It’s not about you

Gen. Hugh Shelton

Chris Hitch

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final post in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center. 

Gen. Shelton emphasizes that all values-based leaders have an obligation to give back. It doesn’t matter whether you are a student or a working professional; you have an obligation to work to make your corner of the world a better place. He urges us to “be bigger than ourselves, to give back to our community, and to our state, and even to our nation.” 

He reminds us that there are multiple opportunities to do this in small and large ways. Corporations and nonprofits mutually benefit from these partnerships. Corporations’ reputations are enhanced by giving back to the community. Nonprofits, by their very existence, are known for their mission-driven programs to the community.

A signature programs at the Shelton Leadership Center is the Shelton Challenge, which has selfless service as a key program component. Twice a year (in addition to their other volunteer efforts), our Shelton Scholars go to a particular town for a Weekend of Service, where they partner with local civic organizations to build wheelchair ramps, clean blighted areas or help in other ways. We partner with NC State’s Center for Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service to support them in their student service learning and leadership efforts. I’ve been in awe of high school students who volunteer to help those with disabilities in and out of school.

I’m not highlighting these to boast about different Shelton programs are doing (although I am incredibly humbled and impressed with our tireless staff , board and many students and how they each live out this cornerstone daily). I’m emphasizing that there are lots of ways to give and give back in a community. As Gen. Shelton urges, “that is a part of what each and every one of us from the corporate level right down to the individual should be doing.”

Values based leadership—It’s not about you. 

What situations have you found where giving back to the community gives you an even greater gift?

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.

Should you ever lower your standards?

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fifth in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center. 

Gen. Shelton notes in his book Without Hesitation that “an effective leader is not a hands on micro-manager; in fact, the freer rein you give your people, the more they will excel — as long as you’ve communicated your objectives and expectations and surround yourself with good, independent thinkers who are not afraid to speak up” (p. 112).

He’s talking about how a values-based leader has high standards. The values-based leader always strives to do what is right. Yet, Shelton also shows that a values-based leader mixes in a generous dose of compassion with standards: 

“You have to understand that, for a certain reason, individuals might have certain things they are wrestling with in life. For example, you may be on a school bus riding to school, and the person next to you is having a bad day. For whatever the reason, they’re not their self. But you’ve got a compassion for them because you recognize that something is going wrong. When you have someone who has had a tragedy in their family, you recognize that you know they’re a great employee, but they’re not having their best day or their best week because of this tragedy.”

The lesson for me is that you don’t lower your standards. You expect everybody to do their best and achieve their personal and organizational goals. You do recognize, however, that you have to get to know the members of your team, to know what is going on with them, to the extent that you and the other person feel comfortable sharing. That knowledge helps you to understand how much they have on their plate and whether you need to adjust and give some additional time, if possible, to help them reach their 100% goal accomplishment for themselves and for the organization.

That’s compassion. 

Where have you seen a values-based leader keep standards high while simultaneously demonstrating compassion?

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.

Is your leadership foundation cracked?

© Shutterstock

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center. 

Gen. Hugh Shelton asserts that integrity is the foundation for a good values based leader. He makes the point that, if a person does not have integrity, a person does not have strong moral character. You cannot count on a person without integrity. Conversely, a person who does have strong moral character and integrity is someone you can trust implicitly.

In Shelton’s words, "Their word is their bond. You don’t have to worry about a person with integrity. If they tell you they’re going to commit to do something, they will do it. If I tell you I’m going to do something, you know that I’m going to do it if at all possible. The best leaders who’ve been forged as leaders in the crucible of combat go all the way to say, ‘I will do it even if it costs me my life. I’m going to go out and do what I promised you that I would do.’"

Additionally, Shelton notes that we end up disassociating ourselves from a person who lacks integrity because we don't want our integrity to be tarnished. The challenges of integrity go back throughout recorded history of time. It’s evident in many books in the Old Testament. It is the subject of many writings in the classical humanities studies. We see it today in the headlines that trumpet the individuals from many professions who have not led with integrity.

As noted in the post on honesty, integrity is based on a series of decisions you and I make that are analyzed and cataloged by those we lead and those we are led by. When you lead with integrity, you also bring others to you who share your same values, and it creates a reinforcing spiral of goodness. Luckily, the more that you associate with people who have a great deal of integrity, the more you are inspired to continue to act in a similar vein. 

What situations have you found where you completely trusted an individual because of that person's integrity?

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.