Currently, 19% of people completing the MoralDNA™ profile are Teachers. First of all, if you’ve taken the test and received the Teacher profile this certainly does not mean you should start teaching language and maths to other people’s children! What it does mean is that your primary concern is the Ethic of Care. This suggests your decision-making is based predominantly on emotional intelligence or empathy.

For you, moral dilemmas and tough decisions arise when there are no nice alternatives or clever solutions. Something will have to be sacrificed. Your primary concern is to not harm other people, which is, of course, generally a good thing.

Your next concern will be the Ethic of Obedience to “rules”.  That means you will try to not break the law or rules and regulations that may tell us what we must or must not do.

Your final concern is the Ethic of Reason – how your decision will resonate with the “rational” moral values and principles such as fairness, wisdom and self-control. In other words the spirit of the law.

Given the order of these preferences, we would suggest you stop and think twice about the Ethic of Reason and how a more objective and rational approach to decision-making might help you take a more balanced approach.

I hope you’ve also read the small print in your report which mentions how accurate this characterization is. This accuracy  is calculated on how different your preferences are for the three ethics of Care, Obedience and Reason. The bigger the differences, the more accurate this characterization is. If in your case there aren’t big differences, then read this with caution!

:: MoralDNA ::

What makes a bad boss bad? Most people find the following personal, moral qualities to be lacking:

• 52% are described as Arrogant (i.e. lacking in Humility and Love),
• 50% as Manipulative (lacking in Fairness and Love),
• 49% Emotionally Volatile (lacking in Self Control),
• 48% Micromanaging (lacking in Trust),
• 44% Passive Aggressive (lacking in Honesty), and
• 42% Distrustful of Others (again lacking in Trust).

What makes a good boss great? Surprise, surprise! Personal moral qualities rule again:

• 81% Trustworthy (Trust)
• 64% Calm under Pressure (Self Control)
• 63% Responsible (Trust)
• 59% Inspirational (a mixture of Hope and Wisdom is needed for that)
• 48% Good at Business Strategy (Excellence)
• 47% Tactful (a specific type of Care for others)

So make no mistake, leadership qualities are human, moral qualities.  If you want to develop leaders, you need to develop morally mature and responsible people. Intellect is good, but moral character makes all the difference.

:: MoralDNA ::

In case you have just arrived at this post from outer space, visit www.moraldna.org and do the questionnaire and get your report (it’s free). Don’t worry, I will wait. Trust me, you will learn some things about yourself.

There is one word of warning however! I am one of the two designers of this questionnaire and a psychologist, so it is more than evident that I was not unaware of how I was responding, even if it has been quite a long time since we selected these questions. But the purpose is not to describe me, but to help you read your own profile.

Before we start please: download and view my profile. I will be referring to this in the next few lines.

Personal Type

The first thing anyone sees, is their type. So let’s start with this, I am an Angel it says. Nice! Give me wings! I want to fly! Not so fast, cowboy. I could be any other type as well it says beneath. What does it mean? It means that my scores are not so different.

Personal Ethics

Let’s have a look at the ethics in my personal life (page 4): Obedience 6, Care 6, Reason 6. So, some very minor differentiations made me “an Angel”. Bear in mind these minor differentiations are within the statistical error one would expect from such a measurement.

:: MoralDNA ::

“Doing the right thing” is a phrase we hear constantly in the media, from politicians to pundits to business leaders. It’s a phrase that helps justify our reactions to the challenges that test us in the face of economic, social and environmental meltdown. Why do many people feel angry about “excessive” executive pay at a time when millions of ordinary people are losing their jobs and their homes? Why do we also feel empathy for those facing earthquakes and famines? Why is it we sustain strong relationships with family and friends?

The 2012 version is based on 4 years’ development and user feedback from over 50,000 English speakers in over 200 countries. It is also based on the work we do with some of the world’s leading corporations, some accused daily of doing the wrong thing; but all of them with leaders who know and understand the changes in values, decisions and behaviours they must make in order to do the right thing.

When you complete your profile, you will receive a PDF report that describes your character type. This could be Philosopher, Judge, Angel, Teacher, Enforcer or Guardian. You will see how you score against the average for human beings on three scales that measure how we prefer to do the right thing, both at work, and in our personal lives. You will also see how you compare with others on 10 moral values including Love, Fairness and Wisdom.

This public version of MoralDNA™ is FREE for personal use and for education purposes. It’s purpose is to explore human nature for the benefit of all. We are already seeing some amazing insights into differences by age, gender, nationality, politics, religion and our work. So please complete the questionnaire, share it with your family; friends and colleagues; and subscribe to this blog for weekly updates on who we are and how we decide what’s right!

Roger Steare

:: MoralDNA ::