Managing to Make a Difference

Chapter 58Exert Moral Authority

Managing to make a difference involves creating a culture that encourages people to become their best selves. As a manager, there are a number of ways you can help employees pursue this noble goal. You can recognize and reward people for exemplary behavior. You can punish people for unacceptable behavior. But the most powerful strategy is to exert moral authority.

The Surgeon General

Dr. C. Everett Koop was an American hero. Among his numerous accomplishments, as Surgeon General of the United States, he issued eight reports about the dangers of smoking and required tobacco companies to print health warnings on cigarette packages. We take these things for granted today, but at the time, his courageous stance was revolutionary and controversial.

During the early days of his antismoking campaign, he appeared on the Tonight Show, and Johnny Carson asked the following question: “When you arrive at a party, when you walk in the door, do people quickly put out their cigarettes?” Smiling, he replied, “Yes, they do.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is moral authority. It does not arise from power or title. When a manager exerts moral authority, people behave better in his or her presence. And they do so not because they fear punishment or seek reward. They do so simply because the manager's mere presence inspires them.

Moral authority includes integrity, but it is much more. One can act with integrity, but not be kind. One can be scrupulously honest, ...