Standards and values test the leader’s Integrity.
When I work with individual leaders and entire organizations the problem is rarely a lack of standards and core values. The problems arise from the leadership who are not upholding the standards and values they claim to have! I tell people all the time: “What you allow, you condone.”
A leader who claims to have standards, yet doesn’t enforce those standards, doesn’t really have standards. A leader who claims a set of core values yet doesn’t correct people who operate outside those values, does not have core values.
It doesn’t matter what standards or values you claim to have. Talking about standards and values means very little, if you allow people to behave outside those standards and values.
Each time a leader claims to have standards or values, they are setting themselves up for an Integrity test. When those tests come along, will we pass them or will we fail them?
Some leaders are wishy washy. Sometimes they exercise Integrity and hold the line and at other times they don’t. When a leader lacks consistency, then the people are unsure of what is important. They begin to play CYA (Cover Your A ). And they stop trusting the leader. Nobody trusts a person who says one thing yet does another. That is the definition of a hypocrite.
This is just a short reminder to the leaders of teams, departments, companies and families out there. What you allow, you condone. Be consistent and correct behaviors that operate outside the standards and values you claim to believe in. The more those behaviors fall short, the more the team, the department and the family slide away from being who you want them to be.
As the leader, it is your Integrity that’s being tested at that moment. Pass the test and you’ll be leading a team and a family that makes you and the people proud.
Questions
- Are you consistently upholding the standards and values you claim to have?
- If not, how does this impact your own Integrity?
Audiobook sales have taken over for ebook sales. When we first published Becoming a Leader of Character in 2017, people were predicting ebooks were going to kill traditional hard copy print books.
That didn’t happen. In fact, print books’ percentage of sales are very similar to what they were in 2017 when we first published. What has changed is that audiobooks have eaten away at ebook sales.
Therefore, if you have been waiting on the audiobook version of Becoming a Leader of Character it is now here! You can get it on Spotify, Audible or any other major platform for audiobooks.
While you drive or workout, marinate your brains in the Six Habits of Character – Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity.
Order now on your favorite platform:
(Audible is coming soon!)
Audible: Will be available in the coming weeks. We will let you know as soon as Audible makes it available.
