Part 2 - The Hero

In a series of three articles we will look at the way an organization may change its culture to create a value based or purpose led organization. In the first article we addressed values and laying the foundation – in this second article we will be examining the positive outcomes when our people consistently are brave, fair and honest. 

Part II – The Hero

In the first part of this series addressing corporate culture we examined the foundation for creating a value based organization, where the building blocks of Courage, Fairness and Honesty, results in a foundation where individuals across the organization demonstrates and acts with integrity – doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

The consistency in behavior and actions, makes us as individuals and the whole organization predictable – although predictability may generally be perceived as boring, the fact is that it builds trust. Our colleagues, our customers and clients, and other stakeholders, everyone that we interact with will eventually recognize the consistency in behavior and will therefore be able to anticipate our actions and re-actions - that these will be fair and honest, and with “it is in our best (both) interest” in mind, rather than self-centered “what’s in it for me”. Even in challenging circumstances we will have the courage to sustain our integrity, to withstand temptations of personal short-term gain. We are now demonstrating “Moral Resilience”.

These qualities, Courage, Fairness and Honesty, are sometimes referred to as leadership qualities, are trademarks of a very certain group of people and characters – heroes. All heroes from ancient Hector of the Iliad to modern-day real-life heroes such as Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa they all shared the same characteristics of courage, fairness and honesty, being role models of millions of people. Creating an ever lasting impact. 

Heroes comes in many different shapes or forms, and in the corporate world we may not refer to them as heroes but rather leaders, influencers, visionaries, people that we admire and would love to work with/for. These are people that we respect and trust. Let’s face it – not everyone can be like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, but on a macro level everyone can be great, whether as a leader or a follower (employee) – by being fair and honest, to show courage and raising our voice when something is not right we will earn the respect and trust from others.

A consistent behavior from all individuals across the organization in terms of Courage, Fairness and Honesty, will generate some desirable output, consisting of Trust, Loyalty and Respect. The Trust, Loyalty and Respect will be shown upwards as well as downwards in a hierarchical organization as long as all people of the organization understand that we are all important to the success of the organization, we may just “playing” different roles.

Going back to sports – which player is the most important one? Some may say the forward to scores the goals, other may say the goalkeeper, and some may say the coach. In my mind they are equally important. It is like an ecosystem where they all strive and succeed when there is balance in the ecosystem, when they coexist in symbiosis. It is exactly the same in any organization. The CEO is not more “important” than the sales manager or the employee responsible for printing – unless they all perform to the expected level the organization will not succeed and therefore, they need to respect each other and acknowledge their dependency on each other.   

If someone in the organization is deliberately unfair or dishonest, or lacking integrity, they will lose the respect and trust from peers as well as subordinates and managers. And if it is unintentional it will be addressed appropriately, whether as an apology or remedy that is considered fair and commensurate with the damage caused without the trust or level of respect being negatively affected.

Whether you are working in a professional services firm or any other type of organization we would like to be considered a trusted advisor. Is it possible to be a trusted advisor if not being fair, honest and courageous? If your answer is “no”, well then you have the recipe for getting off on the right path.

Why is Loyalty important?

It may sound like a stupid question, but for any organization that is striving to achieve long-term sustainable growth, customer and employee loyalty are critical success factors. It is more cost-effective to maintain existing customers or employees than finding new or replacing existing ones. 

If we are honest and fair to our customers and have the courage to say “no” when it is not in the best interest of the customer (although it may be a great opportunity for us to sell a certain service or product, but it may not be what they client really need) it will be recognized by the customer and it will build trust – that we are looking at the best interest of the customer.

How many times has it happened that you go to a restaurant and you ask the waiter what they recommend, and they suggest the most expensive item on the menu, without even asking whether you prefer meat, fish or a vegetarian dish?, or how hungry you are? When it happens what is your immediate reaction? The trust and respect are gone and from there on it is an uphill battle for the restaurant to prove itself. The chances that you are coming back are immediately reduced. Set the customers need first!

It sounds profoundly basic, but if goals of the individual waiter and the restaurant aren’t aligned this may happen. Instead when the goals are aligned and customer’s needs (and expectations) are met it is likely that, not only will the customer come back for another meal, but they will also tell their friends about the experience, and consequently its customer base will increase and it will achieve growth and profitability (long-term sustainable growth rather than a one-time-hefty-tab). 

In the first article I mentioned the importance of communicating expectations - it is absolutely okay to express your expectations, as long as those are sensible and reasonable, and aim to address a particular objective or goal.

Conclusions

Integrity results in consistent behavior and actions, which in turns build trust, loyalty and respect. “We may not always agree on everything, but I respect your opinion”. We often say that trust is earned – and one of the easiest ways to gain someone’s trust is by being honest, fair and courageous. These are often referred to a leadership qualities, but these are qualities we all appreciate and may develop. Since childhood we recognize heroes through these characteristics, from fairy tales to real life heroes they all demonstrate honesty, fairness and shows courage. Each and every one of us can be "hero" and lead by example, being fair, honest and courageous.  

When we constantly demonstrate integrity, not compromising our values, we achieve (or earn) trust, respect and loyalty from all stakeholders in the organizations’ “ecosystem”, including employees, authorities, suppliers, investors and customers. 

In the last article we will complete the pyramid of a value based or purpose led organization. Meanwhile if you have any comments, questions or thoughts that you would like to share, please post those.

And as always - the content and thoughts are my personal views on the matter, and may not be a reflection of, or shall not be attributed to the any organization I have worked for.