Have you been watching the last few days as persons whose reputations are tainted have tried to reinvent themselves?

An example is Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, claiming that she suggested Eskom get a new Board.

Among numerous problems with this reinvention of self are that her claims are a) not supported by facts b) not aligned with her previous actions, nor, c) we may suppose, with the underlying values informing her actions.

It’s values that I want to talk about.  

I’ve started the new year not with New Year resolutions, but by thinking about the values I hold dear.

It’s a natural space to be in . . . The time of the year. A week in which corrupt cop Richard Ntuli has been vanquished, Eskom has a new Board, court battles to hold McKinsey SA and Trillian liable for their role in State capture are underway, and Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu has been announced as the new chair of KPMG SA. And, in the city I call home, where there’s the sense of an imminent humanitarian disaster on “Day Zero” in April if the water runs out.

Values are integral to who we are, and to the contribution you and I make.

Assume that your values or my values focus on the good of selves and others (which is what makes them ethical). If so, our combined personal value systems will support our professional ethics systems, underpin or challenge the values of our organisations, and underpin or challenge societal ethics.

The values that truly guide you and me are most clearly exhibited when bad things happen.

Look at the hope-inspiring story of 12-year-old friends Evert du Preez and Mokoni Chaka who helped those affected by the Shosholoza Meyl train tragedy earlier this month.

They took action. On behalf of others. Their humanity – a universal ethical value – shouts out loud and clear from a clip recorded by ECNA reporter Mike Appel and viewed 155,000 times so far on YouTube.

You may be one of those people who knows exactly what you stand for and what your values are. The source of your values may be your family, philosophy, life experience, or faith. Ethicists point out that a golden thread in all religions is the tenet of ‘do unto others as you’d have done to you’.

(If you’re not sure, repeatedly asking why you feel or react strongly to something will always lead you back to what values are core to you.**)

It’s time for you and me to be clear about our values.

It’s a time when you and I need to stand up for what we stand for. Because when good people don’t stand up for their values, bad things happen.

A country gets captured, until the Mosilo Mothepo’s and Bianca Goodman’s stand up.

Professionals lose their way (KPMG SA’s former leaders), or are not held to account (asset managers pursuing profits and not asking the necessary questions about Steinhoff’s growth).

Organisations focus solely on shareholders and not stakeholders (Steinhoff, again).

Author Andy Stanley writes that once a person loses the authority found in consistently exercising good values, it’s difficult to regain.

When you live your life aligned to your convictions, it makes you persuasive and full of impact, he says.

Others see a relationship between who you are, what you say and what you do. There is integrity or coherence between you and your values.

Isn’t that something to strive for in 2018?

** For quick insight into what your values might be, here’s a link to a values test offered by the Barrett Values Centre – personal values assessment

 

References

Appel, M. 2018.  Interview with Evert du Preez & Mokoni Chaka 6 Jan

Barrett, R. 2010. The Importance of Values in Building a High Performance Culture. https://www.valuescentre.com  Accessed 17 January 2018

Stanley, A. 1999. Visioneering. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books.