Article 23: Respect, Integrity, Duty (RID)

In the previous blog, I shared the five steps using the acronym VALUE to discover your core values (CVs). However, I wanted to inspire you by sharing my top three CVs. Each value is traceable to my past environment, organizations, and the leaders I have worked with. My CVs allow me to make decisive decisions while remaining true to myself. The top three values I place above all others are respect, integrity, and duty or RID.

Core values are threads that help guide us in life.

- Joshua K. McMillion

Respect

Respect is the cornerstone of the McMillion House of Leadership (HoL). When leaders make respect-based decisions, they see no caller, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background. They simply make decisions that benefit the organization while ensuring everyone is heard. A byproduct of respect is diversity. When the leaders give everyone on the team an equal opportunity, they tap into the Rule of Peripheral Vision. We all have dead space that is invisible to us. However, the dead space is clearly visible to others. When organizations create respect, it leads to a diverse workforce that sees problems differently.

But just creating a diverse workforce is meaningless unless the leader gives everyone a voice. To do this, organizations must foster a bottom-up refinement process that incentivizes individuals to share their ideas. When leaders remove barriers, they are leveraging the Rule of The Sledgehammer. Sledgehammers tear down obstacles for their team, creating momentum. Organizations that work collaboratively and communicate freely are more innovative, establish deeper relationships, and become more resilient. At its core, respect comes down to treating everyone, regardless of whether they’re on your team or not, with dignity! The golden rule is essential to become a transformational leader. Treat everyone as you wish to be treated. PALs treat everyone as they want to be treated.

Respect

This picture was taken right before a major combat operation in Afghanistan. What sets me apart from most of my peers as a platoon leader, is I took the time to try to listen.

Integrity

Integrity is the foundational value in every leader's arsenal. With it, leaders create trust and develop authentic bonds with their team. Without it, they erode their reputation, position, and organizational reputation. If you’re going to be successful as a leader, you must understand someone is always observing your actions, but it’s deeper than that. You simply do not do the right thing because someone is watching you. You do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Leaders with integrity command attention, and people actively seek them out. This is especially important in parenting!

Let me ask you a question? Do you really want someone on your team who is capable of breaching your trust? When organizations allow their team to breach trust, it violates integrity, resulting in catastrophic effects. A leader's goal is to protect the team and foster a collaborative environment, not cause in fighting and political games to outweigh the team's mission. As a leader, you must build a team that has red lines. My red lines are cheating, lying, or stealing “CLS.” When someone violates my trust, I can not, in good faith, delegate them authority. Trust washes away when integrity is broken and is replaced with a wall.

As leaders never shrink away from challenges. Instead, Purposeful Accountable Leaders (PALs) run towards challenges because it creates two outcomes. First, it brings out an individual's true character. Every team has members who say all the right things, but when it’s time to act, they slip away. Second, embracing challenges enforces growth for you and the entire organization. As I mature, my perspective on delegating has changed. First, I believe leaders delegated because they were lazy. However, that is not the case. PALs empower with individual strengths in mind to stretch individuals. You’ll never understand who you and your team are without embracing challenges. PALs embrace challenges because they remain committed, coachable, and curious – the Rule of 3Cs.

Integrity

Ranger School is the best example of integrity I could think of. It forces you to be a team player and speak the truth and requires your actions to align with your words.

Duty

The final value in the McMillion HoL is duty. When I said out on this journey, I filtered every value through the Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) methodology and traced it back to my past. Any great organization understands it’s not about individual agendas. As my friend Joseph Grace says, “Leaders must have a servant's heart and understand a bigger purpose.” As a leader, you must see the bigger picture and, more importantly, help others see it. This is becoming increasingly harder in today’s work environment. Today, we celebrate our differences and are conditioned to look out for ourselves. PALs understand they are part of a larger organization and are selfless in their actions.

My team has no place for individuals who only perform for selfish reasons. Next time you are tasked with a mission, stop and think. Are you navigating a path with yourself in mind or for others on your team? Rome, arguably one of the greatest empires to ever exist, was defeated not by outside forces but from within. When team loyalty lies with individuals and not the organization, developing a sense of duty and a higher purpose is complicated.

Another example is the average time employees work at a company. Post World War II, it was common for individuals to work at a company for 40 years or more. Today, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, it’s only four years. As a society, we have lost our sense of duty and need strong leaders willing to cast a vision and lead well. PALs create a sense of duty and a mission that demands a response.

Duty

Being a military officer comes with sacrifice. Those who have to weather the majority of that are the ones I love most: my family. I always remember I have a duty to be a father, a husband, and a leader in and out of uniform.

Final Thoughts

Everyone has a unique CV that defines who they are as leader. However, my goal in this blog was not to convince you to adopt my values. Instead, I challenge you to find your own and inspire you using my examples. The McMillion HoLs most important values guiding my daily decisions are built upon RID. When you discover your CVs, it’s liberating to leverage the Rule of True North. When confronted with a challenging situation requiring decisive decisions, those choices become more straightforward. Why? Because you’re filtering your decisions through your CVs, preventing decision fatigue. Take time to reflect on your values and build your HoL!

After Action Review

1. How are you building respect in your organization?

2. When confronted with a challenge, do you think of yourself first or others? Why?

3. What makes your organization an inspirational one to work for?

4. Are you living out your values?

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My Mission: I will end toxic leadership practices by equipping leaders with transformational leadership skills. 

Together, we will impact 1 MILLION lives!!!

Every day is a gift, don't waste yours!

Joshua K. McMillion | Founder MLC | Founder MLC

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