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October 10, 2002

By:
Gregory L. Selker

The process of discovering a company’s values-based framework of leadership can be undertaken with or without professional facilitation. It can lean towards more formality, or be as simple as beginning and nurturing an inquiry within an organization. Over time, this inquiry can develop more structure as people become engaged. The bottom line is when given the opportunity people will talk about their vision of ideal principled behavior. In fact, they already have opinions on where the organization falls short of these ideals and they are talking about it. For the most part, however, this conversation is covert within an organization. It is actually part of a continual destructive cycle that follows a typical pattern. The way it manifests follows:

Someone takes an action that is inconsistent with another’s leadership-ideals. This “inconsistent” behavior is typically ignored within the organization. As it is ignored, the people who experience this behavior as inconsistent with their leadership-values talk with each other about the “inconsistent” behavior. This conversation creates an underlying buzz throughout the organization and over time, becomes embedded in the fabric of the culture. This buzz solidifies the reality that inconsistent behavior is never addressed and is thus acceptable.

During the breakneck growth mode of the 90’s organizations were oblivious to behavioral inconsistencies as they arose. This does not mean these inconsistencies weren’t there. Many companies were lulled into a false sense of security largely as a result of the “good times” experienced over the decade of continued growth. Now in the aftermath and continuation of the economic downturn, the cultural buzz that was always there, but ignored, has the breathing room to rise to a louder pitch. Distinguishing this scenario is the key for an organization to begin the process of defining their values-based framework of leadership.

If you haven’t begun this, your task as a leader within your organization is clear: Begin having the conversation within your organization to distinguish your values-based framework of leadership and existing culture as quickly as possible. Don’t wait to figure it out. Start talking now. Don’t wait until you know whether or not you will hire a facilitator. Start talking now. And while you’re talking, go through the process of determining whether or not you want or need facilitation. But start talking now!

If you’ve begun this process, with or without the assistance of a facilitator, the question you are now confronted with is, “now what”? In other words, what do we do with what we’ve discovered, how do we integrate this discovery into our culture, and what do we do to change behavior?

Any organization that travels down this road knows there are difficult decisions to be made. For example, when a top salesman who is driving much-needed revenue exhibits behavior that is inconsistent with a company's values-based framework of leadership, the question becomes, what do you do about this? How an organization answers this question will determine their success in creating a values-based culture of leadership and ultimately determines their overall success within the broad marketplace.

This scenario points to a hard cold truth about the process an organization goes through while engaged in the inquiry of discovering their values-based framework of leadership. Once begun, if an organization can’t generate the continued steadfast commitment to see this process through to completion, its very existence is threatened.

For the process of discovery holds a mirror up to the organization. This mirror reflects obvious behavioral consistencies and inconsistencies with the created values and principles. If these aren’t acknowledged with commensurate action taken to reward consistencies and discipline inconsistencies, whatever organizational good will that has been engendered will quickly disappear. And when this good will disappears, an organization is left with a culture of inconsistent behavior fueled by a self-fulfilling cycle of undermining conversations.

Regardless of the difficulties, committed action is the only way to avoid this slippery slope. The steps are as follows:

1. Begin the conversation that leads to the declaration of a values-based framework of leadership
2. Acknowledge behavioral consistencies and inconsistencies
3. Reward consistencies, discipline inconsistencies
4. Empower individuals to invent new behaviors that model the declared values-based leadership framework and then reward these behaviors
5. Assess individual and organizational performance using your values-based leadership framework as the dominant evaluation tool
6. Evaluate and hire all new employees using your values-based leadership framework as the foundation of the hiring process

When an organization follows these steps, an environment and culture steeped in leadership will naturally arise.

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