Leadership - Values
Values
Key characteristics
Honesty and humility
The best leaders will exhibit the values of honesty and humility in their personal and professional lives.
People look to their leaders to set an example. Without honesty the leader will not engender trust and the followers will disappear.
Performance is an area which many people find hard to deal with. The first time many people realise that their performance is not up to the mark is usually at an appraisal and it can come as a shock. It may not be pleasant but try to deal with poor performance at the time it happens (time).
It is quite likely that the person doesn’t know they are underperforming or they want help but find it hard to ask.
You will be thanked in the long run.
Communicating good news is easy but you will be better respected if you can tell people about impending poor news whilst being honest about the possible ramifications.
Humility is about knowing yourself. As a good leader you will know your weaknesses and establish a top team to compensate for them.
In addition, you must know not only when you make a mistake but how to admit to it. Once you can do this you will resolve problems much easier.
By admitting errors you will be giving the message that you do not condone a blame culture. By this act more people will raise issues and potential problems will be tackled early before it begins to escalate.
Communication
Cultural change is not easy to achieve. People are suspicious, you have to make the change slowly and communicate it well.
It should be done in the same positive way that you would for your vision.
One key problem is that individuals have a certain loyalty to the old values, however misguided they may have been.
Try not to denigrate the old values but rather promote the new ones.
As older systems and methods become outdated let them die as the new methods and values take their place.
If some of the old values are OK give them their due credit.
Good performance measurement and reward systems, promotion processes, key decision making and the example of the leader are all very strong communicators of organisational values.
As a leader make sure that what you say is what you do. As the top person people will hang on your every word.
One extremely good management style is management by walking about (MBWA).
This gives you the opportunity to show your human side. Be prepared to honestly answer questions.
People are more likely to believe in your values when speaking to you face to face.
Legacy
When a leader eventually departs, hopefully via a good succession plan, he will leave behind his or her footprint on the organisation.
This will be a combination of results and achievements together with the values the leader has instilled in the company.
A good leader will have left an organisation with values that are:
Simple and clear to understand.
It means something at all levels of the organisation.
Simple problems can be resolved by reference to the values.
Most values come in the form of mission statements and are usually completely incomprehensible.
Many people will employ persons because of their match with the company values and worry about skills secondly if they can be trained on the job.