In leadership, integrity trumps everything. With politicians in the 21st century, integrity has been a rare commodity. It is therefore refreshing when a political leader stops thinking about power, re-election or ideology and simply does the right thing. That is precisely what South Korean Premier Chung Hon-won did today. Unsolicited, he fell on his sword, taking full responsibility for last week’s ferry disaster that killed at least 200 people. He said the following:

“On behalf of the government, I apologise for many problems from the prevention of the accident to the early handling of the disaster.”

He added: “There have been so many varieties of irregularities that have continued in every corner of our society and practices that have gone wrong. I hope these deep-rooted evils get corrected this time and this kind of accident never happens again.”

Leaders like Mr Chung set a salutary example. To lead is to be accountable to those who by their grace, allow you to occupy the position. This is as true for CEO’s as it is for politicians or anyone else who sits on top of any hierarchy. In the end, as a leader, you need to hold yourself accountable and to be able to rest easy. Mr Chung could not. He may have made mistakes, but at least he leaves his post with honour.