27. What role do values
have in the development of leadership teams?
The role of values in organizations is changing. The simplest way to understand it is with my notion of Values 2.0.
Values 2.0 is analogous to Web 2.0. Web 1.0 is websites that function as online brochures distributing relavent information about a business. Web 2.0 is websites that are focused on the interaction between people, between businesses and their customers. All the popular social networking sites are Web 2.0.
Values in a Values 1.0 perspective are ideas that are meaningful, but serve a more symbolic purpose. They
are like the icons on your computer desktop. They are a reference point to some meaning that has value. The are Iconic because they can serve a branding function to point to a characteristic that the business would like its audience to identify. The problem with Values 1.0 is that they are largely irrelevant to the functioning of the business.
Values 2.0, like Web 2.0, function in an interactive environment. They are not simply ideas posted on the
wall or website for all to see and admire. Instead, they are ideas that are injected into the conversation that takes place in every organization. This interaction begins with questions. "What are our values? How do they fit into our culture? How do they help us or protect us?"
In a Values 2.0 organization, values are integrated into the organization through the relationships of people, and then into the operational processes of the company. Values become a tool for understanding where opportunities and problems are, and more importantly how to make strategic decisions.
Umair Haque regularly writes about the DNA of organizations as being the source of its life. Values are key elements in that DNA. When values are iconic, they are a reflection of the past than the present. Values that have impact are active agents in the DNA of a company.
With this background to my thinking about values, let's restate the question where we began.
What role do values have in the development of leadership teams?
Or, if values are to have a place at the table in your team interaction, how should they be introduced?
If you don't know, you need to ask.
Why?
Because there are values integrated into your organization and your team work. Enron, the poster child of companies that failed because of their values, had values, just one's that were unethical and ultimately destructive to its life as a company.
What role do you want values to have in your teamwork? Start with that question, and ask it over and over until you get an answer that makes sense.
Before you ask it of your team, ask it of yourself.
What role do I want values to have as I lead?
And, what values should they be?
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