Marines learn thirteen leadership traits at boot camp. I stress two—integrity and loyalty—during initial counseling sessions with junior Marines. These two qualities are my expectations. Integrity means they will be honest with themselves and me. Loyalty entails faithfulness to the organization, and their seniors, peers, and subordinates. The most challenging ethical issues I am likely to face are those that arise at the juncture of integrity and loyalty. How, for example, should I handle a situation in which a supervisor, peer, or subordinate I admire compromises his or her integrity?

My upbringing blessed me with a strong moral compass, but knowing “right” and “wrong” is insufficient for handling ethical issues with complex, unpredictable repercussions. The best preparation for ethical challenges is to study historical cases and reflect on one’s own experience. I’m seeking opportunities for the former, which is one reason I’m applying to business school. Nevertheless, I’ve learned from my own experience. One event’s impact was particularly profound.

John, an orphan who excelled at soccer, became Carolina For Kibera’s (CFK) youth coordinator in 2001. He was responsible for the CFK sports association and its two thousand members. Wanting to advance his education, John took the SAT and scored a 1,090. I helped him assemble undergraduate applications and secured funding from two of CFK’s most committed donors. John was accepted to UNC-Chapel Hill. It wasn’t until the U.S. Embassy scrutinized his records that we learned his transcript had been fabricated.

Although John compromised his integrity, I felt loyalty to him as his supervisor and friend. I considered allowing John to return to CFK. I consulted our Kenyan leadership. We discussed the impact on other Kibera youth aspiring to attain a college education. John’s loss was not only his; it was the organization’s. It affected not only an individual but a community—how we handled it would define CFK’s ethos.

We decided to remove John from CFK and reevaluated the core values of our organization, eventually creating a Fair Play Code. I called the donors and explained what happened. We responded appropriately, but my enthusiasm for John to succeed had encouraged his actions. His case reinforces the responsibility of leaders to establish and maintain standards of integrity and loyalty, and John is always in the back of my mind when I conduct initial counseling sessions with junior Marines.

Analysis

This essay stands out for the way the author instantly engages the reader with an interesting ethical juxtaposition and later reveals his personal struggle to find compromise when two of his most important values—loyalty and integrity—end up at odds. Rye’s first paragraph is effective because it quickly and clearly conveys this issue. The subsequent example is compelling in and of itself, but more importantly, it helps the reader further understand the scope of the dilemma and why Rye considers it to be so challenging.

Rye seems to have grown so close to his mentee that he did not want to believe this failure of integrity, a subtle element of the story that gives the reader a sense of the powerful emotions racing through the author’s mind. After considering the implications on others in the organization, Rye decided to prioritize integrity over loyalty, coming full circle with the juxtaposition posed earlier in the essay. In doing so, he shows a deep awareness of the consequences of his decision on the broader mission of his organization. Despite the loyalty he feels toward his mentee, Rye conveys an ability to step back and analyze his alternatives rationally and objectively. He thereby demonstrates immense personal maturity by distancing himself from his emotions while considering the long-term implications of his actions.

Toward the end of the essay, Rye wavers a bit. The uneasy tone indicates that he may not be entirely certain that he made the right decision. In the realm of ethics, reasonable people will disagree, and errors will be made. If there is anything that Rye could have done to improve his essay, however, it would be to provide a more detailed evaluation of the pros and cons of giving John another chance versus using him as an example for others at CFK. Either way, the essay leaves the reader with the impression that Rye is a strong mentor and friend but also an effective leader who recognizes the impact his decisions have on those around him.

From 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays edited by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson. Copyright (c) 2009 by the authors and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group