The statement moral judgement is an important characteristic of an effective leader, it is not as important as a leader's ability to maintain the respect of his or her peers falls short in many areas as the most important quality a leader should possess sound judgment in social, economic, and cultural aspects before anything else.
Decision making skills are vital in changing the fate of the nation when a war is impending. President Roosevelt used his judgement skills in successfully averting the war between USA and Russia by holding talks with Russia instead of going for an all-out war. This decision can only be made by a leader with sound judgement.
When you consider the communal riots which happened in the state of Gujarat, India between two Hindus and Muslims, the chief minister of the state Mr Narendra Modi could have chosen a side and could have made the entire riot worse for a side leading to a huge loss of lives. Instead, he pacified the situation between both the communities by holding talks between them which resulted in a positive outcome for both parties. Moral decision making in the example seen above mitigated the loss in life and damage to property.
During times of economic crisis as well leaders need to take decisions which can not only improve the financial situation of the nation but also improve the employment rates for the public. During the stock market crisis of 2008, President George Bush took some sensational decisions to buy majority of the mortgages from the banks thereby improving the economic situation and which in turn improved the employment in years to come.
Although it is important for a leader to maintain the respect of his or her peers, it should not be the number one characteristic of an effective leader. In the parliament the president should defend his peers and uphold their respect when the opposition parties claim the ineffectiveness of the ministers of the ruling party. But this should not be the primary characteristic of a good leader as this will cloud his judgement skills if there arrives a situation where his peers have committed something wrong
Therefore, a good and effective leader should have moral judgement as the fundamental characteristic before anything else such as maintaining the respect of his peers.
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