‘We need leaders who are more than figureheads and the ones who take the hits. Leadership is not a thing but a process – that is how we have defined it – that we must coordinate and steer.’ Nigel Nicolson, The ‘I’ of Leadership
Leadership is a process in which you make decisions that affect other people. Our personal way of making decisions influences how we make decisions as a team. This, in turn, determines the shape of the organization. Whether this process becomes worthwhile depends on the values we pursue and whether we remain true to them.
Choose your values that work
‘…it is no great achievement to list values. It is much harder to live by them, especially when those values are not clearly related to one another.’ – John Pepper, What Really Matters
Sometimes it seems as if our values are ideals that do not necessarily influence the decisions we make. One of the pitfalls is a long list of values that are, moreover, not in order of priority. Such a list is difficult to use as a guideline in your daily decision-making. Furthermore, many of the values compete with each other.
Another pitfall is that the values on your list have nothing to do with business reality. Under the influence of critical shareholders, it is then very difficult to remain true to those values.
Therefore, the most important thing you can do as a leader is to select one or two values that resonate with you and then act accordingly. It is important that these values offer the organization a clear advantage over competitors.
Live your story
‘An important foundation for leadership is for leaders to start living their own story.’ Stephen Dennin, The Secret Language of Leadership
Leaders must focus on their own story until ‘it becomes a part of them, their own identity,’ according to Stephen Fenning. When under pressure, that story reminds them of what is important to them. If we lack a story that supports our values, they turn into empty mantras during adversity or a crisis. During the leadership process, the question ‘Why am I doing this again?’ constantly arises. That is why you need a story, because without a story, there is no answer.
In *Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins *, Annette Simmons describes all stories as ‘values in action.’ From the stories that leaders spread and colleagues tell among themselves, you can read an organization’s priorities. In *Creativity Inc.* , Ed Catmull writes about the executives at Pixar. They were accustomed to telling stories about the close link between failure and creativity. When he complimented the team on the trouble-free production process behind *Toy Story 3* , they were offended. The stories we tell will be the real mantra that sticks.
Values above target
‘We often spend so much time solving problems that come our way every day that we have a vague or even incorrect picture of what is truly important to us.’ Peter Senge
What role do our values play on a daily basis? If we feel that we have to put out fires before we can work on our values, then we are in a survival mindset. Even though we may feel that we are achieving something this way, such as meeting deadlines and quarterly targets, we run the risk that values no longer matter. Consequently, rarely is anything remarkable achieved this way. And that is why this is the point to take a step back and re-evaluate ourselves.
Staying true to your values keeps you goal-oriented. If you have a sense of meaning behind everything you do, it helps you solve problems with much more energy and confidence than when you are merely trying to survive. It is much better to hit the pause button now than the delete button later. If we do not align our values with daily practice, our organization certainly will not.
If you have to choose…
‘The history of our organization is a combination of noble ideals that have never been fully fulfilled, but have always been sought; and when we lose track for whatever reason, they are sought again with renewed energy.’ John Pepper, What Really Matters
We will never fulfil our values perfectly. Living in harmony with your values is a process that requires you to constantly look within yourself and work hard at it. If you do not look within, you run the risk of letting go of your values and ending up in an existential crisis. If you do not work on your values, you risk losing the connection with daily reality, and instead of an existential crisis, you get one of duality.
While we must first focus on working with our values on a personal level before applying them on a structural level, there is a limit to what we can achieve in an organization if it is fundamentally at odds with our values. According to Stephen Denning, we sometimes have to choose between a career and being a true leader. If a promotion is worth more than staying true to our core values, we end up with a nice job title but little meaning behind it. But if we remain true to our values, we might well set in motion change that goes beyond what we expected.
Would you like information on how staying true to your values helps you as a leader? Contact us and discover how we can help you.
By Charles Brook, Managing Partner
