I’ve walked with organizational leaders at various pivotal junctures—growth junctures, strategic junctures, and leadership transition junctures. And I find myself inspired every time by those leaders who deeply desire that these significant changes not just be executed well but that they also are rooted in, born out of, and very much fueled by deeply-held organizational values.
There’s an added dimension of hope-and-vulnerability these leaders hold here. A deep desire that the missional values not be lost in the transitional translation, like the proverbial baby thrown out with the bathwater. A real awareness that while some things absolutely need to change, some things most definitely should not.
This is often a uniquely tender time, especially for leaders who have worked hard to embed values and corresponding behaviors in the organization—whether as a founder or a next-chapter leader who has led intentional cultural change. Will our collective values guide us both strategically and operationally? Are my colleagues and our culture as committed to this as I am?
After a big ol’ pregnant, time-will-tell pause, there thankfully can come that big moment when
these hopes are realized. Three such moments that have stuck with me:
The founder-leader facing his transition who heard loud and clear in a cultural audit that the values were alive and fully embraced by next-generation leaders.
The CEO who had secured outside investment for a new season of growth and heard real, resounding commitment to the organization’s values both by outside investors and inside operational leaders.
The CEO who received an unexpected email from someone in the organization who had taken initiative to flesh out the organizational values with practical actions and behaviors that would guide a new season of leadership development and performance management.
These leaders are like farmers who have planted seeds and then must wait to see exactly what has sprouted in the culture around them. Here’s to ever more gratified, reassured leaders when those seeds sprout into values-rooted change and transition.
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