This Week’s Focus Point
by Dr. Jason Carthen
Maintain a Healthy Organizational Environment
Values Based Leadership can pave the way for a healthy organizational environment. What are values and how do they dictate our behavior on a daily basis? Values are the guiding Principles, Standards, Beliefs, and Norms (PSBN) that we hold ourselves accountable to each day. These PSBN’s set the tempo for our work life, personal life and societal interactions. The reality is that we all have a set of values or behavioral norms that we have embraced since our youth and because of this early exposure, these cognitive mile markers guide our interactions with groups and individuals.
Values Based Leadership Have Opportunity to Inject Guiding Principles
When you have a leader that is engaging in Values Based Leadership, they have a unique opportunity to inject guiding principles (organization wide) that are focused upon the good of the collective. In other words, it is no longer simply about the bottom line, instead, outcomes take on the more holistic approach of seeking after success, but it is tempered with guarding and protecting the, “human capital” or assets in the respective organization. For many organizations engaged in the classical way of doing business, i.e, profits drive organizational outcomes and climate, Values Based Leadership requires a shift in worldview. Quite frankly, it is almost a rethinking of how we approach work and specifically how we lead.
Values Based Leaders Demonstrate Shared Approach to Their Leadership
Values Based Leaders demonstrate and embrace more of a shared approach to their leadership actions and goal setting. Furthermore, how they respond to certain stimuli is readily dictated by an internal compass of engaging what is “right” rather than just what is in the best interests of the company. All these things point to an organizational culture and climate that is ripe for information sharing and fantastic outcomes.
When you think about leadership, what are the values that have been ingrained in you from the earliest stages of your development? Are they helpful or potentially harmful?
