Albert Einstein once said: “Strive not to be of success, but rather to be of value.” Research states, “Einstein did not want to be successful — he wanted to be a man of value.” However, it’s been revealed that Einstein believed that both success and value were intrinsically linked.
Since there’s no sense in denying Einstein was a genius, there has to be validity to his quote. This column will focus on how success and value are intertwined and the impact they have on organizational culture.
Consider this, Einstein was one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. We are now living in the 21st century, and although Einstein died more than 65 years ago, much of his work and ideas are still valid and highly valued today.
We all have our own opinion on what success is and what it means to us. Whether your striving to be the best FBO, provide the best customer service experience, be the safest airline or a great leader, I think it’s safe to say we all want to attain success.
So, I ask: “Can an organization have true success without being or having value? Or are success and value intertwined as Einstein believed?”
In order to explore this further, perhaps we first need to understand how a value-based organization is created. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What is your organization’s vision/mission, both internally and externally?
- What do you and your organization stand for?
- How is this communicated both internally and externally?
- Are there processes in place for rewarding, recognizing and revisiting?
Knowing the answers to these questions is the first step in creating value. But if you don’t walk your values, you’re setting a poor example for those that follow. Leaders must walk the talk and preach what they practice. Hence your organizations core values need to align with your personal code of ethics. A disconnect will result in misalignment and eventually lead to unwanted chaos and drama. This can potentially weaken, or worse, breakdown, an organization's culture.
When values are congruent it’s much easier to develop alignment with an organizations culture and beliefs. Which leads me to how success and value are intertwined with organizational culture.
The term culture as it related to an organization was first introduced more than 67 years ago by Dr. Elliott Jacques in his book titled “The Changing Culture of a Factory.” According to Dr. Jacques, the role of managerial leadership at every organizational level is to make these organizational values operationally real.[1]
Although the concept of organizational culture did not take root until the mid 1980's and is still a relatively new concept, many leaders make the argument that their organizations success can largely be attributed to their strong organizational culture. With that being said, I think it’s safe to say that success, value and organizational culture are synergistic.
To cement this statement even further, statistics show when an organization has shared values, there is greater buy-in and dedication by its employees. This synchronicity helps insure engagement, performance and most importantly, customer satisfaction and loyalty. All factors that help solidify an organizations success.
Most employees seek and want fulfillment in their job, and to work for an organization they’re proud of — this all starts with culture. This can be accomplished by uniting them through shared values. As previously stated, a strong company culture fuels your organization’s success.
The following data supports the value and benefits of a having a strong organizational culture:
- 94% of executives and 88% of employees say organizational culture is crucial to the company’s success. [2]
- Employees’ general ratings of the company’s qualities are 20% higher if the company has a strong organizational culture. [2]
- 90% of employees that work in companies with a strong organizational culture are confident in the company’s leadership. [2]
- 86% of employees at strong cultures feel their senior leadership listens to employees, compared with 70% of employees at non-winning cultures. [3]
A company’s culture can either have a good personality or a bad one. A good personality attracts talent, drives employee engagement and retention and overall impacts the ‘happiness’ factor. Happy employees tend to be more committed, engaged and collaborate more effectively.
As our article on Hiring Right For Cultural Fit previously addressed, it’s imperative from the initial screening that an organization’s values are communicated to potential recruits to insure a good cultural fit and assimilation. Without question, an organization must be very deliberate about who joins their organization to insure long-term success.
Einstein was correct, proving that success and values are intertwined, and organizational culture is crucial to success. One does not exist without the other.
One final comment, having a value driven culture not only helps generate success for your flight department, FBO, OEM, MRO...but it also helps define an organizations purpose. People thrive when they have purpose.
References/Sources:
Footnote 1 - Article - “How to Measure Your Organizational Culture and Values” | January 30, 2019 | By Ryan Bell
Footnote 2 - https://surveyanyplace.com/organizational-culture-values/
Footnote 3 - https://cultureiq.com/blog/company-culture-employee-engagement-statistics/
