Good Values Attract Good People
Coach John Wooden won 10 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championships in his coaching career at UCLA. He is credited with the Wooden Pyramid of Success, his philosophy for developing a dynasty while developing young talent. His first lesson in leadership is Good Values Attract Good People and through my personal experience, I know this to be very true. For me, these words are not just a chapter title from a good book – they are words to live by.
Leadership really does matter. The presence and leadership from one good leader can change and transform a team, department, or organization. Their vision, character, and their ability to develop good chemistry with team members can create a new DNA for the organization. One that lifts others up to achieve their greatest potential and destiny.
As a young leader, I modeled my values, but did a very poor job transferring my values to others. In those days, if you did not work directly with me, the important values got lost. Because our organization was too large for me to work with everyone, I relied on my leaders to help promote the values I knew to be important. But it was not enough.
In time, negative leaders stepped up and filled the vacuum in organizational leadership. Working at a state-run institution, things like morale, attitude and values were rarely considered important and even more rarely discussed if considering terminating someone. Human Resources rarely did training on how to change attitudes, drive a vision or increase morale, but these are critical to the success of great operations.
When I took over a struggling department that needed direction, I made sure to model the behaviors I wanted to see more of. I brought in a fresh positive approach, one that was firm, fair and friendly. There is no one way to transfer your values, but if you don’t do something that works well for your organization, you may be at risk of losing your values along the way.
I found several ways to help transfer our values that have worked well the last 15-years. Here are a few ideas that might be applicable to you:
- Have a leadership philosophy to raise and grow leaders, not weeders.
- Provide a 30–60-minute monthly leadership development course and ask good questions to engage your people.
- Ask your team to help you create a team or organizational creed that embodies your values. Hang it on the wall and say it as a group each week. I have found this is a highly effective tool.
- Show short motivational videos to your team that allow you to talk about your values.
- Invite in a local speaker for 15-30 minutes to embrace your values.
- Be the person who constantly points to the values as your success.
Let me know how you are transferring and driving your organization’s values with your group.
Jeff
