December 2008
Rectitude and Values Do Matter
First we want to wish
you a blessed Christmas
in all its full meaning
of Love and Grace.
Unfortunately, in
contrast to what this
season is all about,
greed and corruption
have dominated the news
and commentaries lately
(besides the morose news
concerning the economy
and differing opinions
surrounding rescuing
it). Perhaps I should
not even say "lately."
Starting most visibly
with Enron, we have had
an increasing cascade of
discoveries of perfidy,
both in the for-profit
and nonprofit sectors
culminating in the
crescendoing collapse of
once great companies and
the very endangerment of
national economies.
What is a board to do
regarding its
organization? Why must
we default to Congress
(or auditors) (and ever
more intrusive laws and
regulations) to prevent
corruption within our
organizations? What
haven't boards done? Are
supposedly very smart
people, leaders, losing
their common sense as
well as their
consciences? Are boards
not able to govern in a
way that assures
integrity?
Since many boards are,
unfortunately, reactive
in their approach to
governance, (i.e., their
agenda is dominated by
reacting to management
initiatives, requests,
reports, events,
external forces, etc.),
it is unusual for a
board to be intentional
and proactive concerning
its approach to
rectitude and values and
the job of assuring
itself that its values
are expressed and
enforced by the CEO and
imbedded in the
organizational culture
and its actions. Robert
Greenleaf and others
accuse boards rightly of
passivity. We entrust
way too much
unconstrained power (and
often great wealth) to
our chief executives and
ignore or disbelieve the
truth that such
unconstrained power is
corrupting, (and
creeping corruption is
blinding). Such boards
play an unwitting role
in the corruption of
their executive.
But all things start
with values, of course,
... or the lack of them.
On the other hand, here
is some inspiration: I
have a client, a large
agency, not a religious
organization at all,
that wanted to begin
their latest round of
strategic planning by
first re-visiting their
values (which has been a
long time list). They
perceived that their
values were simply words
on their website and in
their literature. They
had not been intentional
about making it a part
of the culture of the
organization - or if a
part - it had more or
less happened piece-meal
by way of the right
leadership. No one
really remembered the
list of values well or
could explain them in a
consistent way.
As I facilitated, they
studied the values
triangle, (a system of
core values (virtues)
that produces an ever
richer system of
ancillary values - each
dependent on, and
reinforcing, the others
- starting with
integrity, compassion,
and humility), and they
decided to adopt it as
their values construct.
They even worked it into
their logo so that it
would be always before
them, and they could
even draw it on a napkin
for people. They could
then easily teach it,
discuss its meaning with
each other, and assess
their decisions and
actions. They would
emphasize the values in
their own words and
address weaknesses. I
was surprised and very
gratified by this
group's enthusiasm for
doing the right thing
and the work they did to
define it (a group of 25
people from throughout
the organization),
supported by top
management. They
realized their future
excellence and
performance hung on it.
Hats off to them.
Results-based Metrics:
I continue to be
impressed and convinced
of the power of good
results measures to
align and transform an
organization. I am
beginning to believe
that if an organization
does nothing else,
(assuming its
non-negotiable values
and fundamentals are in
place), but clearly
decide its ends, or
results, and then
determinedly find a way
to measure them -
repeatedly over time,
(and share those
findings transparently
throughout the
organization), focus,
alignment, and energy
will begin to emerge.
This seems backwards,
shouldn't strategy be
done and then
measurement? But even by
just paying attention to
results measures, the
organization will begin
to ask better and better
critical questions of
its basics, its
processes, and the
product(s) that it
assumes create the ends
it has set for itself.
In other words, it will
focus and improve,
compelled by the logic
of good metrics. Not a
bad strategy to start
with just in itself!
Nonprofits and
ministries are also
learning that donors and
funders are becoming
increasingly
results-oriented. Clear
ends/results and the
demonstration (by
measurements) that the
organization is
knowledgeably headed
toward their
accomplishment attracts
funding and donations.
Richard M. Biery, M.D. © 2008
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(Policy Governance is the registered service mark of John Carver; the authoritative website for the Policy Governance model can be found at www.carvergovernance.com.)