Guardrails Can Help You Keep Your District on the Road
By: Etienne R. LeGrand, CEO Vivify Performance
Values or behaviors…Do you know where to focus your culture shaping efforts?
As I talk with superintendents about whether their school district environments are as healthy and positive as they could be, invariably they’ll tell me their district records values as evidence of their commitment to establish a positive culture. Some ask whether they should focus on values or behaviors to move the needle on their culture.
The following story illustrates the difference between the use of values and behaviors. A friend of mine, who leads an elementary school, was approached by one of his 4th grade teachers. The teacher explained that she didn’t have enough time to both teach her classes and come together with her 4th grade colleagues. My friend, who values collaboration, said that the time she invested in collaborating with her colleagues would pay dividends for her kids. The teacher went away disappointed but returned with the same concern about using her time to work with her colleagues. It was obvious the teacher could not understand his point of view and she told him she could get more done if she limited her efforts to electronic interactions.
One value—two entirely different behaviors.
What happened here? Both the principal and the teacher shared the value of collaboration. However, this value was expressed in different behaviors. For the principal, working together wasn’t limited to the use of electronic devices, but included personal interactions that could build trust, connectedness and relatedness among his 4th grade teachers. On the other hand, the teacher thought collaborating meant sharing information with her colleagues as efficiently as possible.
Does this mean you should drop values and focus on behaviors? Not quite, because one reinforces the other.
Values
Shared values represent deeply held beliefs about how leaders want their employees and the district to operate. It is what is valued and matters most as people work to execute their purpose that makes the difference in healthy organizations.
Values create a template for district and individual behavior.
Values set guidelines and standards for making decisions, determining priorities and solving problems when they are clearly stated and accepted by all members of the organization.
Values underpin behaviors.
Behaviors
Behaviors bring values to life by adding meaning to these core values
Behaviors provide a template for all human resources reinforcement systems, including selection, succession planning, etc. and makes culture “do-able.”
Behaviors translate values into tangible, observable and measurable elements that can be implemented, assessed and honed.
Behaviors are guiding principles, rules of the road that when consistently exhibited by employees (and students) enable learning and sustained performance.
Behaviors that are specific and core to shared values avoids ambiguity (as in the example above).
The Roadmap to Success
“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” -Lewis Carroll
Both values and behaviors play a role in shaping culture. It’s critical to explicitly define each core value with a set of guiding principles that clearly explain the meaning of the value. This becomes a roadmap for employees and students to follow. The specificity allows a district to define the unique differences and priorities in their own culture. They also provide flexibility in terms of how many values are needed.
Here’s an example of how one corporation defines teamwork via its guiding behaviors:
One rule of culture shaping is if you can’t define it, you can’t create it, so you’ve got to define the culture you want. This definition usually takes the form of an organization’s values and guiding behaviors.
Do your values exist beyond your glossy brochure or screen savers? Do you have behaviors that live in the employees and students that work and learn in your district? Are you and your team walking the talk?