How Did Ronald Reagan Use Ethical Leadership

Ronald Reagan

You arrive at your next duty station and observe that Airmen are cutting corners to accomplish tasks and morale is the lowest you have ever witnessed. The Airmen look for your leadership to make things better. To be successful in times like these, leaders must exhibit both visionary and ethical leadership. Ronald Reagan personified visionary and ethical leadership during his tenure as the 40th President of the United States. His application of visionary and ethical leadership principles are relevant to me as I seek to develop and to guide future Air Force leaders.

Visionary Leader

In concert with other visionary leadership principles, Reagan’s deft use of developing and communicating vision demonstrated he was a visionary leader.

Reagan (1990) recalls learning of a way to free the hostages by working with Israelis and moderate Iranians. His staff disagreed with the plan fearing that if it was leaked, the decision might be misinterpreted (p. 512). Again, Reagan had a choice to make. Would he fall into the ethical trap of “worry over image” by caring more about his political career, or would he do everything he could within the law to ensure the safe return of the American hostages (BCEE, 2014b, p. 6; Reagan, 1990)? Using the ethical leadership principle of “Toner’s Consequence Test,” Reagan concluded that the end justified the means (BCEE, 2014b, p. 6). Ultimately, his decision did not result in the release of the hostages, and the actions taken as a result of his decision would be referred to as the Iran-Contra scandal. Ethical decisions do not always end with external victory or success. Reagan was an ethical leader, who utilized intellectual empathy, accountability, Toner’s consequence test, and was determined not to fall into the ethical trap of worry over

This vision must resonate with team members. I consider this a weakness because the visions I develop do not always pass the four-part litmus test. Typically visions I create are missing team buy-in. To prevent this, I need to involve team members in the vision creation process. Additionally, I must explain the challenges of today and the vision must focus the team’s eyes towards a brighter future. Furthermore, the vision must be achievable and draw team members in with feelings of belonging and excitement. Finally, I must apply critical thinking skills to ensure the vision is clear, precise, relevant, logical, and well articulated. (BCEE,