๐๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ are the core beliefs that define us, our essence. Collectively, they provide ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ and what we stand for; whatโs important in our lives.
Large organisations such as ๐๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ spend time defining and publicising their corporate values. The intention is to serve as the guiding principles that drive their decisions and behaviours. For example, a snapshot of my local NHS Providers reveals the following sets of values:
๐๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต, ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฆ๐ต๐บ, ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ
๐๐ข๐ง๐ฆ, ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต
๐๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค, ๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ
๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต, ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต
๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ-๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต, ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ
The NHS is currently an incredibly ๐ญ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก working environment. Staff are facing ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ง๐๐ฒ.
๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ and it is hard to see any immediate cause for optimism.
And it is at times like these that organisational values matter most. ๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ง๐ง๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ง๐๐๐จ.
Great leaders live in service to organisational values during these tough times, role modelling kindness, respect, fairness and integrity.
This is no easy task, but outstanding, ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐ซ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ to ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ.
This doesnโt mean avoiding difficult decisions. Kindness does not mean weakness, but it does require ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ฒ.
All of us who work in NHS organisations should expect our leaders to role model their organisational values; ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ.
๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ก between an organisationโs stated values and the lived experience of our working lives creates significant distress, it feels unjust, wrong. ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ.
And when our lived experience of work clashes with our personal values, this tension is a major contributor to ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ. We become cynical as a protective mechanism; we disengage, we retreat. ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐. We risk being less able to deliver the compassionate care we aspire to.
The higher purpose of organisational values is to guide those in authority in everything they do. Not just in the good times, the sunny days, but in the ๐ญ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฌ, in the ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ. ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ. ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ.