Many organisations start by being personality driven. They may have a charismatic or inspiring founder who creates a movement, idea, product, service or cause. They attract others with the power of their idea or the force of the personality.
Such organisations may only thrive in the long-term if they become principles driven. One approach is for them to clarify and communicate their principles. They then encourage their people to follow these principles to achieve ongoing success.
Some leaders have strong personalities. This can have both pluses and minuses. People may feel inspired and energised. They may sometimes feel intimidated, however, or rely on the leader for everything.
Great organisations often focus on clarifying and communicating their principles. These provide a guiding compass. People can then use their personalities to follow these principles in their work. This is an approach that I have seen work in many organisations.
Different organisations take this approach in different ways. One way is for them to go through the following steps.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of the principles driven approach?
You may want to do this when working as an individual, leading a team or leading an organisation. How can you keep focusing on the principles that you and others may aim to follow? What may be the benefits of taking this approach?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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