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6-Story Newsletter Template + Images
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A Production of Character of Excellence, LLC |
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In This Issue:
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April 2005
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A Note from our
President
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Public Seminars and
Workshops
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From our Bookshelves
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Values at the Heart
of Leadership
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 How quickly can you list the 2-4 values that you hold so dear that you
will fight for them, leave an organization for them, and/or simply refuse to violate them?
Has it been a few minutes and you’re still thinking? In my experience, you’re in the majority.
Since I rarely teach leadership without first exploring values, I often give this task to leaders across the nation. I continue to be a little surprised, and disconcerted, to discover how few can easily list their core values.
Before I explain the reasons why I encourage all leaders to seriously consider this issue, let me first say that most of us hold a number of values, in addition to core values, that we consider to be quite important. However, there is “flex” in how tightly we hold to these values; they are what I call “negotiable values.” Honesty is often a good example. Many of us will say that we hold honesty as a strong value, but we remain flexible on how honest we are under certain conditions.
“Non-negotiable values” or core values, usually only 2-3 total, are different because we don’t allow much “flex” (as we personally define them). These are also the values that should most strongly drive our day-to-day decision making and behaviors. Values (particularly core values) should be visible through our actions. If you have ever violated a core value, you likely remember the aftermath . . . for many people that is feelings of extreme discomfort, regret and even guilt, which typically strengthens their commitment to their core values. At the heart of most wars are differences in, and a defense of, core values.
So, why bother with this exercise? In my experience there are a number of reasons, but I’ll just list three:
(1) Conscious core values give us guides for decision making, taking leadership roles, and accepting projects. They are also a “safety net” of sorts that may (assuming the core values held are also ethical) assist in preventing corporate “bad behavior” that may occur just because someone higher on the organizational chart gives a directive. Think Enron and WorldCom.
(2) A lack of attunement and practice of core values is often at the heart of burn out for many managers and leaders with whom I have worked.
(3) A decision to follow a leader is exactly that—a decision. Would you rather follow someone who is consistent in applying a set of values or erratic in their decision making and behaviors? (The issue of how important it is that you actually
agree
with the leader’s core values is a current topic of research.)
If you were able to easily identify your core values plus some additional negotiable values, I suggest that you take it to the next step. Can your team identify your values? Can your spouse? Your children? This is a wonderful way to find out how clearly your behaviors and decisions are visibly linked to your core values. I believe that you’ll also find a key link to effective leadership right here.
A final thought . . . I always suggest to leaders that they keep a deck of values cards on their desks. With a values card deck, you can ask someone to sort out his or her core and negotiable personal values (or team or organizational values, if that is more appropriate). It’s always fascinating to me how much clarity this process can bring to difficult decisions.
So, tell me in 10 seconds or less, what values are driving you??
Kerri S. Kearney
Partner and Senior Consultant
Decks of values cards
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In
Blink, Malcolm Gladwell, a former Washington Post science and business reporter, draws on neuroscience and psychology to examine the process of instantaneous and unconscious decision making.
“We really only trust conscious decision making. But there are moments, particularly in times of stress, when haste does not make waste, when our snap judgments and first impressions can offer a much better means of making sense of the world. The first task of
Blink
is to convince you of a simple fact: decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately . . . The second task is to answer the question, ‘When should we trust our instincts, and when should we be wary of them?’ . . . The third and most important task of
Blink
is to convince you that our snap judgments and first impressions can be educated and controlled (p. 14-15)”.
Thanks to Skip Centioli of HSBC, Portland, OR, for suggesting Blink.
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Hardcover, 288 pages
Little, Brown and Company, January 2005
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What if you could monitor the performance of your company much the way you monitor the performance of your car? Imagine the competitive edge gained if you were able to glance at a dashboard view of performance.
The Organizational Effectiveness Survey (OES) is based on the premise that an organization’s ability to integrate people, culture, and work dictates its success. But challenges in these areas can be difficult, and expensive, to diagnose. However, by converting raw employee satisfaction data into a green, yellow, and red light visual display, the OES efficiently reveals to leaders what is working in the organization, what needs to be monitored, and what needs immediate attention. Follow up “testing” every six months to a year allows all organizational leaders to continuously see where change is needed and participate in those changes. In this way, the OES helps to create organizational effectiveness through an engaged and accountable workforce.
It’s an approach that has been recently recommended by
Fortune
magazine to combat repeats of the recent failures in corporate America (May 2002). And by the experiences of Sears which, as reported in 1998 by
Harvard Business Review, included employee surveying in efforts that resulted in a 4% increase in both employee and customer satisfaction . . . “translating to more than $200 million in additional revenues” in 12 months.
Organizational Effectiveness Survey is a registered trademark of Performance Dashboard, Inc.
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This e-letter is a
quarterly production
of Character of
Excellence, LLC
(877-263-2761;
www.characterofexcellence.com).
It is disbursed only
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Although we hope you
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