A Question We Should Answer as Public Servants

Is it good for me or is it for the higher good? That is a question that goes into every decision that we take every day. Maybe we are not consciously aware of it because we already have decided on our answers long ago. There is no point even in being aware of the question when we have the same answer each time. The more we answer the same way, the more we forget the question.

We answer the same question, too, in our work every day. Every time we decide what and how much we do for our organization, we answer the question. Through our answers as public servants, we know whether we are servants of the public or servants of ourselves. When we hold back and give less than we are capable of because we think it is not worth our pay, we are actually servants of ourselves, disguised as servants of the public. If we give nothing for what the public has given us through taxes despite our oaths, we are not public servants at all. We are thieves or pilferers!

When we profess one thing in exchange for agreed benefits in a process that starts in hiring and do less or the opposite, we do not only lie but we steal. We take away what we have not earned. A lie is corruption born. It grows and thrives when the environment is “right” (more accurately, wrong).The more and bigger the lying that takes place, the more and bigger corruption spreads and grows.

Yet, what is visible of us, our behaviours, words, and appearances, is just the tip of the iceberg. Much of that iceberg lies beneath the sea of visibility. Thus, an individual employee has power arising from asymmetric information. An asymmetric is “an economic concept where one party in a transaction possesses more or better information than the other, creating an imbalance in power.”

Rules can be promulgated and monitor for some behaviors, words, and appearances, but not for all. How many less rules can cover what lies below the tip of the iceberg. Yet, what is invisible beneath the tip influences what is visible.

Hence, organizations adopt value statements. Values serve us guiding stars, North Stars if you will, towards performance and growth that guide decision-making and behaviors especially where rules are weak and loose. Values give light to where rules cannot.

Values also serve as primary source of meaning. They give purpose and direction that takes people to go the extra mile beyond what they are compensated for.

Values also define and strengthen organizational brand and credibility. This is why many organizations are quick to adopt value statements to signal quality and credibility. Yet, values are not value statements. Organizations either have the former or not, whereas they can have value statements yet lack the values they profess.

Only 27 percent of US employees strongly believe in their company’s values and only 23 percent strongly agree that they can apply their organization’s values in their daily work. Some employees would say, as they said to me, that one cannot eat values, failing to connect the dots that performance compensated provide for their food, clothing, shelter, and luxury.

Why do many employees doubt the power and importance of value statements? According to a study 86 percent of employees report that company values are clearly communicated, but only 44 percent believe that values are consistently demonstrated. Only 46 percent of customers strongly agree that vendors deliver on their promises. In contrast, in organizations where values are genuinely lived, employee engagement can be up to 88 percent higher. Performance increases significantly. Decisions, especially for complex problems, are faster and better. Employee retention and attraction are higher. So is resilience.

In other words, value communication is not just verbal and written communication but more importantly, about values being acted upon and lived. As Confucius said, “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.” Actions and behaviors are more impactful than mere words. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” What we do sabotage what we say in words.

Thus, our answer to the question “Is it good for me or is it for the higher good” comes from the values we hold and live. Integrity is imperative. Nobody believes our answer if our words do not align with our actions and behaviors. Integrity means whole or complete. It is what we do whether someone is looking or not. From time to time, it is worth asking the question to know if we are worth our label “public servants” and not public masters.