Teams don’t have values. Leaders have values.
I was just reading a book on leadership and the authors provided an anecdote of a mid-level manager whose team was in floundering. Then they had a team meeting to discuss and mutually agree on their team values. And that fixed everything!
Right.
I’m happy if that truly worked as described. But I’m skeptical.
I’ve been in those 2-hour team meetings. People offer ideas. They discuss whether they should add “extraordinary” to the idea that they want to deliver quality work. The list will undoubtedly include values like honesty, quality, customer focus, and respect for all. Great generic list. And it’s so superficial that it’s unlikely to change anyone’s commitment or engagement. It was only a word-parsing exercise.
In my own experience, the team wants to know the leader’s values.
I think that the 2-hour team meeting is better used by the leader to discuss their own values. To share publicly and transparently a consistent message about how these values impact the leader’s expectations of the team. For those in the meeting who intuitively agree with the leader’s values, engagement just jumped to a higher plateau.
But don’t stop there.
Over the next week, have one-on-one discussions with team members. Help them understand that values drive a successful life. And help them walk a path where they’ll discover their own values. Maybe they align with the leader’s. If so, a bond is created.
And if the values don’t align? Maybe it’s time to craft a specific role within the team that’s suited to the individual. Or, maybe it’s a chance to help the individual find a role elsewhere that’s perfectly suited to their values. When a leader does this well, everyone wins.
Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe teams really do craft their own values independent of the leader.