Coach, HBR Contributor, & MG100 Coach.
5 个月Thank you for writing this, Robert!
Educator, Facilitator, Coach
5 个月Robert Glazer This post brings to mind “The Fairness Principle: when contemplating a moral action, imagine that you do not know if you will be the moral doer or receiver, and when in doubt err on the side of the other person.” ??Michael Shermer, The Moral Arc Also philosopher John Rawls ‘Veil of Ignorance’ helps even if almost impossible to realize. If we can try to discard our labels of race, sex, gender, age,nationality, etc. and realize our interconnectiveness, humanity can move towards more truth, justice, freedom and moral consistency. It’s a good self thought experiment to play with, especially from society’s leaders. If only.
Co-Founder and President at No Worry Home
5 个月Great post!
My purpose is to create vibrant, inclusive, & sustainable public spaces for wellness and connection. My cause is Parks & Recreation which I believe is essential to address the most pressing challenges communities face.
5 个月100% agree but Be ready to have your resume ready... because you are a reminder of their failed morals and this I know from my past boss, she not only did this to me but many others, and be ready to blacklisted, avoided, passed over as the networking world is so small and it puts hiring managers in a risk position that they'd rather avoid- which is understandable, how certain can you be by a resume, experience, good standing if someone of a higher authority says otherwise, I daresay blatantly lies and targets your reputation you worked years to build. So yes, rejecting double standards is easier said than done, especially if those around aren't able to support you due to the risk they'd be at.