The case for values as a basis for organizational culture

At a time when almost every aspect of healthcare is rapidly and dramatically changing, it is important for healthcare leaders to maintain a moral compass--a clear sense of the morals or virtues that guide their decisions. A firmly rooted moral compass inspires, leads, guides, and provides a solid foundation--and some sense of security--for organizations navigating massive or significant transformational changes, such as those required by the Affordable Care Act. In addition, "smaller" changes, such as consolidation, rationalization, and relocation of services, have a strong chance of succeeding in organizations that operate within a moral framework from which the organization can shape its future strategies and make important decisions. Finally, an organization's moral compass guides actions, reactions, and behaviors when unexpected or devastating events occur in the lives of consumers, employees, physicians, business partners, patients, families, and members of the community. The direction toward which its moral compass is pointing determines the types and quality of relationships it has with those key stakeholders, and those individuals and groups come to depend on what they have observed and know to be true about how the organization behaves in certain circumstances. While no organization can predict the future and all of the implications of change, key stakeholder groups need and want to know how they will be treated in the face of such change-whether expected or unexpected. In this sense, every organization must establish ways to evaluate the validity of its moral compass and develop--and adhere to--guidelines that determine how its members will behave, whether in ordinary circumstances; in the face of extraordinary, high-impact situations; or in times of massive transformational change. Above all, executive leaders must always be mindful that their own personal moral compass becomes their organization's moral compass.