Align What You Value And What You Say
After a recent keynote on Work-Life Balance, two attendees approached me. They said, “Our leaders say work-life balance is important. They even encourage us to use our vacation, not work weekends and holidays, and flex as we need to. But, the people they call out for recognition and special rewards are those who work long hours, weekends and holidays, or cancel vacation plans and put forth extraordinary effort to finish a project. We don’t feel we can trust what they say because we see what they do.”
Very likely, the story these two told was one of an unconscious gap between the company’s stated values and its current reality, created and reinforced by the behavior of its leadership.
In your company, do your values and behavior match? To be credible, make sure there’s tight alignment between what you say you value and what you recognize and reward.
