Leading Through Values By Ryan Scholz
O
ne of the biggest barriers that senior leaders face in delegating and taking work off their plates is having the confidence that people below them will make the right decision. In the absence of confidence, leaders tend to get involved in many more decisions than they need to. They get accused of “micromanaging” by their staffs. I believe that if people share similar values and have essentially the same information, they will usually come to the same conclusion. So if a leader doesn’t think that his or her people will make good decisions, then it usually comes down either to a values issue or an information issue. Obviously, the getting people the informa-
tion that they need to make good decisions is easier than assuring similar values. As a leader, it is important to give people as much information as possible so that they can make informed decisions. The more complicated task is making sure that people apply the same values when making decisions. This is why organizational values are so important. If the absence of clear organizational values, people will generally apply their own personal values when making a decision or apply what they perceive the company’s values to be. Values provide the basis to determining behavior in certain situations. When people in a company have a shared set of values,
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the company becomes less bureaucratic, more flexible, and more efficient. People at lower levels will make the right decision. In determining the values which guide decision making, there are a couple of things that are important. First, the list must be short. I recommend no more than for or five key values. If there are more than this, it creates confusion and more opportunity for misapplication in decision making situations. Think about any situation where you had to chose between several alternatives. If you only had one or two criteria to make the choice, then it becomes a fairly easy decision. If there are ten criteria, it becomes much more difficult. The second point about values
