What are your values? Can you name them? If yes, can you define them?
Before you roll your eyes and conclude that this is “just another boring article about values,” consider this: All BEHAVIOR is based on values, and all DECISIONS are based on values. That’s why I chose values as the subject for my first Leadership Skills column. And that’s why you can’t afford not to care about and understand how values drive actions in your organization.
Stuck Together
Values are what’s important to us and what we stand for. But they go further; values help us maintain accountability. By observing the behavior of individuals within a department, we can understand the organization’s values. Of course, there are always errant individuals who act out, but how the department deals with such individuals will ultimately reveal its values.
Over the last 100 years or so, the fire service has had a very generic but succinct mission/purpose: Protect life and property. More recently, in the last 3 decades, much has been written about vision–the direction of the organization. And over the last 2 decades, many organizations have identified their core values. This has led many departments to develop Mission, Vision & Values (MVV) statements–the purpose (mission), the direction (vision) and the shared norms (values) of the organization.
As important as a vision and a mission are, values are the glue that holds an organization together. This can only occur if members think often about their values, hold a common definition of them, review them on a regular basis and commit to living by them. Equally important is the organization’s ability to uphold these values as a measurement for rewards and discipline.
Values tell members how to act in those grey areas where policy and procedures and/or the written rule cannot. They orient new team members as well as existing ones. They communicate expectations for individual behaviors and performance and how we interact with one another. In organizations that don’t have stated values, a vacuum will exist, and some other person’s or group’s values will take hold.
A Common Denominator
Having been in the fire service for more than 3 decades, teaching and presenting leadership and professional development nationally and internationally, I’ve observed that the achievement-oriented agencies–ones with good customer service and minimal drama, disruptions, grievances and personnel issues–are organizations that have strongly held values.
Conversely, in organizations that have serious issues related to abnormal behaviors and/or discipline, the common denominator is the lack of shared values, or the lack of understanding of what the stated values mean. In his book “Great Leadership,” author Antony Bell put it succinctly: “You should never underestimate the power of your values. They can be a powerful ally or a powerful enemy.”
We typically recruit and hire for talent and potential, rather than character, thinking that after a period of time (typically the probationary process), the new member will embrace the department values. This creates the possibility that down the road, the new member will run into trouble because their personal values conflict with the organization’s stated values.
To avoid this, you must first understand your organization’s values, which means understanding how you and your employees define those values.
Reaching Consensus
In the Blanchard and O’Connor book “Management by Values,” the authors state, “The most important thing in life is to decide what is most important.”
Clarifying your organization’s values involves asking personnel to define them. If you already have a set of written values, ask your crews and staff to independently write out definitions for each of the values. If you don’t have written values, ask personnel to define some of the more common words used as organizational values, such as service, trust, loyalty, etc. (a lot of departments will post their values on their Web sites, on the back of their business cards or on their letterhead, so that’s a good place to start). Note: To make this process easier logistically, larger organizations may want to complete it in a three-tiered approach: First, the fire chief defines the values; next, the management team does; and finally, a focus group representing all staff does.
Use these definitions as a basis for discussion. Ask members to give examples of living each value. Seek common ground, areas where the individual definitions overlap. Ultimately, the right answer is not what it means to you or them, it’s what it means to all the members.
When Values Are Needed
No single person can or should be the leader at all times. If you hire for character, values are understood, the mission is clear and the vision is compelling, decision-making is easier for all personnel. The fire chief and leaders within the organization can be confident that the decisions will be made the way they would make them.
In the public sector, no department (water, library, public works, etc.) is more decentralized than the fire service. We have stations strategically placed throughout our communities, and the majority of our work is done not within the confines of those facilities but even further out within the community.
Only training, standard operating procedures, and understood, shared values can guide a highly decentralized organization. Without them, you have a group of people doing what they think is right, but their actions may not be consistent with that of the organizational mission.
Whether it be an officer running a division or a firefighter in the field presented with a situation they’ve never seen before, values help guide decisions when the fire chief or chief officers aren’t around.
Ever More Important
Not that long ago, the majority of our members came from two backgrounds: the building trades or the military (or both). Military experience in conflicts, including World War II, Korea and Vietnam, provided a common operating platform, discipline and team orientation, and the blue collar trades provided psychomotor skills, independence and self-reliance.
This shared background is no longer the case in today’s fire service. Fire service leaders estimate there are now four to five cultures within the service, each having its own set of values. If these cultures are left to their own design, each will operate on a different set of standards. That’s why defining and living shared values is so important in the modern fire service.
Values help to maintain an environment in which the organization can remain committed to its mission and vision, and at the same time capitalize on the unique capacities of its members, keeping them motivated, healthy and productive. Think about it: We spend at least a third of our lives at work. Shouldn’t we spend that time united in a common mission?
