Translated from Chinese, all Chinese text is translated into English, except for the carriage return line break which remains unchanged: Manager's Translation Series -- The Moral Capital of Leaders

Author: (Spanish) Alejo José G. Cisneros
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: The best strategy for managing moral capital is to pursue a virtuous lifestyle. We all owe gratitude to Professor Cisneros for giving us a higher-level understanding of the market where capital or property rights are traded daily. He transcends the low-level definition of property rights through laws and regulatory provisions, elevating the issue to the philosophical realm of seeking interpretations of morality or values. As Professor Cisneros states, in business, finance, and the socio-economic sphere, moral capital is not only desirable but also the fundamental basis of all reasonable and lawful endeavors. – Jeremy Grantham, Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission
A healthy ethical and moral standard in society is the adhesive that stabilizes the society and energizes the economic system. – 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics laureate, American economist Douglass North
Leadership lies in cultivating the virtuous behavior of followers through the virtuous actions of the leader. Action is the base currency of moral capital, habit is the compound interest of moral capital, and character is the investment stock of moral capital. The best strategy for managing moral capital is to invest in a virtuous lifestyle. – Renowned leadership behaviorist, Professor Alejo José G. Cisneros of the University of Navarra
An outstanding corporate leader, in addition to bearing significant economic and political responsibilities, must also shoulder corresponding social and environmental responsibilities. They should not sacrifice law and ethics to pursue profits at the expense of stakeholders, which is actually in line with the moral principle of "selfless benefit" in Pareto's optimal state theory. – Research Fellow, China Enterprise Association and China Entrepreneurs Association, Jin Siyu, a renowned corporate culture expert
The very first thing everyone at GE does upon joining is undergo integrity training. Our integrity is unwavering and absolutely consistent globally. As a CEO, the most important thing is to cultivate leaders, to cultivate people. If you can cultivate leaders who act according to your values, then your purpose is achieved. – Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric Company
Moral capital refers to outstanding character or the possession and practice of virtues deemed suitable for humans in a specific socio-cultural context. Moral capital is built through actions, habits, character, and lifestyle. Individuals with rich moral capital, i.e., those with high-level corporate governance or companies renowned for professionalism and excellence, will attract more investors and achieve greater returns. In this highly insightful and engaging work, the author explains why leaders, even with social capital and knowledge capital, fail to achieve significant success if they and their subordinates lack moral capital. The author aims to introduce the concept of moral capital into how we examine leadership. Although the author's focus is primarily on businesses, the information and arguments he provides are equally applicable to leadership issues in other fields.