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Centering your organization on principles may be one of the most important foundational tasks you undertake for the long-term health and sustainability of your organization. Being clear about your guiding principles will help you navigate the sea of constant change on which non-profit organizations sail.
Perhaps you are familiar with this old saying,
“Methods are many, principles are few; Methods frequently change, principles never do.”
Thomas Jefferson put it another way, “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
Unless you are clear regarding your guiding principles, you may find yourself fodder for every passing nonprofit fashion or fad. Or worse yet, you may end up like the chameleon with a different set of principles for every foundation and funder.
Groucho Marx described this scenario well when he quipped, “Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.”
We recommend organizations identify their principles and remain true to them. Be willing to experiment with various programs and methodologies to help fulfill your mission, but remain true to your principles.
Principles dictate our organizational values and establish our priorities. Our organizational values shape our actions and mold our mission. Ideally, our priorities guide our schedules and direct our budgets.
One of the dictionary definitions for principle is “a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived” [www.dictionary.com]. Stephen Covey simplified this and defined principles in Principle-Centered Leadership as “proven, enduring guidelines for human conduct.” Principles transcend time and culture. There is a universal belief in integrity, honesty, kindness, compassion, dignity, accountability and charity.
We are not postulating a particular set of principles for you to adopt for your organization. However, we are advocating that you identify the set of guiding principles that make up the DNA of your organization, clearly articulate those principles, and then hold fast to them through the life of your organization.
Principles dictate organizational values. Values are principles expressed. Has your organization developed a set of values that shapes your actions and molds your mission? There are many courses of action a group could take to fulfill a mission. However, some courses of action might violate their values and therefore are not viable to them.
Here are a couple of examples of organizational principles and values:
In a recent training I tried to illustrate how values shape actions and mold missions. I asked for a volunteer in the group to share their mission. Someone shared their mission is to keep youth out of prison. I asked had they ever considered killing youth to prevent their incarceration. The person bristled at the nonsense of my question. I quickly made the connection that while this could accomplish their mission in its broadest sense; they held a set of organizational values that made this unthinkable. When I probed to identify those values they talked about the value of human life and the innate potential in each person for greatness. Indeed, values shape our actions.
Principles are more effective than rules when it comes to empowering your staff (paid and volunteer). If your organization has a principle-centered staff - members are empowered to act in alignment with the principles. This does not mean they always get it right. But it is much easier to develop leaders by managing and coaching according to principles than enforcing a long list of rules.
Stephen Covey put it this way, “If you focus on principles, you empower everyone who understands those principles to act without constant monitoring, evaluating, correcting or controlling. Principles have universal application. And when these are internalized into habits, they empower people to create a wide variety of practices to deal with different situations” (Principle-Center Leadership, p. 98).
Principles establish our priorities, and hopefully our priorities guide our schedules and direct our budgets. Goethe worded it like this, "Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." We are probably more familiar in thinking in terms of the tyranny of the urgent or the squeaky wheel gets the grease. For many of us our daily schedules are not dictated by principles and priorities, but whoever has called (emailed or texted) the most or yelled (or currently yelling) the loudest.
We all benefit from setting our schedules according to priorities and making sure the important tasks and people in our lives are not playing second fiddle to the urgent demands of our work.
Finally, principles should affect priorities and be reflected in budgets. Budgeting is rarely a fun process (except for the accounting types), but principles should affect funding priorities. When surpluses are found during the budgeting process, they are used according to priorities. When funding cuts are necessary, organizations should not begin with what is easiest and where financial gain is greatest. Instead these are hard decisions that are again decided based on priorities.
Principles influence every level of Radical IMPACT organizations. Centering on principles that are universal and timeless provides a foundation and compass to guide every decision and every act in your organization. Principles become the anchor for the organization in times of transition or turbulence as well as times of affluence.
We commend those principle-centered leaders who are clear about their principles and have incorporated those principles into all aspects of your organization. For those who are new to the concept of principle-centered leadership, we recommend you invest the necessary time to identify your key principles, translate them into values and let them establish your priorities. It will help you maximize your IMPACT!
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