Marketing Branding Creativity Business Values
Welcome to another week of the Transformational Leadership Series. Last week, we discussed Leadership and Values or the role of values in transformational leadership. The kind of values a leader has will shape or influence their behaviour and conduct. Values are shaped by the families we grow up in, the people we meet in life and interact with as well as those who influence us from afar, events or life impacting circumstances, religious influences, educational background and schools attended, the media we encounter.
Core Values
Transformational leaders are not wishy-washy. They live by certain core values. What are core values? They are a set of timeless guiding principles, or the principles one holds dear that guides their conduct. These values determine what such leaders hold central and passionately. Core values do not change with the weather, situations or circumstances.
To illustrate the relationship of core values with the character of leaders, let us consider the case of a law enforcement officer who is a leader in the public service. Let us assume that integrity is one of his or her core values. If this is truly their core value, it must stand the test of time, and not change come what may. Let consider a situation where this officer suffers an unforeseen financial setback and needs urgent medical treatment for their spouse without which the spouse will die. Said treatment costs $80,000.00 and is required to be paid in full in 5 hours. Just in the nick of time, let us assume again that an “opportunity” arises where the officer can make that money by bending the law, in wrongfully testifying against an innocent person. If the officer succumbs to that temptation in this critical time, then integrity was not truly a core value of theirs because values are not flaky, but enduring and so should not change with the weather or pressures of life.
Psalms 15:4-5 (GNB)
4 They despise those whom God rejects, but honor those who obey the LORD. They always do what they promise, no matter how much it may cost.
5 They make loans without charging interest and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent. Whoever does these things will always be secure.
The underlined in the verses above describes integrity as a value. To have integrity is to be integrated with your word—meaning you and your word are ONE. God and His Word are ONE—hence He is a God of integrity. The day God and His Word stop agreeing, His integrity would suffer because He would have lied. It is the devil who has a problem with not being one with his word because he is the father or source of lies.
John 8:44 (NIV) You belong to your father, the devil, … for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Transformation that is sustainable can never be built on the backbone or foundation of lies (sifting sand). It can only be built on the solid rock of truth (integrity in action). Any leader who suffers from a famine of truth or integrity can never truly deploy sustainable transformation.
It is thus important to have core values. They give leaders security, stability and tether them within certain healthy boundaries as far as their conduct and actions are concerned. If we look at the last sentence in Psalm 15:5 quoted above, it reads, “Whoever does these things will always be secure”. This is with reference to any person who holds the core values espoused in previous sentences and verses central and passionate. Values make us secure. The absence thereof leaves us insecure and vulnerable.
Transformational leadership will always be sure if tied to the foundation of a godly value system, which springs forth from the fear or reverence of the Lord.
