First-Time Leader: Foundational Tools for Inspiring and Enabling Your New Team

CHAPTER 5

VALUES: ALIGN YOURSELF AND YOUR TEAM WITH THE ORGANIZATION’S MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES—MORE OR LESS

Leadership is about inspiring and enabling others to do their absolute best together to realize a meaningful and rewarding shared purpose. What matters is that shared purpose.

Virtually every experienced leader that has spoken at CEO Connection CEO Boot Camps has said that the number one job of any leader is to own the vision and values. It’s true for experienced CEOs. It’s true for first-time leaders. It’s true for everyone in between. Get clear on your purpose—your mission, vision, and values.

Simon Sinek put it particularly well in his September 2009 TED talk in which he explained his “golden circle” of communicating from the why out instead of the what in.

It is remarkable and powerful when a leader gets it right. Nick Sarillo of Nick’s Pizza & Pub, an Illinois-based family dining business, shared his ideas with George:

The overriding message, I think, is that business leaders must explicitly define their organization’s purpose. Defining our purpose first is critical because it shapes every other aspect of “BRAVE Leadership.” Your organization’s purpose shapes behaviors, relationships, attitudes and the work environment. The purpose, “why” we do what we do, creates a meaningful place to work. The values are also important in creating an intentional culture because they are “how” we do the “what,” whether it is pizza or widgets or accounting.1

Golden Circle of Communicating ...