Leader Values - Part 2

What values would be held by successful leaders in self-directed work systems? While there is no definitive research on this subject, some of the values might include:

• Expectation of excellence: commitment to getting the best results using the best means; pushing back excuses while enabling people to overcome legitimate obstacles; not accepting compromises in core values.
• Respect for the dignity of people as human beings: each person is respected because he or she is human; individuals are not accorded respect solely on the basis of their positions or accomplishments; respect for the community and environment are extensions of this value.
• Consideration of the effect of one's actions on others: the old "golden rule" with a deeper perspective; personal self-interest is not ignored, but is moderated for the benefit of the greater good.
• Seeing human resources as an asset, not a cost: investing in training and education of the entire workforce so they can contribute at their best.
• Inclusiveness: desire to include rather than exclude people in information sharing and decision making.
• Openness and honesty: willingness to provide the information people need without filtering it or hiding it when it is unpleasant; sharing good news quickly.
• Appreciation for the contributions of others: deriving personal pleasure from seeing the capabilities of others grow and recognizing their achievements; recognition that other persons can make important contributions to the organization within the range of their abilities and perspective; this is not unbridled optimism that everyone can be president, but that each person has the potential to offer something of value.
• Trust that people will do the right thing: internal confidence that including people in decision making is not an inherently risky business when those people are properly trained and informed; the absence of unwarranted suspicion.

People with these values are at peace with themselves. They have an inner harmony that serves as a base from which they can securely interact with others. They are not cupcakes or pushovers. They are not perfect. They do have a deep self-assurance in their own values and are tenacious in their pursuit of them.

The leaders of one self-directed organization found their three page charter to be too lengthy for everyday use. They reflected on its intent and distilled it to six core values.

• Achievement: We will be the best, low-cost producer by setting and achieving progressive operating and social goals.
• Improvement: We will always do better by finding and using better ways.
• Ownership: We will have pride in what we do -- seeing it as a reflection of ourselves.
• Involvement: We will seek out and use the talents of others to maximize our collective excellence.
• Respect: We will positively respect, support and care about each other and our company.
• Communications: We will honestly share information with sensitivity for each others' needs, and use data for our decisions.

Generating a list likethis is a team building exercise of the first order. It forces a diverse group of leaders to pool their visions for the future and consense around a concise statement of the culture they wish to create. This list contains the things they value as a group. The work of creating the list is as important as the list itself.

A lack of values congruent with a self-directed environment is probably the most accurate predictor of leader failure in such an environment. Leaders' values must be positive and consistent. When inappropriate behavior has its roots in values, rather than beliefs, it may be easier for all concerned to move the leader to another environment rather than try to attempt a change in the person. Everyone can be successful somewhere. Self-directed organizations are not the best places for everyone.

What are your values as they appear in the workplace? (Consider this question for at least several days.) Please return here and post your personal values, and/or those officially subscribed to by your organization.

Leader Values - Part 1

Values are at the core of our being. They underlie why we do what we do. We must select leaders and team members with the right values for teams to succeed. We cannot expect to hire people with inappropriate values and then expect them to change. The effort is too great and the outcome too uncertain to merit the attempt. When it comes to values it may or may not be true that, "What you see is what you get!" Over time, individuals' values show through in their actions. However, if we do not know the person well (e.g., a new hire), the person can state a set of values that is what we want to hear without it being consistent with his/her practiced ones. We have little way of knowing a person's real values until we observe his/her behaviors over an extended period of time.

If people were onions, as we peeled away our layers, we would find from the outside to the inside:

1. Behaviors (Outermost - observable)
2. Feelings
3. Beliefs / Attitudes
4. Values (Innermost - hidden)

Our external behaviors are the result of the three underlying attributes. For self-directed organizations to have the behaviors they require to succeed, the proper feelings, beliefs, and values must be in place. We can infer values from behavior.

Training and consequences influence beliefs and shape behaviors, but they rarely alter basic values. Beliefs are logical connections shaped by education and experience. Training or other experiences can demonstrate new, more workable connections and thus change beliefs. "I'll believe it when I see it" is a workable formula for learning. Leaders who are skeptical about self-directed work teams can visit a successful self-directed organization and change their beliefs of what is possible as a result. Persuading people to change values is much more difficult.

When individuals find themselves behaving in ways contrary to their values they experience considerable emotional tension. Their behavior is a sham. Under such circumstances, these persons will:

a. Give the behavior lip service and minimal use. (Compliance)
b. Abandon the behavior altogether and resist the environment. (Resistance)
c. Try to change the environment to eliminate the pressure for the behavior. (Opposition)
d. Leave the environment. (Avoidance)

In a few cases, they may readjust their values to be consistent with the demands in the environment. Forced to engage in the behavior, it may reshape individuals' values -- but don't count on it! In any event, they will eventually try to eliminate the internal tension they feel.

Values have an important impact upon the vision for the organization. Leader's with strong and appropriate values instill them in their organizations. Whenever the propriety of a decision is in question, referring to values is the how we determine whether it is ethical for us as individuals.
　
There is no other more basic requirement for effective leadership than a productive set of core values.
　
Values lie behind the question of how organizations exercise control. Organizations whose leaders value personal power and prestige will place control high up in the hierarchy. Control of decisions is power. Organizations whose leaders value personal growth and a sense of achievement for everyone will embrace self-direction.

Douglas McGregor set the stage for examining the values that underlie leader behavior. He described two sets of assumptions about human behavior that he labelled "Theory X" and "Theory Y." McGregor's words in 1960 still contain some of the most fundamental truths for the establishment of self-directed work systems. Here's McGregor's list from his book, The Human Side of Enterprise (McGraw Hill, 1960).

Theory X Assumptions*

• The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can.
• Because of this human characteristic of dislike of work, most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort toward the achievement of organizational objectives.
• The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, wants security above all.

Theory Y Assumptions

• The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest.
• External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing about effort toward organizational objectives. Man will exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of objectives to which he is committed.
• Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement.
  The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek responsibility.
• The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the solution of organizational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.
• Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilized.

The impact of these two different sets of assumptions on how organizations are built is unmistakable. However, some people still believe and act on Theory X assumptions. Why?

There are people who behave in the ways Theory X describes. Fortunately they are not the majority. Organizations have also created conditions that promote Theory X behaviors -- a self-fulfilling prophecy. Treat people as though they are untrustworthy and lazy and they will tend to act that way. Change the assumptions and create conditions for excellence and the Theory Y in people will emerge. When that happens, the hard core Theory X believers and actors will need to find another place to work.