But is that enough?
Yes and no.
If you work in a high functioning organization, chances are your leaders walk the talk. They live the values. It comes from the top down. Leaders who live the values inspire others.
This brings me to posting your values statements on the wall. This is a form of communication, but it isn't the answer to creating a values based culture. People believe what they see and hear from their leaders, not what they read on a poster. If one leader in the organization is acting by a different set of rules, people will see that individual as an outlier. However, if employees see that more than one leader living by different standards, that's a trend. They'll scoff at the values and their cynicism will foster a negative, demoralized workplace.
So of course, leaders have to live the values. But is that enough?
Not really. Why?
Because in a large organization, most people don't get to meet you. They certainly don't see you every day, every week or every month. In fact, they may go years without ever shaking your hand.
However, most people will be invited to a business meeting and hear you speak; they may receive emails from you; they may hear from their own bosses about how you've handled certain situations.
This is why a leader has to not just lead by example, but also talk about examples of how the organization are living by its values. If you can't have lunch with every employee, you need to connect with them in a personal way through the stories of the organization. You can do this through speeches, presentations, videos and even email and blogs.
Tell stories that demonstrate how successful people in your organiztaion are walking the talk. Collect these stories routinely and then share how teams and groups have been living the values. Once you start to do this people will tell you more stories about living the values and you'll soon have a collection of these stories to share.
The ability to share compelling stories with points through speaking and writing is a critical leadershp skill. if you're not sure how to find stories - think of a time when your team has faced a difficult situation. Perhaps you disappointed a customer and had to 'do right by them.' Perhaps someone working on a project had to go above and beyond. What happened? Why did the team or individual make that decision? What was the outcome? How did it illustrate the values? What did the team learn from that experience? How can others apply the lesson?
These are the stories that you need to share with your organization. For your next presentation, investigate three examples of how the organization has succeeded, and analyze how those successes are tied to your values. It will be well worth it, because when people hear a story, they remember the story, and then they remember the point.
So living by example is only half of the battle. The rest is sharing the stories with others.
To set a good example / Set yourself as the standard