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The Value of Values
One of the toughest jobs a leader has to perform is to act as
guardian of an organisation's values.
An organisation's values are the things that are really
important to it.
In the early days of an enterprise, the values are sometimes the
only thing that keeps the business going. When other factors
make the chances of survival doubtful, such as funds, markets,
and technology, it is the set of beliefs held by the original
founders which pull the business through. The beliefs of the
organization are almost always the beliefs of the original
leaders.
These beliefs are intangible. Think of Unilever's belief in
co-operation, or Mars's belief in efficiency, or IBM's belief in
innovation, or Hewlett-Packard's belief in "plain hard work", or
Levi-Strauss's belief in empathy with its customers. It is the
high value placed on these beliefs that ensure these
organizations survive in the first place and continue to survive.
As the years go by, and the organization changes its technology,
its products and its leaders, there is a danger that it may
abandon its original set of beliefs or relegate them in
importance or forget them. To do so is to risk corporate
suicide. If original values have to change - often a difficult
step - then new values must replace them and be as meaningful,
relevant and important as the original ones.
As custodians of the organisation's values, leaders have to know
the values, live the values, and preserve the values. John
Maxwell tells the story of how John Wooden, head basketball
coach at the University of California, put values before
expediency. Wooden had spotted an outstanding young basketball
player whose skills would be an asset to his line-up. Everyone
urged him to sign the youth. But Wooden was unsure. Something in
the young man's demeanour bothered him. So he arranged a home
visit, with the contract all prepared in his inside pocket. When
he took tea with the family, he couldn't help noticing a
disrespectfulness in the youth's attitude towards his mother.
One of the key values in Wooden's team was respect. And it was a
value he intended to maintain. As a result, the contract stayed
in his pocket.
Values are not just important for the organization. They are the
touchstone that determines whether people succeed in the
organization. When the chips are down, it's not what you do that
counts,
but whether you stay true to the values. As Christel
Brown says, "People do things because of their values. People
rob banks because their values include greed, more money and
maybe recognition. People die on the battlefield because their
values include love of their country and patriotism." Values are
the ultimate people motivators. In organizations where values
matter, people may be dismissed for violating the rules; they
should always be dismissed for violating the values.
John Maxwell says that values are at the heart of everything an
organization does, hence the use of the phrase "core values".
"Values are like glue. They hold an organization together.
Values are like a ruler. They set the standard for a team's
performance. Values are like a compass. They give direction and
guidance. Values are like a magnet. They attract like-minded
people. Values provide identity. They define and identify the
team."
One last example. Few people today have heard of Phil Knight,
Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine. But these three were the
driving force and inspiration that created Nike, the footwear
and clothing colossus. And what drove them? A passionate belief
that things could be done. The stories of Bowerman's endless
experiments with the family waffle iron into which he poured
rubber to create the best running shoe sole are legendary. So
are Prefontaine's battles to make running a professional sport.
Today, Nike actually employs executives as "corporate
storytellers" to remind their staff of the values of the
original founders and that their business is about getting
things done.
In business, as in life, beliefs can move mountains. Without
belief, without a positive set of beliefs, and without action to
act on these beliefs, we achieve nothing. Our beliefs and values
drive us and our businesses. As Alvin Toffler says, "Every
business has a belief system and it is at least as important as
its accounting system or its authority system."
About the author:
© Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com
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