It's amazing to me how many leaders seem to have lost all their values during their journey to the top. Or did these leaders ever have any values to begin with? It seems to me that in more traditional, conservative organizations the leader with no values always makes it to the top more easily than others. Other leaders feel drawn to these people because they "command respect" and "get things accomplished", even if they hurt others along the way. Now I'm not talking about a company's
values. I'm talking about basic human values. Values that every person should know and follow. Like the ones that you
learn in elementary school, such as the Golden Rule of treating others
how you would like to be treated, or honesty is the best policy.
This past week I learned how badly senior management at the company I work for treats our hard working and dedicated mail manager. I couldn't believe it when I heard that he was actually screamed at for delivering a wet Wall Street Journal. Although, in their defense, Respect is not one of the company's cultural values. After learning that this kind of stuff goes on at my company I began to wonder how these leaders became who they are today. What events in their life shaped their values? Are things like large salaries, giant offices, separate elevators and company cars tools to change a person over time? Or do they just expose a person's true colors? And more importantly, why do companies foster leaders with no values?
I do no have an answer for these questions (right now at least) but I do have one leadership lesson. You do not have to change who you are to be a successful leader. Someone who keeps their same values from entry-level all the way up to leadership will actually be more successful than someone who's values change. Followers trust leaders when they know who the leader truly is and know that they will always be that person. Followers no not necessarily like leadership surprises. What if one day Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, decided he wanted a giant office on a separate floor from his employees?
So why does this change happen (when it does, since it is not universal)? Do these "bad" leaders believe their own hype?
ReplyDeleteMaybe the change happens through some sort of organizational natural selection process. These leaders made it to the top because they had something in them (bad values?) that kept them there. And all the people that never made it to a top leadership position were slowly weeded out because they had something else in them (good values?). Certain types of leaders are only effective in environments that fit their leadership style. If I go back to Tony Hsieh, he would never be able to lead at the company I work for because no one there likes to have fun. And that's a direct quote that came from my manager, the director of benefit programs!
ReplyDeleteWhen I reflect back on my work history and career, I believe that my best managers over the years have possessed high moral values. Another characteristic of an effective manager is humility. These managers have been my role models since I was promoted to a supervisory position a little over two years ago.
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