While Mission is the “reason for being” of a firm, the organization’s clearly stated Values are supposed to define critical behaviors, offer context for decision-making and generally serve as bedrock for defining culture. And like Mission descriptions, the Values are often collections of lofty thoughts that are so far removed from the minds and actions of employees as to be nearly useless.
Organizations and individuals march forward when they have a clear goal and sight and are driven by some deep collective conviction that when successful, the world will be a better place, that they will be better professionals and that their positions and as a result, their families will be secure. The earlier that a leader understands that creating “constancy of purpose” is a core task, the faster they are on their way to truly fulfilling their obligation and responsibility as a leader.
I reflected on the Basic Business Principles as the values are known at Matsushita, when I co-authored the Values for a future employer, and I reflect and draw upon them regularly as I teach sections on Values-Focused Leadership in workshops and classrooms. A typical session will end with a majority of participants highlighting how they never understood until now how powerful the corporate values could be in strengthening their culture, driving performance and guiding behavior. This is a valuable lesson to learn for all of us.
Jump-starting a leadership development activity does not require a tremendous investment in program development, outside consultants or big company meetings. Sometimes the best results come from simple approaches, and anything that gets people talking about the right issues can serve as a starting-point. The key point is for you to do something. Any or all of these three simple ideas can get you started.
"Jane" is a senior leader exerting broad influence on an organization, while sitting smack in the middle of the organization chart. She's a testament to the power of maintaining the right attitude on all fronts, and she clearly has learned several of the most valuable lessons of leadership: select great people, deal with them openly and honestly, provide opportunities and challenges and let them do what they do best.
Bob is leaving behind the business that he helped start and grow and save and grow and sell and sell again, and no one in BIGCO cares. Frankly, no one in the upper ranks even knows that he exists. The dirty little secret: he's just another faceless number on a spreadsheet and his departure will improve the expense to revenue ratio, and solve an annoying compensation problem in this now remote outpost of BIGCO. Bob is in the prime of his career, an expert and one of the last shreds of the soul of a great business. Bob is relieved to be moving on, but to BIGCO, it's not even noticeable. Good for Bob. There's more.
"The only way that you will succeed on my team is if you are married to the job!" "The reason that I am not in any family vacation pictures is because I'm on the phone. If I'm in the picture, I have a blackberry stuck to my ear." Yeesh. What a jerk! The quotes speak volumes about this individual's leadership style, priorities and character. A "my way or the highway" approach, coupled with an "I will succeed on the backs of your labor and you will help me succeed or else," philosophy. It also speaks volumes about the culture in the organization that tolerates this leader's style.
I don't know too many Sales Managers that relish the opportunity to conduct performance reviews with their Reps. In fact, come to think about it, I don't know too many Sales Managers that actually conduct performance reviews with their Reps. Unless you count the token compliance that a few accommodate through a "half-hearted, fill out the form to get HR off my back" approach that some Managers confess to employing. That's too bad, because all parties involved are missing out on valuable conversations that can contribute to the growth of the business, the strengthening of the sales bench and the development of sales superstars.
The question of the moment is how do you deal with your own mistakes? Are you a leader that works hard to distance yourself from your mistakes or those of your team members, or do you embrace mistakes as learning experiences and place them in full view? How you deal with mistakes says a lot about your character as a leader.
