Character + Values = Resiliency
This week, our leadership institute hosted a fascinating training session that sparked deep discussions about values and resilience, revealing the true power of effective leadership. Diane L. Coutu, in her work on resilience, notes that resilient people share three key traits: a staunch acceptance of reality, a deep belief—often rooted in strong values—that life is meaningful, and an ability to improvise. Coutu further argues that the stronger one's values, the greater their ability to adapt to stress, pressure, and external threats. I interpreted this as a direct connection between strong values, strong character, and enhanced resilience.
I’ve come to define character as the capacity to live out one's values in the reality of the world. I also appreciate Dr. John Townsend's definition of character as “the set of capabilities required to meet the demands of reality.” Both definitions emphasize the idea that character is the active, lived expression of our values.
Reflecting on these insights, I began to consider their organizational implications. I hypothesize that, just as with individuals, the stronger the values and character of an organization, the more resilient it will be.
I once had a conversation with a business leader who was guiding his company through a major transition. He was working on articulating the company’s values, planning to display them prominently throughout the office. When I asked him about the values his business currently upheld, he offered a fairly generic list of aspirational words—ideas that sounded right but didn’t clearly reflect how the team should operate. We discussed what it might look like if employees were involved in defining those values, rather than relying on an idealized list that didn’t necessarily reflect the team’s actual behavior.
In our leadership institute, several members are training to become church planters. As future founders, they will initially shape their organizations' values, but as their teams grow, those values will evolve. A great founder recognizes their limitations and invites others’ strengths into the organization, allowing values to shift and expand as the team matures. At some point, the leadership must recognize the group’s shared identity and clearly define its values.
At this stage, hiring should align with these values. In the early stages of an organization, before values are fully developed, hiring for both competence and character is crucial to ensure the organization's goals are met. However, as the organization matures and its values become more defined, hiring should increasingly prioritize values alignment over competency. With a strong organizational character in place, competency can be developed internally.
I joined my organization as about the 25th employee, and at that time, I was hired for both my competency and character. Nearly 11 years later, with about 130 employees, we’ve become a mature organization with clearly defined values. It’s fascinating to see the growth and evolution.
Leaders should constantly refine their focus on optimizing performance and resilience by aligning character and values, both individually and collectively, as their teams and organizations grow.
Leaders, how do your personal values align with those of your team and organization? How do you lead highly competent individuals whose values may differ from your organization?