
Benjamin Franklin formed the Junto
› Goals were community fellowship and service
› Character was a concern
› His values were:
• Temperance
• Order
• Resoluteness
• Industry
• Sincerity
• Justice
• Moderation
• Cleanliness
• Humility
9-2

Some organizations view values as a
requirement for success
› Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke took
Tylenol off the market after seven people
died during poisoning events

Results of a study of the financial
performance of companies with written
value statements:
 Net income increased by a factor of 23 during
a period when the GNP grow by a factor of
2.5
9-3

Values are a social glue
› They provide structure and stability for
people with diverse backgrounds

Jack Welch, former CEO of General
Electric, sees management values as a
source of corporate identity
› Values provide guidance for members who
are independent decision makers
9-4
9-5

Values:
› Can mask hypocrisy
› Must enter into daily practices of the
organization
› Must reflect enduring commitments

Leaders must:
› Examine their own value systems
› Put good intentions into actions
that others can witness

Things that reduce the character and
strength of the organization:
› Unclear values
› Failure to enforce the values
› Lack of agreement on core values

Author Leon Wieseltier wrote:
› The problem with society is that people
believe in too much
› Much is too easily acquired and too
thoughtlessly held
9-6

Red flags:
› Members lack understanding about how they should
behave as they attempt to meet goals
› Different individuals and groups have different value
systems
› Top leaders send mixed messages about what is important
› Day-to-day life is disorganized
› Members complain about the organization
› The organization has values, but does not practice them
9-7
9-8

Management author Peter
Drucker states:
› Each organization has a value
system influenced by its task
 Health is the goal in every hospital in
the world
› For an organization to perform at its
highest level:
 Leaders must believe that
what the organization does
has value to people and society

In A Business and Its Beliefs: The Ideas
That Helped Build IBM, Thomas Watson,
Jr. explains the importance of values:
 To survive and achieve success, an
organization must have a sound set of values
 Leaders must adhere to those values
 To meet challenges, organizations must be
able to change everything about itself
 Be open to change, but always remain true to
core values
9-9

Watson also said that IBM was successful
because of three core values:
› Respecting the individual
› Giving the best customer service
› Performing every job with excellence
9-10
9-11

Values in the a workplace:
› Honesty
› Respect
› Service
› Excellence
› Integrity
9-12

When people define character:
› What they say is important
› What they do is more important
› What they sacrifice for is most important
In its highest form, character is based on
a value system that is known, cherished,
stated, lived, and lived habitually
 The highest form of living by one’s values
is caring to the point of personal sacrifice


Character and leading by values require
courage:
› Philosopher-psychologist Rollo May explains
the importance of courage:
 Courage is the foundation that underlies and
gives reality to all other virtues and values
 Without courage, love pales into dependency
and fidelity becomes conformism

“Courage” comes from the French word
coeur meaning “heart”
 It makes possible all the psychological virtues
9-13
9-14

Leadership situations are characterized
by:
› Ambiguity
› Uncertainty
› Danger
Leaders must act in spite
of these factors
 Leadership requires courage
to act and live by one’s convictions


Italian diplomat and political writer Niccolo
Machiavelli believed:
› The best individuals adapt to market forces and
›
›
›
›
become masters of manipulative relations
Flattery, deceit, and murder may be necessary
to win and retain power
People should never cultivate private virtues that
in public life would prove political suicide
People should develop vices if helpful to one’s
rule
Ends justify means and might makes right
9-15

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
believed:
› Human resoluteness, born of independent
judgment, was the highest good
› Individuals should be independent in thought
and strong in conviction
› Nature is filled with conflict spilling over into
society
› The best humans exhibit moral virtue (wisdom,
justice, courage, and other ideals), regardless of
loss or gain
9-16
9-17

German philosopher Marvin
Heidegger believed:
› In the Greek ideal of nobility
› That adhering to personal principles
in the face of social pressure to
conform is important
› That personal integrity is good,
regardless of the results
› That people must choose their
lifestyle and commitments carefully

Immanuel Kant, author of Criticism of Practical
Reason and Fundamental Principles of the
Metaphysics of Morals, believed:
› People must choose the obligations that become
their duty
› People must be responsible for their own actions
› A person with character will choose duty to
conscience and will not succumb to base desires
› Acts from a good motive and sense of duty are
good, regardless of the consequences

This view greatly influenced Western civilization
9-18

Personal conscience and duty are seen in
the words of Israeli stateswoman Golda
Meir:
› “If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it,
regardless of the possible outcome”

When faced with an ethical question, a
person with character tries to sort right from
wrong
› Traditional definitions of good have guided
Western culture
› “People must stand for something, otherwise
they will fall for anything”
9-19

Full-swing values:
› Used to assess the strength of one’s values
› Important for people in leadership positions
› A full-swing is needed to hit a “home run”
 True for questions of right and wrong,
good and bad

Axiology is a branch of philosophy
dealing with values
9-20

Five Points:
› Point 1: know one’s values
› Point 2: cherish one’s values
› Point 3: declare one’s values
› Point 4: act on one’s values
› Point 5: act habitually on one’s values
9-21

Cases of Jim, Jane, Jack, Jill, and John
› Jim-knows values, has not examined others
› Jane-knows and cherishes values
› Jack-knows, cherishes, and declares values
› Jill-knows, cherishes, declares and acts on
her values
› John-knows, cherishes, declares, acts and
does it habitually
9-22

Full-Swing Values
9-23

In every field, the highest level of
leadership is full-swing
› Leaders are impelled to act because the act
is deemed good
› Conscience dictates that the act is the right
thing
to do

The quality of doing the right thing for the
right reason is called integrity
› It is possessed by all truly great leaders
9-24
9-25
Why is it important for an organization to
have values?
 What is the role of the leader in
establishing and enforcing these values?

 There are many ideas on
these questions
 Few are as influential as
those of the philosopher Plato
9-26

In Plato’s story The Republic, he retells
the “Myth of Gyges” and the invisible
ring
› A shepherd finds a magic ring that makes
one invisible
› He uses the ring to eavesdrop, steal, and
trespass
› In a short time, he amasses wealth, kills the
king, seduces the queen, and rules the land
9-27

Moral of the story:
› Given power without accountability, an
individual may do deeds that are harmful
› People need the values of a just society and
the oversight of wise and caring leaders
› A republic is needed for the good of all
individuals

A leader with false or harmful values can be
injurious to others
› Hitler Stalin, and many other tyrants in history are
examples
› Hence, leaders need to be caring, good, and
strong

Culture shapes a leader’s values, which
influences actions
› African Society:
 Ubuntu represents a collection of values,
including harmony, compassion, respect,
human dignity, and collective unity
 Each of us is human through the humanity of
other humans
› A Zulu maxim: …a person is a person through
other persons: my humanity is caught and
bound inextricably in yours
9-28

Leaders who are immoral and nonprincipled:
› Are difficult to forgive
› Lack moral authority
› Are not trusted or respected

The leader’s values determine the rightness
and wrongness of what they do
› The leader’s actions set the tone for other’s
behavior and performance on the job
› Leaders who are honest, unselfish, and
dedicated help the group succeed
9-29
9-30

Warren Buffett’s order to senior managers
when the took over the failed firm of
Salomon:
› Instantaneously and directly report any legal
violations or moral failures by employees
 Buffet understood that basic values are
crucial for building trust
› Honesty and responsibility are crucial for
building trust, which is the bedrock of
organizational survival and growth

Almost all business schools now require
ethics courses
9-31

In general, a leader’s belief or value
system will determine his/her success
› Six values of caring leaders:
 Honesty
 Consideration
 Responsibility
 Persistence
 Excellence
 Commitment

Overall value of the caring leader is to
serve
› The caring leader focuses on the welfare of:
 Customers
 Employees
 Shareholders
 Community

Values affect everything a person does
or is
› What values do I wish to promote?
› Are my actions helping accomplish that
goal?
9-32
9-33

Aspects of society require
leaders to commit to certain
ideals and goals
› This is addressed in “The Study
of Values” by Gordon Allport,
Phillip Vernon, and Gardner
Lindzey
All values on the questionnaire are positive
Culture influences personal values
The questionnaire provides an overall value
orientation
 A person’s life allows maximum expression
of personal values
 Value systems are firm by the time most
people reach adulthood
 Different organizations reflect and endorse
different value; leaders must promote the
value system



9-34
9-35

Points to Remember:
› Does not measure other
important factors, such as
aptitude, personal interests,
temperament, or morality
› Different values can enrich
a group
or organization