To be an effective leader a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards

People have different opinions when it comes to answering the most important virtue that a leader should possess. Some might present that leadership is the primary one, while others might say that probity is the most crucial aspect. Regarding this issue, the given prompt contends that a public official must keep up with the highest ethical and moral standards in order to become an effective leader. However, I mostly disagree with this position for two reasons that will be discussed below. Nevertheless, I do concede that maintaining those virtues may create a positive impression on the public.
First of all, a public official should focus on performance in resolving public issues, rather than on maintaining probity, in order to become a renowned and approbated leader. For instance, suppose that a public official is highly honest and has no scandals related to his or her moral turpitude, but he or she is not proficient in gathering people’s opinions and resolving complaints and concerns proposed by them. In this case, even if the official does have high morality, people would be less likely to support him or her due to his or her lack of capability to manage public affairs. On the other hand, even though a public official has some ethical issues in terms of having scuffles with others, if he or she can successfully cope with public issues and satisfy the public’s needs, he or she is much more likely to be approved and even adulated by the public than the official in the former case. This example shows that concentrating on keeping oneself up with the highest moral standards is not an effective means to become an effective leader. Rather, what matters the most to the public official is his or her ability to manage people’s opinions.
Secondly, besides the ineffectiveness of maintaining probity to become a great leader, it is impractical to sustain high ethics. Specifically, almost every leader who has been idolized and revered has some moral flaws. For instance, Gandhi, a famous Indian leader who proposed the non-violent movement to retrieve India’s independence from the United Kingdom, has been assessed by most people as one of the most ethical leaders in the world. However, historians found out that Gandhi was a pedophile and used to have a sexual relationship with a minor. Furthermore, George Washington, the first President of the United States and the former general in the Revolutionary War, owned a hundred African American slaves, which tarnishes his reputation as the greatest leader in American history. These examples present that it is nearly impossible to maintain the highest moral virtue in order to be an effective leader. Hence, rather than striving to maintain high moral standards, it is desirable to focus on other areas to gain more qualifications as a great leader.
Admittedly, maintaining high ethical standards can help public officials to gain credibility from the general public. For instance, consider public official A who always tells truth to the public and is totally detached from any criminal activities, and public official B who sometimes is dishonest to people but is not involved in crime. If people were to vote in the presidential election and must choose between these two candidates, they would be likely to vote for public official A for his honesty. In other words, people are prone to give credence to those who adhere to honesty, which increases the possibility of public official A becoming elected as the president. This example presents that adhering to the highest moral standards (in this case, honesty) may result in a desirable outcome.
In conclusion, I mostly believe that a public official does not have to sustain the highest moral and ethical standards in order to become an effective leader for the two reasons listed above. However, I do admit that maintaining the highest moral virtue may appeal to the general public in a way that can increase the credibility of the official.