Core Values and Leadership

Core Values are a set of ideals and guidelines that a person or organization uses when making decisions, solving problems, and building relationships. Many organizations have aligned themselves with Core Values and advertise them to their employees and clients, but do they follow them?

I have worked at several organizations that have published their core values online and then described how they are upholding them. I have seen several of them over the years: Accountability, Honesty, Transparency, and Responsibility, to name a few. I have even been at some organizations that say they have a core value of “To Get S*** done.” While the last one is amusing, it brings to mind why a company would commit to these ideas. Is it just for branding purposes, or do they believe in them?

I’m not going to disparage any particular organization, but if your company has a set of core values, then you should follow them, not just your employees but your leadership as well. For instance, if your organization says it is transparent, then it shouldn’t hide information from its employees or clients. It should be transparent about success and failure, even if the latter is painful to admit. Hey, you said it was one of your core values after all.

When I joined the United States Navy in the mid-1990s, I was formally introduced to its Core Values: Honor, Commitment, and Courage.

Honor stands for conducting yourself in the highest ethical manner, being honest and truthful, and being accountable for your professional and personal behaviors. Commitment meant you respected everyone above and below you on the chain of command, regardless of race, religion, and sex, and treated others with human dignity. Courage means you are willing to do your duty despite personal consequences and provide the moral and mental strength to do what is right while conducting yourself at a higher standard.

Were we perfect in following these core values? No. Nobody is perfect. Still, everyone from the lowest-ranked enlistee to the Chief of Naval Operations was expected to follow and aspire to those core values.

Every organization has some who aspire to its core values while others simply want a paycheck. You should reward those who do so. Most of all, leadership should inspire everyone in the organization to believe in the core values through their actions and mannerisms. Words are cheap, but actions are inspirational.

If you don’t feel your organization is doing this, it might need to revisit or change its core values.