The moral compass

A permanent state of change

The persistent pandemic forces organisations to change their business strategy, it transforms our organisational culture and causes shifts in leadership. Everywhere I see people and organisations adopt creative and innovative solutions in order to deal with the consequences of this continued attack on our way of life. This explosion of creativity and resilience doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. We are all fixated on the Covid-19 news, the latest safety measures and vaccine strategies. It seems that we behave like rabbits caught in the glare of the headlights.

All this has a large impact on our daily life; business and personal. When in the near future the dust settles and things return to a ‘new’ normal, we will need years to process and understand what happened and why. 

Dealing with change

The past 5 months have been hectic. A year of forced standstill inevitably had its impact and a reorientation of my future announced itself rather abrupt and unexpected.

I’ve had the privilege to talk to several business relations about their challenges. They were all contemplating the same topic; the abruptness and longevity of the crisis, the impact it had on their businesses and the unknown challenges it created. Such conversations in general follow a similar pattern. There’s the description of the dilemma, followed by the pro’s and con’s and finally a reasoning towards a rational compromise. 

Reaching a compromise

What struck me this time, was the extreme focus on the facts. The hard measurable ones and less on their principles or personal values. When challenged on the why of a particular decision the answers were rarely framed in a vision or values with a long term perspective. A large proportion of business leaders appear to have a thorough understanding of their business objectives, but are often at a loss for words when asked to describe their guiding principles. 

Over the years I’ve learned that to reach the right decisions, you need to grasp the full scope of the consequences of your decision. This requires much more than listing the benefits and the negatives. Above all, you need to have a good understanding of what is important to you, both in business and personal life. 

How will the decision impact you both short and long term? To answer these questions it is imperative that you have a good understanding of what defines you.

Principles, your moral compass.

At the most unexpected moment, life presents us with situations that require more than a simple yes or no. You know what I mean, the crossroad moments. Those where you need to make a decision that will impact your future. A choice that requires you to make a decision without having all the answers. How do you determine the way forward? 

Through trial and error I learned that having a set of Principles helps me to deal with these moments.

Principles are a set of basic truths that function as the basis for your behaviour and will get you what you want out of life. You will use them time and time again in any situation. Most successful people apply a set of Principles. 

Principles are formed in various ways. You can acquire through experience, borrow them from friends or family. They can be given to us through education, religion or cultural transfer. The origin is not important. We all compose our own unique set of principles. 

Having clear Principles or values provides you with an anchoring point you can build on when you have to reach a conclusion without having all the facts.

Decisions that align with our core values or Principles will stand the test of time.

Principles put to work 

When a fundamental disagreement evolves into unsolvable difference of opinion between business partners, clear minds are in short supply. These are the moments where a shared objective has disappeared and communication has broken down. Emotions are usually not the best of advisors and a logical approach is rarely the common acceptable path to both parties.

So how do you solve this conflict? How do you make sure you steer a clear course? 

This is the moment where I rely on my Principles. Can I morally agree with the choices, can I accept and defend them? Any decision should to a large part be defendable to yourself and secondly to your organisation and personal network.

If you can’t align the decision with your Principles, then don’t take it. Every decision has a price and consequences. If that is the right decision for you, just go for it. Just walk away. Life is too precious to waste and definitely too short to spend time and energy on something that doesn’t comply with your core beliefs. After all our decisions also define who we are.

Principles are personal. 

I’ve had my moments of fundamental disagreement in my career. Somewhere along the road I’ve composed my personal set of Principles. Over the years they served me faithfully as a guide and point of reference. They are my anchoring point to plot my course. They are my conscience that I frequently consult. They determine my decisions, no matter the consequences or the price. 

I’d like to end on a piece of advice. 

In these times of continued change determine your own set of Principles. Find out what drives you, what you are passionate about, define your values and determine how convinced you are to live by them. 

Make a conscious choice on where you want to draw the line and why. Don’t forget to accept the consequences of your choices. Every decision will have a consequence.

But then again if you don’t have Principles that you live by, who are you…

Ben