One of the biggest barriers that senior leaders face in delegating and taking work off their plates is having the confidence that people below them will make the right decision. In the absence of confidence, leaders tend to get involved in many more decisions than they need to. They get accused of “micromanaging” by their staffs.



I believe that if people share similar values and have essentially the same information, they will usually come to the same conclusion. So if a leader doesn't think that his or her people will make good decisions, then it usually comes down either to a values issue or an information issue.

Obviously, the getting people the information that they need to make good decisions is easier than assuring similar values. As a leader, it is important to give people as much information as possible so that they can make informed decisions.

The more complicated task is making sure that people apply the same values when making decisions. This is why organizational values are so important. If the absence of clear organizational values, people will generally apply their own personal values when making a decision or apply what they perceive the company's values to be.

Values provide the basis to determining behavior in certain situations. When people in a company have a shared set of values, the company becomes less bureaucratic, more flexible, and more efficient. People at lower levels will make the right decision.

In determining the values which guide decision making, there are a couple of things that are important. First, the list must be short. I recommend no more than for or five key values. If there are more than this, it creates confusion and more opportunity for misapplication in decision making situations. Think about any situation where you had to chose between several alternatives. If you only had one or two criteria to make the choice, then it becomes a fairly easy decision. If there are ten criteria, it becomes much more difficult.

The second point about values is that there should be a hierarchy. Some decisions involve choosing one value over another. Johnson & Johnson faced this situation in the Tylenol tampering case in 1982. They chose to put consumer safety above short term financial considerations even though evidence pointed to a localized event. The total retail value of the nationwide recall was over $100 million.

The hierarchy cannot be interpreted as situational. For example, people is hospitals struggle with courtesy versus efficiency. In manufacturing plants, there is often conflict between quality and productivity. There needs to be demonstrated consistency in the hierarchy of values in every situation.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to hear a presentation by a senior executive from Disney on the Disney culture. The core of the Disney culture is four simple values as it relates to customer relations:

1. Safety

2. Courtesy

3. Show

4. Efficiency

These values guide the daily actions and behaviors of thousands of cast members (the Disney name for employees) at their theme parks. Every Disney employee can recite these when asked.

The safety of the guests takes precedence over anything else. If a ride has to be stopped because of an unsafe situation, it is stopped - no questions asked. An example used in Disney training is when a person in a wheel chair approaches a continuously moving ride, the ride is stopped sacrificing the show and efficiency. It is clearly the safe thing to do.

Courtesy means that cast members are expected to smile and be friendly and patient with guests no matter what the situation. Rather than tell someone how to find a place ,the cast member is taught to take the person there.

By “show”, Disney means all of the sensory impressions that a guest experiences. Cast members pay attention to all of the things that a guest sees, touches, or hears in their experience at Disney.

Instilling these values in every Disney employee is not just a matter of posting them on the wall. In every Disney orientation and training program, these values are discussed. Cast members are put through extensive role playing exercises using real-world situations learn how to apply the values.

Training at Disney is not limited to new hires. All employees, no matter how long they have been with the company have to relearn their role.

A cast member's decision is never questioned if they apply the values in the proper order in a situation.

The power of Disney's approach to leadership by values, is in its simplicity and consistency. The four values are easily understood by every cast member at Disney. Too many values statements contain words that many employees don't understand or relate to in their jobs. The hierarchy of the four values never changes. These four values and their order of importance was established by Walt Disney himself and has never been questioned or changed.

Leaders who struggle with having people make the right decisions should look hard at the values of the organization. Are they understood? Is there a clear hierarchy when a decision involves a conflict between two values?