Good Leaders Know When to Be Tough

Those who lead well, punish well

Raphaël Cohen, professor, author, business leader, consultant and Co-Director of the Diploma in Entrepreneurship & Business Development at HEC Geneva [email protected]

Publishing a values charter or a code of conduct gives rise to toxic effects that are very often overlooked by leaders, including HR directors.

The fact that good governance requires a values charter is obvious. The snag is that such a charter convinces very few employees, who see it as an interesting stylistic exercise, but little more. In fact, I observe in my classes that very few people are able to recite from memory all the values in their organisation’s charter. That says a great deal about how concerned they feel by it...

While there is no doubt about the importance of making the organisation’s values explicit, it simply does not take hold and, worse still, it even demotivates employees. Indeed, defining values without explaining what happens when they are transgressed means that one is dealing in pious wishes rather than real standards. By analogy, it is like limiting parking time while declaring that no fine will penalise those who cheat...

Sanctioning breaches of values is therefore unavoidable. For who will believe that a value is truly important if breaching it goes unsanctioned? If respect appears on the list of values but the presence of a toxic manager is tolerated because of his commercial performance, it clearly appears that respect is not all that important. If that same manager were to steal 100 francs from the till, he would be dismissed on the spot, regardless of his commercial performance. In other words, tell me what you punish and I will tell you who you are!

Rules imply sanctions

The idea of sanctions in business troubles most people I talk to about it. And yet... I observe that what truly demotivates employees is injustice. Since breaches of a value that go unpunished are always perceived as injustices, and injustice leads to demotivation, the absence of sanctions is a direct cause of demotivation.

In reality, leaders do not really have a choice, because failing to sanction is automatically interpreted as a sign of powerlessness and/or a lack of courage. Yet both powerlessness and lack of courage destroy credibility: how can I respect or believe in someone who lacks either the courage or the power to enforce the announced rules that are supposed to protect me? Worse still: how can I feel safe in such an environment?

It therefore appears obvious that, in order to remain credible and respected, leaders who publish a values charter1 must supplement it by putting in place a mechanism that, in order to ensure fairness and collective well-being, sanctions all breaches of it.

Be careful: breaches by leaders must also be sanctioned, and perhaps even more vigorously, than those committed by employees. Indeed, when it comes to values, leaders setting an example in respecting them is a non-negotiable requirement: the captain of the Costa Concordia was criticised more for fleeing than for sinking the ship...

In summary: proclaiming values without respecting them oneself is suicidal in terms of credibility and leadership. Proclaiming values without putting in place a mechanism to sanction their breach renders leaders powerless. Proclaiming values without having the courage to punish their breach is simply a sign of cowardice, which rarely fosters leadership.

In conclusion, anyone who is not prepared to set an example in respecting values, who is not prepared to put in place a real mechanism sanctioning their breach, including their own, and who lacks the courage to punish, should refrain from bluffing by publishing a values charter1 and perhaps even... from hoping to be a leader...!

1 and/or a code of conduct, included in the expression values charter