Google and why understanding values is important

After studying effective bosses, Google has narrowed down what they teach their leaders to 6 main areas, according to Inc.com this month. One of those areas is “mindset and values.”

Google encourages leaders to have a growth mindset as opposed to thinking that skills and abilities are fixed. This causes leaders to continue to grow and challenge themselves, and do the same for their staff.

Google also wants leaders to understand their individual values so that they can leverage them to be better leaders. Instead of imposing Google’s corporate values, they want leaders to know themselves so that they can create meaning and impact in their roles.

The article says, “When faced with uncertainty, values can be a manager’s saving grace.” Google realizes that managers have to make difficult decisions, and by understanding their values they can use them to assist in decision making.

Do you recommend that your leaders know their personal values? Do you have corporate values that are ignored? Do you even talk about values?

Your leaders have values – we all do! And whether we are aware of them or not, values impact our decision making. Your organization is better served if your leaders are making tough decisions while they are aware of their values. Knowing what is important to them and how they could sway or color their decisions.

Google’s values are “avoid micromanagement,” “fun & freedom” and “openness, general ethics and corporate citizenship.”

What are your organization’s core values? Those things that are important to who you are and creates your culture, i.e. “what it feels like to work here.”

Are your leaders conscience of their individual values? Do they know how they align with organization values? Because if there isn’t an alignment between personal & org values, personal values win out in the long-term – the leader might do something the organization doesn’t condone or they might quit.

I know that the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) leaders that I work with would rather discuss concepts that are easier to define and measure. However, understanding individual values, how they flavor your decision making and their alignment with org values, are important topics for all leaders to understand.

Want to talk about your personal values? Want to define your organization’s core values? Let’s talk: Valerie.MacLeod@HainesCentre.com

Photo by Valerie MacLeod