Beware Corporate BS

I am sometimes a bit cynical about corporate values (there, I said it!). Not because they are not good things to have – in theory they are – but because so often they are words created to sound good, written by the senior team, a ‘project group’ or a bunch of consultants who then think ‘job done’. But everyone else thinks they are being ‘done to’.

No-one in the business really understands them or remembers them and even if they do, they don’t necessarily see those values being lived or breathed on a daily basis. 
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And we all know that actions speak louder than words.

There’s also the belief that some values can be unhelpful to organisational performance or a way of avoiding doing ‘the tough stuff.’ (Years ago I worked with a CEO who wanted everyone to be ‘happy’ – he shut down any conversation whatsoever that wasn’t about ‘happy’ – you can imagine how that worked out……) 

And here are two more examples:

‘How can I tell that person he’s not pulling his weight when we have the values of ‘respect and caring?’ (Interpretation of value: ‘Don’t say anything that’s ‘not nice.’)

Or ‘I’m so annoyed with her behaviour in the meeting but I can’t say anything because we have a value of mutual respect.’ (Interpretation of value: ‘Put up and shut up rather than give honest feedback’).

When we get into either/or thinking we get stuck. But instead of ‘I can either be respectful and caring OR I can give tough feedback’ the better question is ‘how can I give tough feedback in a caring and respectful way?

PS There are many more articles and practical resources like this in my Effortless Leader Facebook group. If you’re a leader who wants to be more successful on your own terms and without overwhelm, you might want to join us.