United States Fire Administration Chief Officer Training Curriculum Leadership Module 3: Core Values

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-2 Objectives  Identify barriers to effective communication and methods to break down those barriers  Identify and prioritize personal core values  Identify and prioritize organizational core values  Examine the leader’s role in shaping and reinforcing organizational values

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-3 Overview  Importance of communication –Barriers to communication –Methods to break down these barriers  Assess personal core values  Balance between personal and organizational values –Implications on leadership  Influences that affect an organization’s value

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-4 Effective Communication Skills –Ability to listen intently –Articulating a common dream –Being open to influence and change –Framing your message so others understand it –Being credible –Ask for feedback –Openness –Communicate under emotional duress –Elicit personal resources –Care about relationships

United States Fire Administration SenderMessage Receiver 17 What Sender Means How Receiver Interprets should match Effective Communication Model Barrier

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-6 Barriers to Communication  Biases  Internal relationships  Organizational structure  Physical distance  Cultural distance  Hearing an unexpected message

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-7 Barriers to Communication (continued)  Ignoring conflicting information  Differing perceptions  Evaluating the source  Interpreting words differently  Ignoring nonverbal cues  Becoming emotional  Inference

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-8 Enhancing Communication Skills  Recognize your need to improve communication  Improve your interpersonal skills  Know what you want to say  Create trust  Avoid power plays  Understand group belongings and norms  Be aware of organizational attitudes towards collaboration/competition

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-9 Enhancing Communication Skills (continued)  Know the effects of a changing organizational structure  Know that member's opinions are not always based on reason and logic  Be aware of the various modes of communication, and the limitations of each

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-10 Dialogue and Discussion  Dialogue is a sustained collective inquiry into everyday experience and what we take for granted  Discussion is used to see how components of a situation fit together and to develop a deeper understanding of underlying forces  See Table 3-1

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-11 Listening rules  Stop talking  Imagine the other person’s point of view  Look, act, be interested  Observe non-verbal behavior  Do not interrupt  Speak only affirmatively while listening  Para-phrase what you heard  Stop talking

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-12 Leadership Communication (continued)  Activity 3.1: Paper Snowflake –Individuals working within the same organization will perceive a vision in many different ways which can add to the challenge of a visionary leader Importance of effective listening to understand, Importance of questioning for understanding, and Effective oral communication to be understood

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-13 Understanding Values  Determining which values are foundational  Michael Josephson, a personal value system encompasses all values  We are referring to broad general beliefs or attitudes  Beliefs guide and motivate ethical conduct only when they are translated into principles

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-14 Understanding Values (continued)  Ethical principles are rules of conduct derived from ethical values  Values influence the way you approach issues  Established early in life  Never focused on identifying their own core values –They simply “act” based on what seems to naturally fit

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-15 Activity 3.2  Personal Values Assessment –This activity will provide you with an opportunity to assess what is truly important to you and then prioritize those items to achieve a clear focus of your core beliefs

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-16 Assessing Organizational Values  Are your values and the organization’s values congruent? –Before you can address this balance, you must be able to compare them  Basis of organizational values –Organizational values are a product of the: People within the organization Industry purpose Customer services

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-17 Assessing Organizational Values (continued)  Five basic categories of organizational values: –Economics –Technological –Communal –Sociopolitical –Transcendental

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-18 Assessing Organizational Values (continued)  Understanding the core values of the organization is critical to n effective leader –Influence behavior Within an organization to its own members Its actions towards external constituents Will be a guiding force in beliefs There is often a lack of understanding of what are the organization’s true “bottom line,” values.

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-19 Activity 3.3  This activity is intended to force you to reflect on your organization’s core beliefs and actions as they relate to understanding the intuition’s values and priorities  Understanding the organization’s values will aid in developing congruity between your values and your organization’s values

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-20 Shaping and Reinforcing Organizational Values  What shapes and reinforces our organizational values  All organizations are driven by collective values –The leader’s values influence his or her decision making and behaviors –Collective values of the organization and the member’s personal values Are they in harmony or in conflict?

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-21 Explicit and Implicit Values  Explicit values are those values that are written or stated  Implicit values are those values that are accepted and practiced –Organizations are often found in conflict when the explicit values are in contrast to the implicit values

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-22 Activity 3.4  The Influences of Values On Organizational Culture –In this activity you will be given the opportunity to address the effect of implicit and explicit values on the overall organization culture

United States Fire Administration LDR 3-23 Summary  Importance of communication for effective leadership, the barriers to communication, and methods to break down these barriers  Identified and prioritized personal and organizational core values  Evaluated the balance between your personal and organizational values  Examined the leader’s role in shaping and reinforcing organizational values