Courage...or calculation?

Most organizations establish and publish mission, vision and values statements.  For some organizations these act as key communication tools.  They inform the public in general or their clients in particular about what can be expected from the organization, how services will be delivered, what things the organization will do and perhaps what the organization will not do.  In similar fashion, the mission, vision and values of an organization can be key guideposts for employees - here is why we exist, here is where we are headed and here is how we will act in achieving our mission and vision.

Some organizations put extraordinary time, effort and energy into the development of these statements.  The process of creation can take many months and engage all staff and a variety of external stakeholders.  The intent behind such significant efforts is to not simply communicate the organization's mission, vision and values but hopefully to create ownership of these statements particularly by the staff.  If done well, staff become great ambassadors for what the organization states it stands for.  In the best scenarios, staff become empowered to take corrective action to support outstanding service without referral to their immediate supervisor.  Everybody is on the same page, moving in the same direction.  Powerful stuff.

In the same way, individual leaders sometimes take the time to identify and voice their own commitment to a set of personal leadership values.  This is most often the case in senior leadership positions.  It's rare that one achieves such a position without having to articulate a response to the question "What's your leadership style?" or "What's your leadership philosophy?"  Over time, this leadership style, philosophy or set of leadership values is refined by experience and polished by circumstance.  But ultimately, most leaders stake their ground, identify what they stand for, and provide some indication of how they might be different from other leaders.  It's how we sell ourselves to the organization we hope to join.

If an organization has done its job right the recruitment process for a senior leader will ensure that there is a high congruence between the stated values of the organization and the stated values of the individual leader.  The recruitment process should test for this not only by asking a candidate what their leadership values are but should further validate the response by seeking out concrete examples and confirming statements through an objective reference process. 

All this effort is necessary but can it guarantee "success"?  Some leaders are quite articulate in the statement of their leadership values - as are some organizations.  But there are enough examples in the private and public sector to tell us that many a leader and organization can put on a good show before being "discovered" for their true selves.  All too often, when a leader is put to the test it becomes clear that the values that were espoused during the recruitment interview or touted in a public forum, organization website or marketing brochure were simply platitudes. 

In some cases perhaps there was sincerity on the part of the leader when these statements were first uttered.  However, when put to the test, the leader lacked the courage to stay true to their original commitments.  Maybe as time has gone, they have made compromise after compromise believing that each small decision point did not really mean all that much in the context of their overall values.  Perhaps as individual leaders have gotten closer to the end of their careers courage has started to take a back seat to calculations of pensionable service.  In the worst case, perhaps leaders were just saying what they thought people wanted to hear with no real intent on following through in the first place.  The goal was simply to get and keep a leadership position.

So as a current or developing leader, who perhaps like me has become more than a little jaded and cynical about leadership in large organizations, what do you do to keep up your enthusiasm for work and perhaps ensure that your own moral compass remains centred and pointing to your true north?

There are two key pieces of advice I would offer.  First, I suggest we all need to do some self-discovery.  If you have not taken the time in your career to articulate and write down your own personal vision and values then I believe you are going to be much more susceptible to being battered about by the storms of circumstance.  You are very likely to have feelings of anxiety and moral distress but won't be able to pin down the exact source of your frustration.  And I do believe it is critically important to put your work in writing!  We all need that rigour and those physical reminders down the road.  Many years ago, I took the time to develop and put to paper my own personal vision and values.  I've gone back to those statements a few times in my career and done some refining.  Overall though, I've been surprised as to how stable that vision and those values have been over time.  This exercise and the results have helped me focus on what's important for me in my career.  More importantly they have helped me properly position my work within the context of my life.  Each of us needs to be aware of our own personal guideposts.  Only in that way can you determine - for yourself - whether you are able to continue working for a particular organization. 

Second, when I've been in situations where my own personal values didn't mesh with that of the organization I worked with - but I had no other immediate options available to me - I tried to be true to myself and my leadership commitments by focusing on what I could control.  Certainly, I made efforts to influence my organization in a direction that I felt was appropriate to our stated values.  However, when I didn't get as much traction as I would have liked in that regard, I focused my attention on practicing my leadership values within my own sphere of influence.  Working from my own personal vision and values, I continued to work to be transparent with my direct reports and my portfolio, I continued to develop an environment in which open discussion and vigorous debate were encouraged, and I continued to work to coach and develop my staff.  Overall, I tried to treat them with the same level of respect that I would want for myself.  Overall, I tried to remain true to my stated vision and values.  You owe yourself and your staff no less.

There is no doubt that every day presents us with challenging circumstances and choices.  As a leader you are called upon to act with both courage and calculation in making decisions.  I encourage you to make the best choice possible based on a calculation of what keeps you most aligned with your values.  Have the courage to live your values.  Put your values into action and you will make a real difference - and likely be happier in your day-to-day work life too!
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.