Firstly, I would like to say that the opinions expressed in this blog are mine alone and do not reflect, in any way, on the organizations to which I belong. That being said, in my relatively minimal experience with leadership, there are quite a few things I have noticed. Pulling from my own observations and my father’s vast knowledge and experience, it has become clear that there is one thing that separates a good leader from a great leader: the ability to apply “value-based decision making” skills. Now, when dear ol’ dad was explaining this to me first, I was having trouble fully grasping the concept. Before I get into that, however, I should really explain to you my fathers definition.
Value-based decision making is a leaders ability to deviate from standards and procedures — and in some cases, regulations — in order to change the organization or current situation for the better. Now for those in the military, that may seem sacrilegious — but bear with me. This is in no way an invitation for leaders to start breaking regulation and run wild with their power. In order to be justified, the deviation must follow these three rules:
Firstly, the decision has to be intellectually honest. By that I mean that it has to make sense. Regulations, for the most part, were written by ordinary people based on others mistakes. There is no way that they could possible account for every situation for which the regulation would apply. If a regulation exists, and for a certain situation it simply does not make sense (if you have waiver authority), as a leader you have an obligation to make a decision (based in values) to deviate. Any trained monkey can follow regulation word for word. For any organization, the mission is constantly evolving and there is a lag before the regulations can be updated — that is what leaders are for.
Secondly, the deviation cannot be self-serving. This should be obvious. If you as a leader benefit from this decision, it creates a conflict of interest. Even if the decision is made for the right reasons, a leader must always avoid the appearance of corruption. If it even looks like a leader might be corrupt, the public will loose faith and subsequently the organization will loose legitimacy. Therefore, any value-based decision cannot be self-serving.
Lastly, the decision has to actually improve something. If the decision is in no way better than what regulation permits, then there is no reason to deviate. Many leaders confuse different with better, but as the old saying goes “if it aint broke, don’t fix it.”
After all of these rules are met, you can be justified in making your value-based decision that you know in your heart you should make. Let me know if any of you leaders out there have any examples of value-based leadership either succeeding or failing. And thanks for reading.
I would like to give credit to my father, Arthur Crain, for his insight and guidance in my quest to become a better leader. Most of what I know comes from him.
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