Love, Fear and the Destiny of Nations

In national values assessments across the globe, people profess to holding values such as "trust" and "accountability" as their core personal values.  How then can we live our personal values on a national scale, exhibiting them to the world through our actions?  Our research clearly indicates that fear continues to rule.  According to the 2011 US National Assessment, Americans are focused primarily on "blame", on placing fault with others for a lack of progress and cohesion.  The political system has stagnated because leaders fail to put aside personal fears and act for the greater good.  Polarized political parties cannot agree on what to do, and people do not believe they can count on leaders to act with integrity.   It seems American leaders can come together to avert crisis, we have witnessed it time and time again.  Yet once the imminent threat has passed, it is back to partisan politics as usual.

As often happens, the antidote can be found among the Desired Culture values.  When asked what values Americans would like to see exhibited in the nation, "accountability" is the top request and exceeds votes for any other value.   

So, how does a nation move from "blame" to "accountability?"  Values-based leadership is helping to create answers in Iceland.  As this nation seeks new approaches for dealing with the economic collapse of 2008, they have turned to the values requested by citizens as a foundation upon which to build their future.  Iceland is adapting the constitution based on the feedback from the values assessment and is creating online social networking to encourage civic engagement.  More than 1,000 citizens from voter registrations are working to help the government rebuild a values-driven nation. 

In Trinidad and Tobago, Bernard Marshall, a police officer and CEO of Strictly Kingdom NGO, has launched a national cultural transformation initiative entitled, "Change our World."  Marshall has a powerful motivation for conducting a national values survey:

"The programme we are looking at is to provide a road map...to avoid the revolution and perpetuate a transformation...to prove that change is possible...to initiate national transformation beginning with the leadership from all spheres... At the completion of the symposium participants must at least recognise that there is hope and that we have the capacity, potential and resources to make Trinidad and Tobago a better place for the generations to come." 

Indeed, we all have the potential.  The call for values-based leadership is emerging in our nations, in our world.  It is up to us to respond.

In his upcoming book, Love, Fear and the Destiny of Nations, Richard Barrett explores the quality of democracy from a values perspective, examining values such as "freedom", "justice", "openness", and "equality" and how well these values are exhibited and experienced in nations around the world.  

To lend your voice to the Quality of Democracy study, click here.

username: democracy

password: values

Your Organization in One Word

Elizabeth Gilbert, in her best selling book Eat,Pray,Love, describes a discussion with friends about the vibe of different cities. The friends suggested that each city has a word that defines it and identifies most of the people who live there. Whatever the majority "thought" might be is the word for the city. If you've read this entertaining book you know that the friends dubbed Rome with the word "sex," New York with "achieve," and Los Angeles with "success."

The underlying truth of this exercise is that we learn the values of people through our experience with them or being among them. The core essence of a group of people or an individual reveals itself to us through actions, words and structures.

On a recent trip to London I asked a friend, a Londoner, to describe the essence of her city with one word. As she hesitated, I offered the word "tradition." We'd just witnessed the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. My friend offered a word that held deeper truth for her - "tolerance." My mind connected with the scene at Heathrow Airport, a diverse melting pot where differences such as language create a chaotic buzz, but tolerance lends a melody. The important point is that "tolerance" is true for her. It is her experience of her city.

What word would describe the essence of your organization? Is it a word you've chosen for your organization or has it developed organically? Said another way - what is the predominant value expressed in your organization?

Leadership Beyond Limits offers a tool that allows you to determine with certainty what values your employees see expressed in the organization and how those compare with their personal values. This information is vital. If there is misalignment between their personal values and what they experience in your organization, they will be looking for a better match soon.

Open your next leadership team meeting by asking each person to write down the one word that describes the essence of your organization and then share them. The discussion might be revealing or affirming, but it will likely be one of the most important discussions you will have that day.