What are our values?
Organisations are composed of people, who align themselves with various institutions for security, for companionship, for identity and for reasons they don't fully understand. What motivates people is complex; leadership at all levels must therefore be competent, compassionate and convincing.
Whilst we recognise the importance of strong professional competence, appropriate structure, clear process and sound procedures, it has been our experience that these alone are not a sufficient recipe for organisational success. We are therefore particularly interested in the human and social aspects of organisations. In particular, we take an interest in what is happening in the spaces between people; shared assumptions, unspoken rules, informal networks and unconscious processes. It is here that we often find the organisation to be defined, made sense of and inhibited. It is in their interaction with these forces that leaders at all levels have the most promising opportunity to bring about sustainable success for their organisation.
As for the values that would make that so, we are indebted to Danah Zohar for bringing to our attention the following words of Mother Theresa:
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centred.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies.
Be successful anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight.
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
But give the world the best you have anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it's all between you and God;
it's never been between you and them anyway.