These are some of my collected thoughts on what might go into a leadership cultural credo for an organization. Of course, they are also just as effective for an individual who wishes to live the life of a leader.

I am using the Latin word “credo”, meaning “I believe”, because I do believe that these principles and aspirations can be incredibly helpful to us in choosing the right leadership behaviours. But in suggesting that an entire organization might adopt them, I should probably have chosen the latin word “credimus”, or “we believe”. Please forgive me.

My thinking is that a collection such as this might well be published by an organization to set the behavioural stage for all newcomers, as well as serve as reminder for those already in the corporate fold.

Personal note: Please do not assume that the author (or perhaps anyone!) can claim to have adopted all these beliefs and behaviours for use day in and day out; I can however affirm that I admire and benefit from every single one when I experience them in others.

Photo by Anna Anikina on Unsplash

When it Comes to Leadership and Followership @ XYZ, Here Are Our Behavioural Expectations of You:

  • Know what your foundational values and beliefs are about life and how to live it … some keys to success are listed below:
  • Always try and know where you are going with your life, and why:
    • be careful, and beware, because when you get there, there may be no “there” there … but the entire process is essentially inspiring
    • and of course, the “how” of getting there is crucially important … that’s where your foundational beliefs come in
  • Always try and know where your work team is going, and why
    • if you don’t know, ask your leader … and don’t forget to ask why
    • be clear on “how” your team is getting there
  • Make sure that where your work team is going fits in with where your organization is going, and why, and how
  • Yes, be a leader AND more often be a follower, particularly when there is a leader who knows better how to get to where you all want to go
  • What you leave behind:
    • will depend mostly on what you say and do, repeatedly, habitually, predictably
    • is important to those coming along after you
  • Learn your lessons:
    • your mistakes can be your best lessons
    • know that your mistakes will be repeated until they are learned (thanks to Cherie Carter-Scott for these, and insights to others)
  • Know that:
    • if you are learning, the process will never end
    • respect is earned by being honest about your lessons:
      • take responsibility for what you say and do
      • be ready to apologize and offer remedies
    • you are what others hear you say and see you do
    • you must be clear on what you accept in what others say and do
    • you will be most interesting by being interested in others:
      • ask lots of genuine questions like:
        • “what do you think?”  Then listen to the answers … maybe they have an idea … or half an idea
        • “if we do that, what might happen?  Now?  In the long term?”
  • Help others learn to belong to your team and organization:
    • reinforce their sense of contribution
    • your goal is for everyone to be able to proudly say:  “Here at XYZ, we all believe in ______!”
  • Learn to be resilient; to do so, you will need to develop 3 habits:
    • never giving up on something until it works
    • the willingness to give up on something that will not work
    • the trust in others to help you distinguish between the first two
  • Work on things that you have a gift for:
    • develop a passion to do “good”, it will help your resilience
  • Try to be happy with what you have; you will most likely be unhappy if you spend too much time wanting what other people have
  • Live your life with intelligence; the following are some of the behaviours that correlate:
    • being empathetic
    • being comfortable being alone
    • having a strong (and accurate!) sense of self
    • being curious
    • being observant
    • being creative, thinking outside the box
    • worrying about stuff
    • being a bit messy
    • trusting in your own judgment
    • being modest
    • reading a lot
    • being good at managing your emotions
    • being good at knowing your place
    • understanding how much you don’t know
    • being able to handle challenges
    • being adaptable, able to change your behaviours (i.e., what you say and do)
    • being open-minded
    • being generous
    • being funny
    • talking to yourself