Why your leaders need a clear political position
How Leadership reaches out far beyond the workplace
Elections happen in every democracy. What is your political position?
This question on its own will make certain people in organisations feel uncomfortable. Do you hesitate to say where you stand politically? How does your organisation position itself in the political landscape? Are the values, which are often proclaimed to be at the heart of the business, the ones by which your leaders live?
Your organisation needs a moral, ethical and also political compass.
How does your organisation position itself when it comes to politics?
Non-Negotiables
It was Paul ter Wal who, in the early 2010 years, started the discussion about so-called Non-Negotiables. Which values are the ones that your organisation is not willing to negotiate? Can you name any? A handful of them? Or maybe just one?
Some organisations did well when it came to positioning themselves and their Non-Negotiables. Others struggle to look into their history and see countless issues that they never addressed but ignored.
Moral and ethics are often used when you try to strengthen a point you made. Still, these aspects are often based on personal values and part of an ongoing discourse inside your organisation and outside in public and society. Commonly named elements when it comes to Non-Negotiables are the aspects of democratic principles and Human Rights. First, it is great to see that leaders confirm their unconditional support for these principles. Still, do these leaders live by their values and the Non-Negotiables which they mentioned? When you look at your client base and supply chain, do your leaders live by the values they claim to have? When you look at your employees’ participation in the organisation, does this reflect well on the values you proclaim?
If your organisation, so far, has no agreed Non-Negotiables, it is about time to address the issue. The sooner, the better.
Positioning
An interesting example of how a position may or may not be held can be seen when looking at the example of the company Siemens. Their former CEO, Joe Kaeser, tried to form a cross-company board-level member alliance against the German far right-winged party AfD. He asked numerous board members from other stock exchange-listed companies but did not receive positive answers, which is shocking and disappointing (Source). Kaeser received public praise for his engagement against far right-winged extremist parties.
While also claiming that Joe Kaeser and Siemens protect the environment, the actions from the CEO suddenly showed unusually high flexibility when it comes to living by the values the company claims to have. Being a part of a debatable mega coal mine in Australia put Siemens under pressure (Source English / Source German).
You may have heard the phrase “Walk the talk”. The same applies here. When your leaders, on the one hand, show positive action but in the next moment demonstrate that a PR-focused approach often more leads their activities, your leaders will lose credibility amongst their staff and the general public. Portraying Kaeser as a positive example of the new generation of leadership would be incorrect. However, even some experts ignored the issues and praised Kaeser with one-sided viewpoints.
There is no shortcut for sustainable leadership in your organisation. Having a position means that especially your leaders have to live by the values they claim to have. If your managers, directors and executives are unable or unwilling to do so, a loss of credibility and damage to your Employer’s Brand will be the consequence.
Leadership
Your leaders will be the crucial part of communicating your brand values, viewpoints, and political position as an organisation. Too often, we saw that the statements made in the first place did not have any congruency with the actions that followed.
Raise awareness amongst your leaders that months, years and even decades of excellent work may be ruined by just one wrong action coming from one leader.
Sustainable leadership and living by your values are more critical for your organisation’s leaders than ever before.
More about how to get a clear position as a leader
in this week’s podcast: click here to listen and learn.
Sustainable Leadership is vital to you and your organisation?
Let’s talk: NB@NB-Networks.com.
