As an active Navy reservist, I watched with interest late in 2020 as the Department of Defence took seven sets of intra-Defence organisational Values (Navy, Army, RAAF, Special Ops Command, Australian Public Service, Australian Defence Force Academy and Cadets), poured them into a big values magi-mix and produced a new set of Defence Values…a sort of ‘one size fits all’. There was very sound strategic reason for this, specifically the ongoing push for “better alignment in support of a stronger, more capable, Joint and integrated Force”.
In a big picture sense, I agree that this is a timely and constructive move and it has prompted me to reflect on the importance of Values particularly as they relate to Culture and Leadership.
The great corporate anthropologist, Michael Henderson (Leading Through Values, Henderson and Thomson– 2006) suggests that when culture is ignored and left to its own devices it metaphorically takes hold of values, organisational or personal, formal or informal, and grows from there. I see the system as a recently planted sapling.
The crucial role of Leadership (the gardener) is to zealously fertilise and nourish the value system (roots) while guaranteeing a vibrant and healthy culture (crown) through regular pruning and ‘pest’ control. One day, with a self-sufficient root system and well-established crown the mature sapling will be strong enough to survive the dry spells and storms that will inevitably blow through. Its the gift of self-reliance that Leaders in Service so selflessly give.
Defence then, through this significant shift in multiple value sets, must know that it has shaken, disturbed and temporarily weakened its root system. The result is a culture which in the short term might wilt before, over time and with leadership focus, the roots re-establish themselves and start providing the essentials to support the culture in regaining its former vibrancy.
If you would like to see where the gift of self reliance fits into our 'Leader in Service' model, download the Whitepaper via the link below.
