Values Pushed to the Back Burner?

Before we dig into the challenges that come with “core values so generic that they could easily serve as fodder for a Dilbert cartoon,” and we’ll work through that in specific detail soon enough, we need to think about how that could ever be the case when “more than three-quarters of CEOs interviewed in a major business magazine discussed their company’s culture of core values - even when not specifically asked about it.” If it sounded like I was taking a shot at those CEOs for jumping on their soapbox for the media but not investing the time to share an articulate message with everyone in their organizations, it’s because I was! But I am willing to concede that not all of them make a conscious decision to shun their team members while puffing their chests out for the camera…

A reality that comes with accepting a leadership role - at any level in an organization - is that any spare time we may have had in a previous position is likely gone. There’s never a shortage of issues demanding our attention; some urgent because a ball was dropped and others less urgent but still absolutely critical within our scope of responsibility. With that in mind, I have no doubt that the CEOs of the large companies referenced in that MITSloan article interact with journalists, investors, and their board members far more than they’re able to speak face-to-face with the majority of the folks on their teams. I’ll go out on a limb here and bet that much personal interaction beyond their executive team members just doesn’t routinely fit on their calendars, and most of that is likely focused on whatever fire that needs doused on that particular day. I’d go so far as to guess that, even then, those core values that get attention (whether they’re asked about them or not) when speaking in a public forum are placed on the back burner at that point - if they’re still on the stove top at all! In reality, if that were you or me, wouldn’t we expect our executive team to be in lockstep with us on the values we’ve spoken about publicly and have printed on the walls and in our handbook? We certainly don’t have time to rehash those daily, especially not with the folks we’re counting on to lead their respective teams! Do we???

You likely sense a bit of sarcasm here, and you should. While I’m convinced that this is what goes through the mind of many a CEO, whether they’re heading up one of the large companies referenced in the article or running their own small business, this is all too often when even the simplest and most clearly stated values can begin to unravel. When we get consumed by the work that has to be addressed in the moment, allowing the urgent to take precedence over the important, or even worse, we assume everyone paid attention the one time we did talk about our values, we leave room for the even the best of our folks who may have actually paid attention initially or even read the handbook to form their own definition for what each core value looks like in practice. That may go OK in the short-term but it can result in devastating consequences as those definitions drift over time - so we’ll pick up there soon!