IAH leadership director speaks on moral courage

Chapel Hill, N.C. – Ethical action is never easy, but it can be practiced and taught, Kim Strom-Gottfried, associate director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities (IAH) Academic Leadership Program, told faculty during a Jan. 24 presentation.

Strom-Gottfried spoke on “Leadership and Moral Courage” as part of the Academic Leadership Program’s annual conference for Fellows of the Leadership Program and invited guests.

In her research on ethics, Strom-Gottfried, Smith P. Theimann Jr. Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Professional Practice at UNC’s School of Social Work, has interviewed several figures who’ve chosen moral action despite obstacles. She encouraged the audience to resist barriers to action, including discomfort, socialization and the perceptions that efforts are futile.

Speaking up against even small instances of wrongdoing can make a difference, she says.

“Few of us would find it easy to say, ‘I’m uncomfortable with that’ after one colleague treats another disrespectfully or a board member makes a racially offensive joke,” says Strom-Gottfried. “Yet these daily acts of courage help us train for the big event, the time when acquiescence is not an option. Ethical action is not easy but it can be practiced, it can be taught and it can be reinforced when we see it in others.”

Strom-Gottfried encouraged those present to use several tools that can help them exercise moral courage, such as cultivating mentors who can serve as a confidence and moral compass. “We’re fortunate as leadership Fellows to have the shared history and knowledge base, created in the seminars, that can continue to sustain us as our roles and responsibilities evolve,” she said.

A panel response and general discussion following her remarks featured Leadership Program Advisory Board members Chris Bogan, CEO of Best Practices LLC, and Dick Kohn, professor of History, and current-year leadership program Fellow Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, professor of Health Policy and Administration in the UNC School of Public Health.

The Academic Leadership Program (ALP) helps prepare and support the next generation of academic leaders through a range of activities that help Fellows develop leadership skills, clarify their career commitments, build a leadership network within the campus and extend their contacts to other leaders beyond the university.

The ALP is one of many program offered by the IAH, part of the College of Arts and Sciences, that are designed to support UNC faculty at every stage of their careers. The IAH funds individual and collaborative research, showcases faculty work, develops faculty leaders and teachers, and facilitates the formation of collaborative, interdisciplinary communities that promote intellectual exchange. For more information, visit www.iah.unc.edu.