Step up to fresh and unforeseen challenges. A few weeks ago, an existing client asked me if I would consider working with a couple of their team members, the brief was (is) “To increase their confidence and self-belief to a point where they are prepared to step up to fresh and unforeseen challenges.” I was happy to take on the work and was particularly enthused by the thinking that went behind it, namely an intervention to better “future proof” the organisation by developing its individuals.
The organisation’s investment is to fund two 1:1 Coaching/Development Programmes, delivered over 10 sessions, timings and meeting formats to be agreed with the individual parties. Is there a set format? Well, sort of: I like to find out how well employees feel aligned to the organisation’s purpose and this is captured by the following phrase, used in a discussion piece related to Servant Leadership, where:
“… the view of all institutions was one in which CEO’s, staff, directors, and trustees all play significant roles in holding their institutions in trust for the greater good of society.”
For me, this speaks to organisational “Values, Behaviours and Alignment” at least at two levels. The first is the “Espoused Level.” An external facing articulation of some good stuff about the organisation, one that will encourage people to consider liking what it stands for.
The second is the “Lived Level,” and this is very much to do with the lived experience of people who work within the organisation. I would argue that the greater alignment we can achieve between the two, the better we will be placed to develop the organisation’s ethical purpose. I would add here that for some organisations, we have to dig deep to discover an ethical purpose, however that’s for another piece!
In a face to face, 1:1 session, I asked my new clients to choose a set of behaviours and values that they feel particularly aligned to and resonate with their sense of purpose and being. It’s a good way of opening up conversations about what matters, and I find that I do a lot of intentional listening here! The next step is to ask them to choose three and to reflect on how their values and beliefs are articulated, lived and delivered within their day-to-day work, and to consider their contribution to and relationship with those held by the organisation. This can be interesting and more! What we are doing, I think, is to question the sincerity of Organisational Value(s) Statements, and their meaningfulness across the organisation, internally, externally and user (customer) facing.
What might this mean for Leadership? Perhaps there’s a need for a continuous review process, one that is beyond lip service that relates to something along these lines:
“How do we ensure that our Espoused Values are honest, ethical and deliverable, and how do we honour this in all facets of our organisation’s work and purpose, including the individual values, beliefs and behaviours of our whole workforce?”
The implications of the above go beyond this piece, however it’s important for me to state that the above statement can and should be applied to how we develop our workforce (all of it, including CEO’s, Directors and Senior Leaders) and how we create opportunities for planning, reflection and actions that have a positive impact on our organisational culture.
Is this worth doing? Well, if it’s part of a positive, well-intentioned step towards achieving a greater beneficial purpose for the greater good, then, “yes”. If, however, it is a piece of cosmetic lip-service, then, emphatically no!
Decision Making Hack
I often use four questions to help the decision-making process, they are:
- What will happen if we do?
- What will happen if we don’t
- What won’t happen if we do?
- What won’t happen if we don’t?
Numbers 1 & 2 are pretty straightforward, 3 can bring about some collective scratching of heads, 4 is the cruncher, it’s a couple negative and I’m not sure that the brain likes these! However, if you do decide to have a go at this – go through number 1-4 in that order and, good luck!