Articles
Power versus values – why managers should put their employees' needs first
In the second part of a series on values-based leadership, Nick Humphrey explains how understanding your values – and whether they complement those of your firm – can provide long-lasting, positive results.
“The measure of a man is what he does with power” – Pittacus
People at all levels of a business have the ability, formally and informally, to influence people and events. That authority and influence makes them leaders, and can be used to serve others – or to dominate them. There are two basic models for leadership:
- Power-based – this is founded on manipulating authority to get what you want and to make other people do things. Power is an end in itself and relationships are non-collaborative, so there are conflicts and politicking.1
- Values-based – this is a model that asserts that being a better leader is about really knowing yourself, what you stand for and what is truly important to you. This self-awareness can then be applied collectively to understanding the firm’s values and convictions.
A central component of values-based leadership is a dedication to meeting the needs of others and being of service. Firms founded on this model have a compelling vision that inspires a higher purpose, as well as shared values which are clearly communicated and genuinely held.
Values as guiding principles
Adopting a values-led approach gives you some guiding principles to deal with any challenge or crisis as a leader; no matter how complex, emotionally charged or seemingly unresolvable. If you know what you stand for, then you will know what to do in any circumstances as it comes down to doing the right thing and doing the best you can.2 For example, if a core value is integrity, then you will know that you need to communicate in an open and transparent way with all staff.
By the way, there is little point trying to emulate a great leader if their values do not match your own. People will know you are not being authentic and your responses will be less intuitive when challenges arise.
Importance of heritage
Part of this process is knowing your personal values – these will be unique to you and stem from your family heritage, socio-economic background, religious faith, education and peer group.3 You will also need to ascertain your organisation’s key values. These will be reflective of the heritage of the firm and be driven by cultural factors such as the geographical roots of its founders. For example, a small, recently-formed entity will be driven by the values of its managing partner or founders. If the firm is older and established, it will be driven by its heritage over many, many years, including its founder’s original values.
The values of an organisation belong uniquely to that organisation, although many will be shared with other organisations. Also, the values of a firm may change over time, particularly with new leaders and the introduction of lateral hires or mergers.
Conflict between personal and firm values
Clearly, if there is a conflict between your firm’s values and your own personal values then you will need to carefully assess whether you can transform those values or whether you are better off seeking more aligned partners. For example, if your firm has a culture driven by individual partner performance that does not value teamwork or collaboration, whereas you believe teamwork and collaboration are critical, then you will be in a state of conflict.
Principles of values-based leadership
Professor Harry M. Jansen Kraemer, Jr, of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, proposes four principles of values-based leadership:4
- Self-reflection: this requires self-awareness and reflection. You need to look within yourself and identify your values. ”After all, if you are not self-reflective, how can you truly know yourself?” Professor Kreamer asks. “If you don’t know yourself, how can you lead yourself? If you can’t lead yourself, how can you lead others?”5
- Genuine humility: being humble helps you keep all aspects of your life in perspective. Do not let your success make you forget where you came from. Humility will ground you and ensure you treat everyone in your team respectfully and value them appropriately.
- Self-confidence: you must accept that there will always be someone who is smarter or more successful than you. Perhaps more importantly, you need to accept yourself as you are and acknowledge your relative weaknesses and seek to improve upon them.
- Balance: this requires you keep an open mind and try to see all sides to an issue (there is an old saying: there are three sides to every argument: your side, their side and the truth).
Given that people at any level of a firm (whether a managing partner, practice group leader, graduate or secretary) have power, you do not need to wait until you are leading thousands of people to apply these principles. As Professor Kraemer states: “It is never too early or too late to become a values-based leader.”6
Service and leadership
“Anybody can be great because everyone can serve” – Martin Luther King
Many leaders adopt a master-servant mentality, where their staff are there to serve them as a leader and obey their commands. Great leaders turn this approach upside down. They realise that their role is to serve their staff. The motto of the LA Police Department is to “protect and serve”. Leaders should ask themselves how they can better use their authority and influence to protect their staff from bullies, intimidation and unreasonable deadlines; and serve them by addressing their needs.
When was the last time you asked the people you lead what they need? What are the things that annoy them? What is their ‘rub-list’? Their concerns? What makes them anxious? What things are really irritating them? The term ‘Servant Leadership’ was first coined by Robert Greenleaf, who argued that “the great leader is seen as servant first, and that simple fact is the key to his greatness”.7
In the US military, officers let their troops eat before them at the mess. This says to their soldiers, “your needs come before mine.” It is a sentiment that many leaders and managers would do well to adopt.
Nick Humphrey is a partner and head of corporate at Sparke Helmore. He is the chairman of the Australian Growth Company Awards and author of several books on business and law, including the Australian Private Equity Handbook.
www.sparke.com.au
Footnotes
1 Jeanne McGuire, “The Case for Values-Based Leadership: Maximising People and Profitability”, Corporate Education Group, http://www.corpedgroup.com/resources/ml/ValuesBasedLeadership.asp.
2 Harry M. Jansen Kraemer Jr, “The Only True Leadership Is Values-Based Leadership”, 26 April 2011, pg 1http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/26/values-based-leadership.html.
3 Rachel Farrell, “Principles of ‘value-based leadership’,” Kellogg School of Management, 14 October 2009.
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news_articles/2009/bob_mcdonald.aspx.
4 Kraemer, op cit, pg 1.
5 Id.
6 Id.
7 Robert K. Greenleaf, “Servant Leadership – A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”, 1977, Paulist Press.