Leaders Must Embody Core Values

If we are a leader in an organization, meaning we are the CEO, we're on the leadership team, or we hire coach, manage people, one of the things we have to realize to be successful is that we are the living embodiment of the core values. The second thing we have to realize is that we are an extension of the will of the organization. So let me explain both those. So living embodiment of the core values.

What I mean by that is your behavior has to be exemplary. If you have outlined and articulated what those core values are in the organization. By the way, it's really cool. We do core values.

We don't identify them. We articulate them. Meaning you were already using a set of core values before you even fully wrote them out or defined them. You were already using that.

You don't want them to be made up. You want them to be based on the values you were actually using. There's a way to get to that. Let's say you have a truly articulated set of core values.

You have to be the living embodiment of those core values or it creates a perception of unfairness. If you want to see politics ramp up inside an organization, have leaders that don't live the core values. Creates politics. It creates a perception of lack of fairness.

And it gives others the license to violate those core values as well. Number two, we talked about you're an extension of the will of the organization, meaning look, we talked about culture in another video being a combination of things you insist on and how much you tolerate violations of those things you insist upon. You are there to coach your team through obstacles, meaning you are going to, if you insist upon Helping your team keep those habits and routines to make the organization successful. Let's say your organization requires that you're in a daily huddle every day to make sure that you knock out the most critical things, that you're focused on the right priorities.

We've got to, as leaders, be able to insist that we follow through on those behaviors as teams because it's going to make everyone more successful. Let's say we insist everyone has priorities in the organization, a set of priorities they're working on, they have KPIs. Let's say that we were insisting that we treat each other well. Those are things as leaders and we better insist on particularly the last one, but those are things as leaders that we must insist upon with our teams.

That's how you become an extension of the will of the organization. And the more we understand that as leaders, the easier our job becomes. When we start to get into trouble is when we realize that one or we don't realize that one or two of those things is required in the role. So really, really strive to evaluate your own behavior as a leader and see if you're consistent with those two things.