One of the key traits of a visionary leader is how she marries the bottom-line realities of a business with deeply-rooted cultural practices that help define the kind of organization one is building. Often times, prudent leaders will align their business objectives with larger issues - the environment, criminal justice, civil society - to highlight a set of beliefs that guide a general approach understanding the priorities of a company. This is a simple, yet effective way to signal to prospective collaborators and clients about the culture they are preparing to engage with.
The notion of ethical behavior in the business world has drawn a lot of controversial coverage over the last decade. There are a series of notable examples - Martin Shkreli (Turing Pharmaceuticals), Travis Kalanick (Uber), Jeff Skilling (Enron) - of apparently talented and skilled leaders who crossed several ethical lines to try to line their pockets, at the expense of stated company policies. In each of these examples, the leaders appeared not to have held themselves, or their C-Suite colleagues to generally accepted standards of ethical conduct.
While merely stating a company’s intention to align itself with a well-meaning cause doesn’t guarantee a company and its leadership will behavior ethically, public statements of affiliation with certain causes can shine a light on how people are expected to behave within a company culture. Making public statements about company intentions in this way, can serve as internal guardrails for workplace conduct.
We encourage clients to revisit their Mission and Vision statement periodically to inquire how they are doing against the backdrop of stated goals and objectives, vis a vis employee behavior. It is up to visionary leaders to insist that their behavior, along with that of their leadership teams exemplify the highest aspirations of a stated mission.
We also recommend that the periodic inquiry take place in a formalized way; perhaps an annual survey that is supported by regularly scheduled small-group discussions (or one-on-ones) that reinforce the cultural foundations of workplace behavior. It’s also a great opportunity to retest the original intent of the visionary language, to make sure that the team and leadership are upholding the tradition and spirit of ethical behavior linked to higher ideals that dictate operational culture.
