Leadership and Core Values
by Lois MelbourneIt is so important to find people that fit the culture of an organization. Our employee base is quite eclectic, both in their job tasks and in their personalities. When thinking about my response for a journalist the other day, I found a strong thread that is the underlying success of our hiring/retention at our company. Beyond hiring really smart people, we hire people who share our core values.
Aquire Core Values
- Use Respect In Your Interactions
- Provide Stellar Customer Service
- Work As A Team
- Communicate And Make Decisions With The Highest Integrity
- Approach Our Markets With The High Energy Needed For Aggressive Growth
- Develop And Participate In A Strong Partner Community
- Create An Environment Fostering Innovation
- Be Committed To Quality Business Solutions
- Use These Values To Win Business
We can provide a great deal of empowerment to our employees, because we hire them knowing they share our drive and values. We trust them.
My favorite leadership course I’ve taken was driven by a book, The Leadership Challenge, by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. It was amazing. Six years later, I still keep the bookmark on my desk with the “10 Commitments of Leadership” and I share them with others. One of the items, #4, is ”Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to their values, interests, hopes and dreams.” To appeal to their values, you have to know what they are. If you want to build your bench strength of strong leaders and personnel then I encourage everyone in the org chart who has anything to do with hiring, succession planning, or management to understand their employees’ and candidates’ values, interests, hopes and dreams. This will help you identify the synergy with the company’s objectives and thus provide the right seeds for a healthy crop of leaders in the future.
Resources to consider:
The Leadership Challenge
Your own corporate Values Statement.
The Dream Manager to appeal to their dreams. (More on this one in the near future.)
Cheers,
Lois
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The tenet: ”Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to their values, interests, hopes and dreams.” is the approach I employ, when I interview potential candidates. Is the candidate and the company I represent are in complete alignment? If so, my company’s culture and vision will endure.
~MARdY
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mardonnavalta