24 Jun 2013

Just as individuals have values, so too do organisations. McDonald's values of efficiency, consistency and standardisation created the global junk food brand people have come to love and hate in equal measure. Walk into any McDonalds, whether it be in London, Moscow or Kuala Lumpur and ask for a Big Mac, and it will be the same size, weight and taste. The staff will look to serve it to you in the same packaging within set time guidelines, and do so with the same smile. Many people don’t like surprises, especially when they’re tired at the end of a long day or they’re on holiday, and they want to feel secure and safe in the knowledge that the burger they get is the same as it’s always been.

Of course, when a company becomes known for certain values it’s then very difficult for it to tag on new ones, such as green values. We’ve worked with many organisations as consultants to help them define their ‘vision and values’, and it’s amazing how many come to us with a list of cherry-picked values that they think they should be following. A large European retail chain showed us a list of their values they’d stuck up around their head office – in the boardroom, the toilets, next to the water fountains – to remind the staff what was expected of them. When we interviewed the shop floor employees – the people at the coalface – they threw the values out as unworkable, untrue and irrelevant. Values grow within organisations depending on its history, its experiences and its people; they’re not nice-to-haves the management think sound good.

Who are Lequin Leadership Development?

Lequin Leadership Development provide executive coaches, business coaches, executive business coaching, coach training courses, coach training, coaching skills for managers, coaching culture programmes, board coaching, outplacement support, executive coach, coach supervision, executive coaching, talent management, change management, change management training, leadership coaching and leadership development.

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