Jeannine Sandstrom and Lee Smith
Great leaders are conscious guardians of both personal and organizational vision and values. It becomes part of who they are, and guides all they do. BEING a Holder implies understanding the necessity of never allowing vision and values to slip out of focus or priority. Merely having vision, or having values is not enough. They must be intentionally held. A Legacy Leader® is very clear about his or her own personal core vision and values, which are the driving forces for their leadership. Leadership is not just about doing vision, and doing values- professionally or organizationally. A Legacy Leader® LIVES them, preserves them, and relies upon them as a guide.
Critical Success Skills: Core Competencies
Holding Vision and Values involves an unswerving commitment to intentional behavior that enables an organization to realize its vision and operate with integrity-consistently. These behaviors are not mere references to non-measurable goals or giving lip service to a stated code of ethics. A Legacy Leader embraces and practices ten critical success skills which serve to shift entire organizational cultures to realize goals, and doing so also provides a solid leadership model for tomorrow’s leaders.
The success skills for this first Legacy Practice will always be hallmarks of great leaders.
- Consistently reinforce organizational vision and values.
- Intentionally model guiding principles in everything, with everyone.
- Personally integrate organization’s vision in all responsibilities.
- Have a well-defined strategic plan for accomplishing the vision.
- Enable the team to translate organizational vision, and align daily responsibilities with organizational goals.
- Establish measurable milestones congruent with vision.
- Ensure that organizational values are integrated into how the organization does business.
- Clearly identify your personal values; “walk the talk” in everything.
- Place importance on developing others.
- Effectively communicate, sustain processes to achieve vision and values.
The BE-Attitudes of a Holder of Vision and Values
When we attempt to compile lists of the necessary attitudes and qualities of good leaders as they might pertain to this Legacy Practice, we would expect to see such core characteristics as visionary, a communicator , open and not guarded, a role model, and a person of integrity.
These would head the list of many other attitudes that could be named here. However, this is not about just good, or great, leaders. It is about Legacy Leaders. Legacy sets these leaders apart from all others. Leaders who live their legacy now will possess certain fundamental attributes and inclinations that enable them to truly lead for legacy as they hold vision and values. We have identified five specific foundational attitudes that distinguish Legacy Leaders in this Legacy Practice. These are not listed in any order of importance. Brief descriptions of the top five follow. A Legacy Leader, a Holder of Vision and Values, is:
- Others-Oriented
This person conducts him or herself in ways that benefit others first, not self. These leaders are aware of other people, their roles, their performance and their needs, and always seek to lift others before self. This leader is sensitive to development opportunities for others.
Legacy Leaders are aware of how their personal behavior affects other people and seek to either maximize the positive impact or minimize the negative.
- A Guardian
This person always protects and champions what is important, such as vision and values, guarding them against erosion or loss, and seeking their incorporation into all behavior and processes.
- Seamless
This person’s life and behavior looks the same regardless of position, place or politics. Business conduct is the same as personal conduct. Public behavior is the same as private behavior.
Others cannot detect a change in behavior depending on situation or circumstances.
- Values-Driven
This person does everything, in all places and positions, based on a personal and professional set of values. These values drive and shape all behavior. This leader is also constantly measuring behavior against values, making correction or changes as necessary.
- A Whole Systems Thinker
This person has the ability to see life around him or her as a who le system with many parts. This is true in business and general life. These leaders are able to grasp the “big picture” but also understand the many parts that make up that picture. They see the inter-relationships among the parts and how all contribute to the whole.