Leadership Training and Coaching - Don’t Surrender Your Core Values

Written by admin on Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Leadership training and coaching can contain a lot of different sub topics, but the one that is of most importance is about core values. Leadership is about getting a group of individuals to rally around a core set of values and them guiding them to achieve a common goal through these core values. What happens when core values aren’t real and only lip service? How do you avoid going down the path that takes you away from your core values? Read more in this article and discover some of the things that you can do to keep your companies core values front and center.

We’ve all watched what is happening in the world, the U.S, your workplace and have seen countless examples when leadership “surrenders” to the Dark Side…when they surrender their core values. Whether it’s Enron, AIG, Bernie Maddoff, or the leadership of your own organization the surrender occurs when we’re not clear what we stand for, or not committed to the values at the soulful level.

Core values…honesty, integrity, courage commonly find their way into organization vision and values statements. Why the surrender?

I suspect most happens because the development of the organizational vision is little more than a rhetorical discussion among owners about what sounds nice or should be what the organization stands for. For example the core values of Enron, were respect and honesty. One could surmise the surrender and collapse of values because commitment to the values was little more than political. Political commitment comes and goes depending on the chorus of voices searching to control the organization.

Likely some members of the leadership teams intellectually believed the core values made sense and as individuals felt some comfort with their own intellectual alignment. The choice to surrender becomes a bit more difficult…but will occur when other “intellectual” choices crowd out the need to be honest or have integrity. It may be as simple as the need to create sales requires a slight twist of truth, or clever manipulation of the benefits. The need to produce sales then trumps the commitment to honesty and integrity. Voila…surrender occurs.

Of course some leaders evolve towards an emotional commitment. Perhaps even remember the organizational slogan…and truly feel connected to the honesty and integrity thing. Alas, at some point the organization, with examples like AIG, Enron, or Maddoff sell their values for the greater profit gods. Often, several in leadership may increasingly feel disconnected with what they “feel” is wrong. But the selling of the organizational soul continues…the surrender of values becomes the chosen path. Try these tips to avert the “surrender” of your core values.

1. Write down the words which you’d like your kids, family and friends describe you if they wrote your eulogy. Are they words like powerful, rich, smart…or are they kind, honest, respectful and courageous?

2. Write down examples in the past when you’ve surrendered your values. What happened, what did you do, how would chose differently today if you wanted a different outcome?

3. Write down what you want changed in the next 3 mo-6mo-12 months. Then decide to make adjustments as you evolve. Adjusting and evolving is much more sustainable and likely than extreme makeover.

Your own personal courage will emerge. Elegant Courage is the soulful embrace of your core values. Courage is the confidence and choice to act on those values in the moment.

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