LEGACY LEADERSHIP AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Dr. Jay Newman; Founding Partner: Culture By Choice

In my last article I laid out what constitutes Legacy Leadership. You will recall that Legacy Leaders lead from a core set of values and principles. These leaders understand that we need tactical and strategic leadership, but that is not enough. Legacy Leaders understand the two whys for their organization: why doing what we do is beneficial to all of us in the organization and why doing what we do is beneficial for the world beyond our organization. The Rev. Desmond Tutu of South Africa understood these principles. He knew that ending apartheid and moving through the truth and reconciliation process not only would help heal his nation but would also be the best example they could ever set for the whole world. Conversely, there were many who just wanted to move on. They looked only at the strategies and tactics of the transition. If strategy and tactics are all there is, the end can be used to justify the means. For every problem there must be someone we can blame. Every opportunity comes with the chance of failure and any failure could cost me my job.

Too many organizations have become dysfunctional because, the people have made it that way. They have sought easy solutions to complex and difficult problems. One of the most common phrases one might hear is; it’s very simple, if we would just do this or that, the problem will be solved. But, to paraphrase Einstein, you cannot solve a problem using the same thinking that created the problem.

Legacy Leaders get this. They understand that solving problems requires an open and growth-oriented mindset. They also understand that failure is not inherently bad. It is failing to learn from our failure that is bad. Many organizations can’t stomach this Idea. Every failure means a set back and since time is money, every failure costs us money. Every failure becomes a good reason to fix the blame on someone else and thank God it’s not me. There is always someone to blame and if we can find someone outside of the board room or C Suite to blame, the jobs of leadership will be more secure. That security is an illusion. And, we keep buying this bologna. It’s not an issue with one leadership theory or any other. It is a systemic disease associated with way too many organizations; our federal government included.

When you apply this concept to larger organizations, it’s easy to see why so many are so dysfunctional. With all the finger pointing and blaming, the power to make good things happen is always in someone else’s hands. Many leaders can’t make any progress because they are unwilling to take full responsibility for what they are doing. It’s always someone else’s fault that bad things happen. The very first value we should demand from anyone we select for any office or place in a position of authority is the value of personal responsibility and accountability. In that light, a key leader facing some failure would not tell us they don’t know who was to blame for the failure and they certainly would not hold a hearing to find out more. If our key leader was facing a failure, that person would simply say that didn’t work as we planned. I am going to study what happened to see what we can learn from this experience and then we’ll do better next time. And we the people, not being perfect ourselves, will say great. Let’s all learn together and grow together and make this Place the best we can make it.

So, how do we fix this? The first step is we all need to stop blaming others for our problems. Our national and organizational problems are an extension of the very personal problems we all face. We must each take responsibility for the problems we each create and work towards a “values and principles” based solution for each of those problems. Unfortunately, in my experience, I’ve met far too many people who have never really decided what they truly value or on what principles they should live their lives. And, we have found others who have a pretty good idea of what they value and what principles they adhere to, but their followers are uncertain as to what is really meant by the values and principles they espouse. We must clarify, define, and provide examples so that every one in the organization knows what we mean when we share our values and principles. In order to stop blaming others we each must know what we stand for and then examine our own actions in the light of our own values and principles. When we know how our own actions result in where we find ourselves, we have a chance of finding a way forward. If it is someone else’s fault, I have given the power and control of my destiny to the person I blame.

An exercise we have done with some of our clients is a values and principles clarification activity. In this activity leaders state what they believe the key values and principles of the organization are. Leaders then come to an agreement as to what the top 5 or 6 statements are and then they carefully define what they mean by each of these statements. In one case our client condensed their values into 6 words and then wrote an organizational definition for each of those words. An example is the word integrity. If integrity was one of the key values, that organization would do the following: When we say integrity we mean: People do what they say, say what they mean, meet established deadline, and complete their work with the highest degree of quality possible.

Legacy Leaders get this stuff. They understand that it doesn’t do anyone any good if they complain and blame. They understand that success comes from hard work and behaving in a responsible and respectful way. The legacy Leader realizes that leading from a basis of values and principles does more good than any fault discovering ever could. The Legacy Leader, no matter who is being led, totally gets their role in creating a culture that promotes success and cares for people. Legacy Leaders make positive differences every single day. Our goal in working with any organization should always be to create a culture that values people and operates in their best interest. If you can’t do this, then you can’t be a Legacy Leader.

So, how do I become a Legacy Leader as opposed to being a blame leader like so many leaders in our world? It starts with making sure I have and live by my own set of values and principles. Next, I must make sure that my values are aligned with the values and principles of organization I desire to lead. If I see inconsistency between my values and principles and those of the organization, I’ve an important decision to make. Do I try to modify the values and principles of the organization or do I find an organization that is more aligned with my values and principles? The answer to that question is the million-dollar answer.

The direction you go must be based on four critical factors. First, how likely is it that you will be able to change the values and principles of the organization? Second, do the people who brought you into the organization actually want you to change the organization? Third, how resistant are the people in the organization to change? And fourth, do you have the energy and stamina to make it happen?

Is there a model for making this happen in an organization? There most certainly is, and the best leaders seem to know just how to apply the model. Legacy Leaders know that you cannot force a set of values on anyone, but they also know that you can help people realize what values and principles will help them achieve more. By picking apart key roles, functions, and processes of the organization, and examining how these are to be fulfilled, you begin to reveal the key values and principles that drive the organization. For example, if a key function is to provide customers with a product that works the first time and keeps working for the next 5 years, the value of reliability is revealed. If a key role is to listen to customers and make sure that what we do for them is exactly what they want, the value of customer service is revealed.

If we take each of our roles, functions, and processes and dissect them in this way, our existing values will be revealed. The Legacy Leader can use this as a platform for improvement and as a basis for building a legacy culture. The “how we do things around here” is the culture. The “how we ought to do things around here” is the desired culture.  When the existing culture is revealed, we can all answer the question; is this what we want? In most cases, we have found the answer to be, sort of. Some of the aspects of the culture are right on target. Some aspects are a little off the mark. And sometimes, some of the cultural pieces a totally out of place. Most organizations don’t really know what their culture is. And because they don’t really know how things are being done, they haven’t always examined how they really want things to be done.

Digging into what’s happening and how it’s all happening takes time and it takes patience. In the fast-paced world of business today, too many organizations decide that they just don’t have the time to do all that work. But here’s the catch. If you don’t do this, you run too large of a financial risk. Turnover of employees and customers costs businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, if not millions. Getting a handle on your culture gives you the chance to make a real difference. We’ve seen it over and over. Taking the time to determine what you want the legacy of the company to be and then operating based on those legacy values and principles, changes the ballgame.

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