[Vnbiz] Leadership -- A little more on Honesty

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear Brother Phong & Sis Huong & CACC,

Of course, system does have a big role in forming people behavior.  In a
system of transparency and check & balance, leaders tend to make less
serious mistakes.  But that is another subject all together.

Assuming that we have one system already, say, the American system, or the
AT&T system, or the Sony system, different persons with different talents
and characters still perform differently.  Some leader at Sony will
succeed.  Some other leader will fail.  That is where individual training of
leadership comes to be a crucial part.  The system is just a building.
People who live in that building can be robber or honest guy, can be stupid
or brilliant.

Another correction, brother Phong.  Lawyers are governed by a very strict
code of ethics.  Lawyers have to be both legal and ethical.  Winning a case
that lets the guilty (assuming that he is really guilty) go free ultimately
is the weakness of the system (or of the government prosecution).  That is
not because the lawyer is unthethical.  Same thing when the innocent is
found guilty by mistake.  Usually that is because of the imperfection in a
human system, not really the lawyer's false.

For Huong, your make very good points, sister.  About generals who win by
brilliancy and not by shooting  First, I don't say that general should not
shoot in war.  But if you are brilliant, chances are you will win the war
with less shooting (than some other generals) and sometimes you may not have
to shoot at all.  Sun Tzu (Ton Tu), generally considered both in the East
and in the West as the greatest strategist of all time, said: "The best way
to fight a war is not to fight at all."  He means, if you can win the war by
some other way, like talking, or negotiating, or scaring your opponent to go
away, that is a superb strategy and superb general.

Some may not agree with this assessment because it is of recent history (and
therefore may be disputed by some), but many people said that Reagan had a
lot to do with the
collapse of the Soviet Union by his staunch in dealing with Russia and by
his plan of Star War defense (which was very controversial at the time) that
forced Soviet Union to focus so much on military spending that its economy
simply collapsed.  (If some of you dispute this, I will not argue, because
frankly I don't know all the details to make an argument.  I just cite a
general assessment mentioned often on the press).

You can also see in international politics today the stick and carrot
negotiation --  sometimes threatening war but negotiating for a good deal
instead of using military force.

Lawyer do that every day in court.  We threaten each other with all kinds of
craps, but usually we negotiate a deal that makes everyone happy.  Good
(brilliant) lawyers maneuver much better and usually get better deal.

There are many ways to win a war, the brilliant way always costs less lives
and blood.  Dong CHau Liet Quoc is a treasure of good and bad war
strategies.  Tam Quoc Chi also.

Great day, brother Phong, sister Huong and all.

Hoanh

On 7/27/07, Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
>
> I am not referring to different types of generals/lawyers/doctors, but
> different types of situations that different kinds of leaders (a wartime
> leader may be a general and a poet), a peacetime leader may be an economist
> and a poet).
> An important part of the "parameters" is the systems.  The system will
> determine characteristics that will make a successful leaders.
> In an adversarial system, a lawyer can do everything that is legal,
> whether or nor ethical or morally acceptable, to defend his client.  Is it
> morally acceptable and/or ethical to help free someone you know is guilty of
> the crime? (That's why lawyers sometimes get such a bad rap.)
> Can a military leader who refuses to engage in strategic subtefuge agaisnt
> his adversary (that's lying isn't it?) and looses the battle be consider a
> good leader?
> Jesus, who's been dead for more than 50 years and is historically
> considered by many as the greatest leader that ever lived, would not have
> sacrificed the sailors in the engine room fire, neither would have Bhudda.
>  If you tried to trick him up, as his contemporary religious authorities
> apparently did, he would  and did tell them that they were using the wrong
> parameters:  his kingdom is not of this world.
> The American founding fathers were wise enough to create a system of
> checks and balance that does not vest power in individual leaders, they also
> created the doctrine of separation of church and state to, among other
> things, help prevent those who would claim the right  to rule by virtue of
> being virtuous, and there by imposing their religious value system on
> everybody else.  We can say they created a good system that allows for the
> relatively just rule of law, and that is not totally dependent  on having
> great leaders.  Rather, the system allows for reasonable and good people to
> prevail, depending on the situation.  And if the people who rose to power
> should prove wrong for the job, they can be replaced with the least amount
> of disruption possible to the country.
> If my environment is under a current system like Vietnam's, and I insist
> on being clean/uncorrupted (as many faithful communist cadres) I would never
> make it to a leadership position.  The remaining option is to change  the
> system to one where the "fair and honest can repair".
> HPP
>
>
>
>
>   *"Tran Dinh Hoanh" <tdhoanh at gmail.com>*
> Sent by: vnbiz-bounces at mail.saigon.com
>
> 07/27/2007 04:18 PM   Please respond to
> vnbiz at vietlinks.net
>
>    To
> vnbiz at vietlinks.net  cc
>   Subject
> Re: [Vnbiz] Leadership -- A little more on Honesty
>
>
>
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
> Dear Brother Phong & CACC,
>
> Good point about different types of leader.  But there are different types
> of lawyers, different types of doctors, different types of teachers,
> different types of military generals, different types of painters.
>
> In any profession, there is a set of general attributes for people in that
> profession.  Then each specific job may require some additional attributes.
>  Say, the code of ethics for lawyers is a general code for all, even though
> different types of lawyers face so many different types of situation, and
> may have an additional set of guidance.  Same thingm, code of ehics for
> doctors, code of business ethics.  (I use code of ethics as example, because
> code of ethics is a big part in measuring success in the profession.  say,
> you can't be a leader in the legal profession if you are known as
> unethical).
>
> I am saying that there is a set of attributes that help (morally) good
> leaders succeed.  Of course, I am not working on producing unethical leaders
> of the mafia type.   And I assume that everyone here is of the same
> thinking.  If not, please let me know.  There are people who win a war by
> horrendous killing, and there are generals who win a war by brain,
> compassion and little killing.  I am thinking about the latter type.  If
> that is what brother Phong called "parameters" then that is my parameters.
>
> "Making money" may be a good kind of result to measure leader's success.
>  But I would contend that we are aiming at producing leaders that make money
> honestly and ethically, versus making money the mafia style.  The result by
> itself is not enough of a measurement.  It is the result and the method
> together.  At the minimum, the method has to be ethical (however we define
> "ethical," which again may differ sometimes).
>
> About leaders who lie and cheat, of course they can be "successful,"
> depending on what you define as "success" for yourself.  But there are lots
> of them in Vietnam already, if you have followed the press lately, with all
> kinds of government prosecution.  Why does anyone want us to waste our time
> trying to produce "leaders" of that type?  Or even allowing a promotion for
> that kind of leader in this forum?
>
> The kind of leader I am aiming at producing is the leader who wins by
> "being brilliant and ethical."  I thought I am very clear on this point, but
> if I have not been clear, I hope this message makes it clear.
>
> Thanks, brother Phong.  Great day, everyone.
>
> Hoanh
>
> On 7/27/07, *Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov* <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov> <*Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov
> * <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov>> wrote:
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
>
> This is an interesting but time consuming exercise that will not result in
> a final list that is universally agreeable to everyone.
> However, there is still value in discussing, if reaching a single final
> list is not a goal.
> I have observed a couple of things.
> 1.  This discussion on leadership qualities did not establish necessary
> parameters.
> Instead of qualities/attributes for all leaders, it may be necessary to
> define the specific type of leadership/situation.
> War-time leader vs. peace-time leaders?  Religious leaders vs. secular
> leaders.
> 2.  It is impossible to have a perfect leader with all the "good"
> attributes and no faults.
> A leader should be judged on whether and how he accomplished his mission.
>  I use the "and"  rather than the "but" test.
> Ex.  He improved women's right according to his campaign pledge,* and* he
> was unfaithful to his wife = he was a good leader. vs.
> He improved women's right according to his campaign pledge, *but *he was
> unfaithful to his wife = he was a bad leader.
> HPP
>
>
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> Washington DC _______________________________________________
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-- 
Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
Washington DC
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