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.
Values are sometimes the only thing that keeps the business going
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 founders which pull the business through.
The beliefs of the organisation are almost always the beliefs of the original leaders.
These beliefs are intangible. Think of Unilever's belief in cooperation, Mars’ belief in efficiency, IBM's belief in innovation, Hewlett-Packard's belief in ‘plain hard work’, Levi-Strauss's belief in empathy with its customers.
It is the great value placed on these beliefs that ensures these organisations survive their early days and go on to thrive.
Know, live, preserve the values
As the years go by and the organisation changes its technology, products and leaders, there is a danger that it may abandon its founding principles, relegate them in importance or simply forget them. To do so is to risk corporate suicide.
If original values have to change – often a difficult step – then they must be replaced by values just 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.
Author and leadership expert 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. Taking 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 uphold. As a result, the contract stayed in his pocket.
Values are not just important for the organisation; they are the touchstone that determines whether people succeed in it. When the chips are down, what matters is that people stay true to the organisation’s values.
