Coaching by Values: A guide to success in the life of business and the business of life by L. Dolan Simon

Author:L. Dolan, Simon [L. Dolan, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gestion M.D.S Inc.
Published: 2014-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

The model borrows some ideas developed in the 1970s by Milton Rockeach, who divided individual values into terminal/final values, which are desirable end-states of existence (e.g., happiness, wisdom), and instrumental values, which are desirable modes of behavior (e.g., acting honestly, earning lots of money). A functional relationship exists between these two: Instrumental values describe behaviors that facilitate the attainment of terminal values (and instrumental values can be detected and categorized using the 3Es model). The former have received more attention in the literature than the latter and are more widely used by researchers and practitioners to describe an organization’s culture.

Let us start by observing the simplest and most fundamental organization that we all know, the family. Think about your family or others with whom you are familiar. Most of us know intuitively that if a family is to be successful as a unit, a balance must exist between the axes that are shared by the couple. Most of us also know that the family (and marriage, more specifically) in the twenty-first century is in crisis: Rates of divorce and separation are alarming; violence within the family is growing; and a general sense of uneasiness and marital dissatisfaction is on the rise. Why is this happening?

A family, like any other organization, has objectives (final values). If these are not shared by the couple, and if the couple’s instrumental values—which can be plotted along the three axes—are not aligned with their final values, the family is doom to fail. Thus, agreement on the final values alone will not ensure success. The family will likely fail if even one of following exists:

• There is discordance between the couple’s economic-pragmatic values

• The couple’s ethical-social values are not in sync

• One or both parties loses passion for the relationship (the most critical emotional-developmental value binding the couple)

If we think about families and close-knit groups of friends as living organizations that struggle to survive and be happy in a complex world, we can see that challenges confronted by larger organizations such as corporations and governmental bodies are far greater. The same shared values necessary for positive sustainable relationships in the family and among friends are critical in the workplace. It follows then that assessing an organizational culture by identifying core values, the level of which they are shared, and the extent to which they are congruent with organizational members’ personal values is very important. The CBV methodology, which I’ll present in depth in the following chapters, enables us to plot these values around these three axes.

Exhibit 2.4: An organizational tri-axial model and possible outcomes of value alignment

Exhibit 2.4 shows a 3Es model and certain values associated with each axis. It also shows the following relationships or linkages between the axes and outcomes of these congruencies:

• Congruency between the emotional-developmental axis and the economic-pragmatic axis leads to greater innovation

• Congruency between the economic-pragmatic axis and the ethical-social axis leads to enhancement of survival

• Congruency between the ethical-social axis and the emotional-developmental axis increases sensitivity and makes the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.