I have spent a lot of my professional life in an organisation that prides itself on the strength of, and adherence to, its values. Indeed, I was leading the British Army’s largest training establishment when Values Based Leadership was introduced as the approach to be taken by recruit training instructors.
Consequently, I felt it important to have a robust set of values for my own business when I established ALMAC a few years ago. They are published on my website. I have been reading more into the subject of organisational values recently and this has caused me to reflect on what I have chosen and how they are written.
Values are commonly defined as ‘the beliefs and principles that drive an organisation forward’ and ‘one’s judgement of what is important in life’. Many other definitions are available. One source I have read goes on to say ‘core values form the basis for every decision the company makes.’ The current values for ALMAC may not be perfect, but they are words that relay, and remind me, how I aspire to work with my clients:
PARTNERSHIP – neither mentoring nor coaching will be effective if it is dictatorial. It is important to me that the leadership development programmes I provide are devised and delivered in partnership with my clients. They own the agenda and together we work out the best way to meet their objectives.
INNOVATION – not everything that has been done previously should be discarded. However, I am a strong advocate of continuous improvement, constantly considering new and better ways to do things in order to improve performance. My clients deserve the best.
INTEGRITY – one of the most common and ill-fated values used by companies currently. Nevertheless, it is one of the Army’s 6 core values and one that I have tried to stick to throughout my 35yr professional life. There is little that saddens me more than people and organisations behaving without integrity. I am not perfect, but I will always try my best not to be one of them.
COMMITMENT – perhaps it has been my decades of Service life in a vocation (not a job), that makes this a cornerstone for me. I would fail if I let people down. I commit to my clients wholeheartedly and work with them until they are satisfied. Even then, I am happy to stay in touch and be available to provide further support.
Reading about, and reflecting on values, has been good for me. I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts.
