Does your organization have the company values written down? Are they posted? Probably on the Boardroom wall or in the Reception area, right? They probably say things like “Integrity, Respect, Communication, Excellence, Customer, etc.” Right?
In October of 2001, the leaders of Enron in Texas were indicted for Fraud after it was exposed that they used shady accounting practices to hide billions of dollars in debt from failed deals and projects. Many went to jail. The massive consulting firm Arthur Andersen went out of business as a result of their involvement. In total, investors lost over $40 billion. In Enron’s Boardroom were the framed company values of “Integrity, Communication, Respect, and Excellence.”
Values are more than words on the wall. In fact, the best organizations in the world bring them to life. They revere behaviors and actions by team members that are living the values. The values are written in statements that people can get, so it is easy to live them. Simply putting the word, “integrity”, on the wall means different things to different people. Whereas, writing: “you always do the right thing for our team, our customers, and our shareholders”, people get loud and clear. Or for example, instead of “communication,” I have seen it written, “we listen to each other instead of jumping to conclusions before understanding.”
If you want to jump into the minority 3% of leaders that are being disruptive and making a huge difference in the world, I urge you to join the Values Revolution.
As a leader, the level of trust and respect adorned on you by your team is directly proportionate to your behaviour (so are your long-term results).
