-Middle Manager in a Large Regional Company
“At Acme Inc. our core values are Integrity, Trust, Innovation and Community.”
That statement or something similar can be found on just about any organizational website. Most companies and individuals believe having values is important.
They say it. So it must be true…Right?
Just because a contestant on American Idol claims they can sing doesn’t mean they can. Whether in business, in ministry, or in our homes, claiming to have values does not mean I actually have values. Continue Reading…
Headline: West Point, The Best Public College in America — US News and World Report in 2011.
My alma mater opened in 1802 as an engineering school. In 2011 it was ranked third in the nation for undergraduate engineering, still lockstep with its 200-year-old original purpose. But at its heart, West Point is a leadership school.
The primary mission of West Point has been to provide leaders of character for our nation.
The question, “Can character be developed?” is answered every May when a new group of 1,000 second lieutenants complete four years of character development. In June of 1984, I began my journey from typical high school graduate to trained Army officer four years later. West Point changed my attitude about what the word character means.
Though I was trained to lead at West Point and led men in combat as a lieutenant in the Army, I was still a baby when it came to recognizing a problem on my team, coaching it and documenting it appropriately in the corporate world.
I hired Tory myself (name changed). He had the talent to be a top salesperson. He had the gift of gab and people were naturally drawn to him. In fact, we were a lot alike, and I enjoyed spending time with him.
The first time I noticed it, I raised an eyebrow and forgot about it. A month later, there it was again. I was thinking it through when my cell phone rang and I moved to a more urgent issue. Continue Reading…
Organizational or personal values describe HOW we operate. Many organizations claim to follow certain values because they list them on their websites, or they are on a poster in their offices.
However, many employees will say their organization has values published, but admit those companies do not live by them. Why? I believe there are two reasons:
Character is now a buzzword. I use the term buzzword here to describe words that we hear frequently yet are rarely defined by the speakers. The GOP nomination fight is full of buzzwords. I hear athletes described on Sportcenter using some of the same buzzwords as the politicians use. The problem is, if you dig into those words’ real meanings, you would see how much of a stretch the speakers are making.
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