通过价值观的领导：获得战略竞争优势的大胆思维

　　David Cohen is a Principal in the Strategic Action Group， a consulting firm specializing in organizational and leadership development. He has consulted with a diverse group of clients in Canada， the United States， and Brazil， as well as in Europe， South E

We are inclined， for whatever reason， to treat values like works of art. We view them as nice to hang on the wall， and beautiful to look at， but we don’t act as though they truly mean much to us in the real world. In fact， the opposite is true. The best organizations understand their values， articulate them clearly， and hold them higher than any short-term concerns or short-cut methods. This does not put these companies at a competitive disadvantage. It is the source of their competitive advantage. If there's no clarity at the top about what values really mean， then there's no consistency at the management level or further down the organization. This means that there's no way to measure， coach， assess， promote or fire people in line with those values. Any organization that does not articulate its values concretely functions like a modern Tower of Babel. No one can be quite sure that they are speaking the same language at different levels or different locations within the organization. Decisions don't alwa...