Values serve as guides to action
Kouzes and Posner hit on an important point when they wrote about the power of values from an organizational standpoint. Being clear on organizational values, if done well can create a culture of accountability in the work place. While defining job roles and responsibilites is important in the development staff on a personal level, on an organizational level when values are clearly displayed and ingrained within the work culture a feeling of empowerment permeates the work place.
I have experienced this with my work within the YMCA, their four core values are honesty, respect, responsibility, and caring. As I have strived to be a mindful leader in my organization I have found that it is essential to ground my orientations, and staff development trainings within those values. Success has happened when I have seen staff call each other out when they are not following one of those values.
When staff are empowered enough to hold each other accountable for their actions a sense leadership is engrained in them. The bar is raised not only from what I expect as a supervisor but by how coworkers hold each other accountable for a high standard of work expectations.
Comments
I'm so happy to read scha0436's reflection. I manage a group of about 25 people at the U. Over the past 6 months our unit has endured a strike and layoffs. The unit has been segmented, gossipy, and just plain old ornery.
Something my supervisor and I had been thinking about doing was to begin a strategic planning process that began with creating a vision and a mission for our unit. Given the mood of the unit and the lack of common anything, we decided now was the right time. We started by having a guided/facilitated three-plus hour values dialogue that helped us get at what was important to us individuals and as a group. Doing this focused the group faster than I could have imagined.
Several people were in my office the next morning asking more questions about values, how they applied to personal situations, how they applied to work situations, telling me stories about how they went home and had conversations with their partners about what THEIR values were, and asking me what MY values were as their manager and leader. (I was also the workshop facilitator so did not participate in the values conversation.)
People have stepped up to volunteer to draft values statements and to hone the vision and mission that we subsequently worked on.
So it's especially heartening to hear that scha0436 is working with them and benefitting from them. That's a place I am hoping our unit will be in the not-too-distant future.
--scott marshall
Posted by: Scott Marshall | January 29, 2008 03:03 PM
I have worked with a variety of non-profit organizations and have seen how powerful a clear statement of values and vision can be. It's not only a way to hold one another accountable and to unite people as scha0436 and scott have described, it is also a way to keep focused and to inspire people to want to do things.
When there are clear values, for instance those used by the YMCA (honesty, respect, responsibility, and caring), every task a person tackles, every program a person envisions, every event a person coordinates can be weighed against these values to ensure that his actions fall within the culture of the organization. The work becomes more focused because there is this tool to always measure one's self by.
Likewise, a strong positive values statement inspires others to want to work with, volunteer with, donate to, or patronize an organization.
Sometimes values are stated clearly, as the YWCA ones mentioned above, and sometimes they are incorporated into a larger vision and mission statement. Either way, they are invaluable. Many organizations feel they don't have the time to address this issue, or feel it's unnecessary. From my experience, their organization and their work is compromised by this oversight.
Posted by: Janelle Sorensen | January 29, 2008 04:13 PM