Leaders must honestly assess their actions to determine if their claimed values align with their actual behavior.
Identifying and condensing key values to 10 or fewer ensures clarity and avoids diluting an organization's culture with competing priorities.
Deep dives
Determine What Your Actions Say You Value
To create a value-driven culture, leaders must honestly assess their actions to determine what values they unknowingly prioritize. It is important to recognize that there can be a discrepancy between claimed values and actual behavior. By examining their actions, leaders may discover that they value profit over customer satisfaction, tradition over innovation, or control over employee feedback. Honest evaluation is essential in identifying the true values within an organization.
Identify Key Values and Narrow Them Down
Leaders should gather their key team members to identify and document the values that truly matter to the organization. These values can be unearthed by exploring personal passion and what deeply upsets or concerns them. Once the key values are identified, it is important to condense them to 10 or fewer. Focusing on a select few values ensures clarity and avoids diluting the organization's culture with too many competing priorities.
The Impact of Values on Culture
Values play a crucial role in shaping organizational culture. They are the driving force behind behaviors and decisions within an organization. When values align with desired outcomes, such as customer service excellence, employee satisfaction, or quality products, a strong and positive culture is created. Conversely, inconsistent values can lead to struggling or ineffective organizations. To change the culture, leaders must reassess and redefine their values, as what is valued ultimately determines organizational behaviors.