Based upon the current corporate and political climate in the USA,
many probably agree that books like these are important and
necessary. But is society any different today in certain respects
than it was say, 2000 years ago? Humans are human. Always have
been, always will be.

As for a "moral compass" discussed in this book, we can simply
look at the actions of individuals, corporations, and governments
dating back before Roman times, to today. The concept and discussion
of morality and ethics go back thousands of years. Yet it is of
course, no less important today. Currently, ethical concepts are
taught and discussed in business, MBA, and law programs. These
programs have to most dishonest students of all departments
at universities in the USA, in study after study. Some of
these students will become influential members of our society
in the future.

It must be noted that many parts of the world at times completely
lack a "moral compass." Corruption, dishonesty, and out-right theft
are the basic functional foundations in many nations of the world.
The United States has its flaws, but is way ahead of hundreds of
other nations when it comes to business moral and ethics.
(Admittedly, due in part by the existence of laws and regulations).
Yet a lack of this morality has a deleterious economic impact upon
many countries of the world. Another point that is central to the
concept of business morality is: thinking long-term. Not the myopic,
short-term business horizon where someone cheats or cuts corners to
gain a small amount in the short term, but loses potentially much
greater gains over the long term. South East Asia is notorious for
this short-sighted thinking and behaviour at all levels of society
and business.

This mentality can change. It will take time, education, awareness,
and the realization of the positives. Once those in business realize
the benefits of being honest and ethical, they often (but not always)
change their business practices. This is simply, Common Sense.

Author Doug Lennick and Fred Kiel categorize this book into three
portions: Overview, Developing Moral Skills, and Moral Leadership.

In addition there are four concepts noted for moral leadership:
Integrity, Responsibility, Compassion, and Forgiveness.

Several real-life examples are presented in this book.

Citing the innateness morality is mostly, idealism. Doing something
"because it's the right thing to do" does seem a bit idealistic. This
OK. But we must recognize it for what it is.

It takes an ethical upbringing *and* laws and regulations to keep
people and organizations in line.

History tells us the answer. Humans are humans. And no, I'm not a
Hobbesian. :)

"Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success" by Doug Lennick has a simple premise. Once you get that premise, the rest is about internalizing it, and living it out when the moral challenge presents itself.

Accepting the premise of the book is easy: Do the right thing because it is the right thing, and enjoy business benefits in the process. -- The premise is the entire book. There. I have blown in 17 words what takes the author 256 pages to say. Sorry about that.

If your sales manager gives you this book, you can flip through it, remember a few anecdotes, and you'll be set.

That's my primary difficulty with the book. I did not disagree with the premise, or feel that his anecdotes were inconsistent. It takes a very deep message and handles it lightly, without as much substance as such a book should have.

Very heavy on business anecdotes, it reads well, but has the tired tone of every business book on the planet, as if the writer went out of his way to quote as many people as possible, rather than looking into the questions more. Unfortunately, it is especially heavy in the financial planners/services sales people. Not much diversity of markets, business areas, or position.

There are a few charts gussying up "Moral Intelligence" but no substantive grids that will help the reader understand the way morality looks in real life. A few statistics are dripped in here and there, but it always boils down to "Do the right thing."

While no one expects a business ethics book to speak on the level of Aristotle or Augustine, it is reasonable that the author would present some grounding for morals. While he claims that relativism has been injurious to society in general, and to the workplace specifically, Lennick presents more of a generic understanding of morality. Touting a specific belief might get him into trouble, of course, yet by not doing so, he comes off bland and without a standard.

Somehow, in all the quotes from upper middle managers, Lennick misses William Pollard, former CEO of ServiceMaster. In fact, there is no discussion of ServiceMaster entirely. ServiceMaster, a massive Fortune 500 company, has been until recently, very outspoken that it was called such because of a Christian belief system, short for "Service for the Master." A look into how this philosophy works, and how ServiceMaster struggled to do the right thing, would have been instructive. Blown opportunity.

Lennick mentions the obvious criminals, like Ken Lay. He misses other law breakers, like PTL's Jim Bakker, and, in describing Lay's problems, provides nothing that has not been on the news. What Lennick could have done is outline the subtlties of business morality, and how we fall into breaking our own moral code.

There is little here that doesn't begin, "Joe was an Assistant VP of FinancialMegaCorp, and noticed something askew with the month's figures. He realized his friend and colleague, Rick, had absconded with thousands of dollars. Should Joe talk to Rick, or gather evidence to bring to the firm's legal team?"

Equally weak is the "Moral Competency Inventory" which has potential to reveal our true moral responses. With questions like, "When I agree to do something, I always follow through," I wonder if I just took a Cosmo quiz.

Wharton School Publishing dropped the ball on this one, diminishing the school's great reputation for a strong program. While an education there is still top notch, putting their stamp of approval on this one was not on par. There is nothing bold here, except that the book was published in the first place.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com