There is an old saying “not a lot of sense is common!” There are things that should be taken as a given in life. Things such as manners, not talking over people, being polite, saying please and thank you, looking at people who are talking to you, and assuming best intentions when dealing with colleagues. To be respected you must first be respectful. So, when our elected Members of Parliament require a code of conduct on how to act and behave to prevent bullying, sexual harassment, and inappropriate behaviour, you have to ask what happened to common sense?
Common sense is not a gift but a punishment. Because you must deal with everyone who doesn’t have it
– George Bernard Shaw (author and political activist)
For any team or family to function properly, there are common unwritten principles which must be in place, such as trust, respect, integrity, and human decency. It is what we drill into our children from an early age. Yet sadly too often common sense is not common.
The moment any teams requires a code of conduct to act and behave in a respectful way is the moment you know there is dysfunction in the team. A code of conduct should not be confused with a team charter that is used to guide positive decision making and actions. A Team Charter helps shape team culture, especially in “heat of the moment” situations. There are some great examples of teams that have a set of long-standing team principles that have helped guide mindsets and empower behaviours such as the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team, Rotary International, National Panasonic, and NASA to name a few. A team charter is a living breathing document that empowers people to act, behave, and make decisions. It is not something that is stuck on a wall and forgotten, or an encyclopedia that lists every behaviour or team rule that has ever existed, thus guaranteeing it will never be remembered or acted on. A team charter is a useful tool to coach mindsets & behaviours.
We have drained common sense out of politics. The more we focus on tactics and games the more good people give up and check out
– Deval Patrick (1st African-American Governor Massachusetts)
You cannot mandate a prescribed set of behaviours. Some behaviours should be taken for granted. Things like being respectful, honest, mindful, safe, collaborative, and tolerant should all be a given, with any breaches being met with a zero-tolerance approach by leaders. There is no place for bullying, harassment, or abuse of any description in any team. What it does require is enforcement by a leader. If inappropriate behaviour is ignored – it symbolises it is acceptable.
The standard you walk past is the standard you accept
– Lt General David Morrison (Ex Chief of Australian Army)
So, if our elected leaders, or indeed any leadership team, require a set of behaviours to inform and guide their moral compass and tone of discourse, can I suggest the following seven well-versed principles be universally adopted and role modelled:
Integrity and trust: This forms over time. As I have written on numerous times – credibility is the foundation of leadership. It is based on the little things done consistently day in a day out by a leader. Like cleaning your teeth. When done regularly it prevents decay. Similarly, how a leader conducts themselves, interacts with people, and role models’ common decency is what builds their trust and integrity.
Transparency: Do what you say you will do. If you don’t know, say so, and come back with an answer. Be open and honest on how decisions are made, budgets are set, and policies are determined. Be upfront around personal expenses that stakeholders fund. Explain what your priorities are, and what you will implement and how it will be measured to be deemed effective. A lack of transparency will always fuel a lack of trust and a high degree of scepticism.
Accountability: Stick to your word. Don’t justify or lay blame. Stop blaming others. Too often accountability is a quality that is demanded by all, but then abandoned when in a Leadership role. We do not live in a perfect world. People get and understand this. But bad news needs to travel fast, along with what is going to be done by who, and when. Likewise avoid taking all the credit for achievements. Acknowledge all who contributed. Success can only be achieved by collaboration.
Listen to understand: Speak less and listen more. Life is made up of many moments and many lived experiences. Listening to understand is perhaps one of the most important leadership qualities that people symbolically want to see in their leaders. This requires time, access, and continuity. Doing it ad-hoc is not effective. Listening must be done systematically in a sustainable manner to help inform what is really happening. Too often leaders say they understand, but in reality, they don’t!
Civility: The tone of voice and language used is important. Treat people respectfully without the use of labels. Describing a group of people in generalists’ terms never helps. Every group of people have layers of diversity. For instance, describing all unemployed people as dole bludgers is unhelpful and only gets people offside. By avoiding labels and broad generalisations of people ensures any messages sent are received in a respectful tone. Being civil to people is the foundation stone of respect and trust.
Responsiveness: Things happen quickly. Issues arise. Crises occur. Natural disasters happen all too frequently. When things occur, key is to be proactive, responsive, and factual. People can handle bad news, but what they need to process is what it means for them, or what they need to do. Local communities are very good at this. But if leaders are slow to act or drag the chain when practical urgent action is required, they will be assessed as not being responsive.
Ethical leadership: Be true to who you are and what you stand for. Toeing a specific organisational policy line, when it is not applicable, only tarnishes a leader’s credibility. What is right for the community versus what is good politically is an important leadership compass to navigate. Likewise, if a leader’s ethics are questioned, it will always challenge their leadership credibility. Regular lapses of judgement, inappropriate behaviours, or questionable value judgements will always diminish a leader’s reputation.
Elected representatives are put into a seat of responsibility by their community. The community rightly expect their interests and issues will be looked after and championed by their local member. They also expect them to act and behave with integrity. If they need a code of conduct to understand what this means, then we can rightfully feel let down. It is impossible to please all the people all the time, but you can be seen as being an ethical and trusted leader by the way you act. It is just a matter of common sense, or is that common nonsense?
Leadership Lesson
You cannot legislate or prescribe common sense into people.
We live in a world where common sense is not common.
However, it cannot be corrected by well-intended acts of common nonsense
Facta Non-Verba – Deeds Not Words
