Recently, we published Part One of our two-part White Paper series called “Leading in a Time of New Intelligence”. It focuses on how our society is on the brink of several massive disruptions that will change how we work, live, and more importantly use our brains to solve the problems that face us. You can download Part one here and learn more about it’s focus on artificial intelligence, but the short version is: This disruptive time we are in is not like the kind of change that happens with the release of a new iPhone; it’s more akin to the invention of fire or agriculture in that it will be highly impactful and drive a lot of change in our society. Change is disruptive, and it can be hard to lead through transformative change.
Thankfully, I’ve made my career from leading through transformations - revamping accountability processes, redefining how student services operate, and more - and I’ve gleaned a bit of knowledge about what works and what doesn’t; I believe that Authentik’s Values Based Leadership cycle is the key to leading through times of great disruption.
It starts with values. Lots of people claim to be values based leaders, but they fail miserably to articulate what those values are, so that’s step one. What are your core values as a human being?
Once you’ve identified those, you look for alignment - ideally, your personal values will substantively align with the values of your organization. This alignment is critical for a person to feel psychologically safe and happy in their work - working in a place that is contrary to one’s values has a devastating impact on morale, and that is eventually contagious to others in the environment.
Now, this is the critical part: Once you’ve got your personal values and workplace values clearly identified, you need to refer to them often when making decisions. This is easy when things are going smooth, but it’s hard when things are difficult - and yet, this is the time when you must rely on values the most.
The reason for this comes down to people’s desire to have some level of predictability and control. When you lead from the same values or frames, then you become a bit predictable. As a leader, this is important - your people will know the frames you take when making decisions, and will start to anticipate your likely decisions in a variety of situations. Over time, their “predictions” will prove true, and that enhances their trust in their leadership.
Over time, this cycle keeps repeating itself - as you lead from values, the people you lead become better at predicting your likely decisions. As their predictions improve, they will trust your leadership more. As they trust your leadership more, your environment will become more psychologically safe and your leadership will flourish.
It sounds simple - because it is. But it isn’t easy. Leaders are constantly faced with competing interests - budget, timelines, shareholders, bosses, and more all need to be kept satisfied and informed and what might be in the best interests of the budget might not perfectly align with the organizational values. This is hard - but it’s OK. You don’t have to be perfect, and a very wise man once told me that “Perfect is the enemy of Good” - do your best to lead from values most of the time, and own it when you make a mistake, you’ll find success with this cycle.
We can help you embrace this approach more fully in your environment - give us a shout if you’d like to learn more!
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