REDISCOVERING VALUES

In order to ensure a greater future for our nation, upcoming leaders must be prepared to challenge the mistakes of the past by changing the paradigm, with a view to distinguishing the country among the comity of nations.

For this to happen, we need to pay close attention to values as individuals and as a nation.

Values signify the principles or moral standards of a person, group or organization that are considered to be valuable or important. Values are basic beliefs and convictions which govern behaviour of people in their work, dealing and decision making.

Personal values establish standards of behaviour, which serve to encourage or discourage certain behaviour and standard of living. They determine the person’s actions and reactions per time, helping them pay more attention to what really matters.

At the family level, values establish standard of behaviour for individual members of the family and determine what is most desirable and important for the family. A family that has the value of learning grooms their children to love education and whatever it takes to increase knowledge.

Organizational values establish standards of behaviour, which serve to encourage or discourage certain behaviours. In other words, organizational values help people to identify priorities at workplace.

National values establish standards of behaviour, which serve to encourage or discourage certain behaviours. They determine what is most important for the nation. National Values drive national legislations and determine the general attitudes of the populace.

Leaders are not only the source but also the most important means of establishing national values. These represent the beliefs and behaviours that cannot be compromised for the sake of results. It is through this handle of values that leaders shape people’s behaviour and build national culture. Leadership here means influencing people to achieve worthwhile goals. It is beyond holding a leadership position, but includes that.

For example, United States of America (USA) is said to have enshrined Love as a value in its constitution by establishing standards of behaviour that connote Love, thereby making it a punishable offence not to love others. This is a reflection of the Leaders’ definition and understanding of Love. This nature of leadership explains the reason Americans focus on well being of its citizens wherever they are.

Leadership must very clearly specify the positive behaviours and negative behaviours with respect to the values and must put in mechanisms to encourage positive behaviours. John Maxwell says that everything rises and falls on Leadership.

No matter how genuine and moral your values may be, no matter how well articulated your values are, no matter how well you communicate your values, as a leader, what really matters is how you behave. People see, believe and do what you do, not what you say. No matter how well articulated and publicized values might be, it is only when people see their leaders "living the values", do they understand the spirit behind and understand the significance of values in the game plan of the nation.

Ability to "walk the talk" is ultimate test of leaders' character. As the famous Hewlett-Packard story demonstrates role-modeling behaviour by its co-founder Bill Hewlett, when he broke open a lock put on a store room and placed the lock with a short note on the manager’s desk. The note read that locked store rooms do not reflect the HP value of respect for employees.

It is through such exemplified role modeling behaviour that leaders create leaders at all levels which are in fact the extension of their own personality. The philosophy of leaders thus becomes a way of life for the nation.

The fore-going shows that the possible reason we do not have established and a functional value in our country is because the fore-fathers of the nation did not pursue the establishment of values as important as their position.

Over the years therefore, successive leaders have emanated from the society who do not really have a grip on a national value, so there is nothing in that direction to promote and protect.

No one can give what they do not have. It takes an individual with positive values to be a leader that promotes positive values. It also takes a society with established functional values to raise an individual with established values.