Once upon a time, there was a large and prosperous kingdom ruled by a powerful Emperor who was admired by people far and wide for his charming wit and bold vision. He led a skilled team of advisors called the C-Suits, who helped him make decisions for the kingdom.
Unlike other Emperors who never cared what people thought of him, this Emperor cared a great deal. He wanted to be liked and admired not for his title but for who he was a person.
One day he asked his team of C-Suits to go find out what people thought of him. He summoned his Minister of Citizenship to ask “What do our people think of me? What do they think of my leadership, our values and vision for the future?”
The next month the Minister returned with a sobering report: while the people could recite the poster values which were everywhere as part of the kingdom, they perceived the lived values were actually self-interest, strictness, cronyism, greed and deception.
They saw the C-Suits ruthlessly pursuing status and wealth without compassion for the struggling everyday people.
The Emperor was shaken to realize the enormous gap between what values were touted versus practiced. He saw that noble words alone were meaningless unless backed by aligned actions - especially from leaders whose everyday behavior sets the tone. With newfound commitment, he assembled his C-Suits and announced “We will restructure our policies and connect more personally with all sectors of our society. By living our stated values rather than just decreeing them, we will earn back the kingdom's trust.”
To ensure the people believed him, he changed the laws of the royal court and decreed that if any person is his government did not uphold the behaviors of the values, they would be replaced.
Months later, he ended up changing 20% of the C-Suits as they didn't live up to the values. And not surprisingly, the peoples trust of their Emperor grew and so did their admiration of him.
The moral: values must be woven into an organization’s daily fabric. Ultimately people judge leaders not by the values they profess, but by the values they practice.