In episode 2 of the Ethics and Compliance Library, we will analyze Giving Voice to Values by Mary Gentile. Giving Voice to Values, or GVV, not only explores how each of us can prepare to voice our values in different situations, why we do and don’t, but also sets up a framework with tools for how to strengthen the muscle for doing so. Through an interview with Dr. Mary Gentile herself as well as an interview with E&C leader, Blair Marks of Lockheed Martin, we will begin to uncover not only how to action this practice as individuals, but how and why it is invaluable to do so at the organizational level. Listeners can expect to better understand the framework laid out in Giving Voice to Values and have some actionable take-aways for how to implement that framework as an individual looking to more consistently step into voicing their values, and as leaders looking to positively impact our organizations. Join me in the Converge community (Converge.convercent.com) to continue engaging in the conversation started in this podcast episode today!
It is easy to look around the business world, or really our everyday world even, and wonder how we could possibly voice our values. Stifled by regulations and pressures from managers and peers, our values are so easily brushed under the rug. What are our values, even? I would encourage all listeners to first think about what key values they feel most connected to in their life. These will change over time, but often are deeply tied to who we are as family members, friends, employees, and global citizens. For me, one of those values is honesty, another, vulnerability. What are your values? What are your organization’s values? Now, place yourself in a though experiment and explicitly ask yourself: “what if you were going to act on your values – what would you say and do.” Dr. Gentile continuously asks this and helps to equip us with a toolkit to “grease the skids that might carry us there,” there being the place where we can effectively voice our values, “sidestepping all the preemptive arguments and rationalizations that pop up naturally, about how difficult or even impossible it may be to do so.”