LEADERSHIP

USF Sarasota-Manatee

Organizational Leadership

Vision, Values and Purpose

Litchfield, Sharon

3/30/2015

Abstract

The vision and values of an organization demonstrate and can tell a story to those they wish to persuade

and to lead others to a common goal within the organization. It is very important that it is clear, concise

and attainable. Inasmuch, it may seem easy to come up with the verbiage to encapsulate your vision and

then be sure your values are aligned with that vision; it can go through various phases, ever evolving

through the input and perspectives of others within the organization’s leadership team. It takes a team to

develop the vision and values; it’s a necessity to ensure that everyone in a leadership role agrees to and

buys into the vision and values. The team needs to understand the purpose of their company and thus

emote to others their values and principles that will distinguish them from their competitors. Without their

commitment, the vision and values will ring hollow to those they want to lead and in the end will simply

be a slogan on someone’s webpage or wall, never to be implemented to its full potential because no-one

was really committed.

Leaders take on many faces and so do their philosophies and strategies to lead people. In hospitality, it’s

all about the guest and what you can do for them. You are either service oriented or not, and its great

managers who know the difference when going through the hiring process. Your team is dependent upon

your ability to hire, motivate and lead them into the future of the company. Like the many different

leadership styles, everyone has their own interpretation of their vision, values and goals that their

company should take.

A vision statement says what the organization wishes to be like in some years’ time. It’s usually

drawn up by senior management, in an effort to take the thinking beyond day-to-day activity in a

clear, memorable way. For instance, the Swedish company Ericsson (a global provider of

communications equipment, software, and services) defines its vision as being “the prime driver

in an all-communicating world.” (Kenny, 2014)

Values describe the desired culture. As Coca-Cola puts it, they serve as a behavioral compass. 

Coke’s values include having the courage to shape a better future, leveraging collective genius,

being real, and being accountable and committed. (Kenny, 2014)

Kenny, (2014) takes it further to suggest your company shouldn’t rely on just a vision statement, mission

statement or values, but rather on the purpose, or the why, of your company and conveying that message

instead. His examples are cited below and you can see that these are more intrinsic and will develop the

relationship you need between the leader and the people they lead and influence if they have a better

understanding of “why” they’re coming to work every day.

Greg Ellis, former CEO and managing director of REA Group, said his company’s purpose was

“to make the property process simple, efficient, and stress free for people buying and selling a

property.” This takes outward focus to a whole new level, not just emphasizing the importance of

serving customers or understanding their needs but also putting managers and employees in

customers’ shoes.  It says, “This is what we’re doing for someone else.” And it’s motivational,

because it connects with the heart as well as the head. Indeed, Ellis called it the company’s

“philosophical heartbeat.” (Kenny, 2014)

For other examples of purpose, look at the financial services company ING  (“Empowering

(Nader, 2014)people to stay a step ahead in life and in business”), the Kellogg food company

(“Nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive”) and the insurance company IAG (“To help

people manage risk and recover from the hardship of unexpected loss”). (Kenny, 2014)

If you’re crafting a purpose statement, my advice is this: To inspire your staff to do good work

for you, find a way to express the organization’s impact on the lives of customers, clients,

students, patients — whomever you’re trying to serve. Make them feel it. (Kenny, 2014)

In the hospitality industry someone may think only in terms of hotels, casinos, spas, resorts, cruise ships

etcetera. But, there are many other facets, including country clubs and golf clubs. Many golf enthusiasts

may know what and who the PGA TOUR is, but having worked with them for almost 20 years, I can say,

that most people do not know, beyond the leader in the FedEx Cup, what the PGA TOUR really does and

the many charities they help through PGA TOUR Charities. In addition they’ve expanded in the golf club

market and have a signature brand, TPC (Tournament Players Club) golf courses throughout the world.

They have gone through many phases and evolved over time, but their vision has never wavered.

PGA TOUR VISION

To entertain and inspire our fans, deliver substantial value to our partners, create outlets for

volunteers to give back, generate significant charitable and economic impact in the communities

where we play, grow the game of golf and provide financial opportunities for PGA TOUR

players. (PGA TOUR, 2015)

Tournament Players Clubs Vision

The spirit of the PGA TOUR, in everything we do. (About TPC , 2015)

The PGA TOUR is one of the most prestigious sporting associations in the world, and we are

honored to be part of it. From the standards we uphold at the courses to the service and

thoughtfulness we provide to every member and guest, we bring the spirit of the PGA TOUR to

everything we do. We embrace the history of the TOUR, the indelible impact it has on

communities throughout the world, and remain focused on continuing to bring the essence of this

experience to each of our courses. We are our members’ and guests’ connection to the highest

level of golf, and we continuously work to deliver experiences that make our guests feel the

passion of the TOUR. Through every interaction at every touch point, we will keep creating

meaningful ways to infuse the greatness of the PGA TOUR into the TPC Network. (About TPC ,

2015)

TPC Network Values

The organizational values at the TPC Network are the tenets that serve as the foundation of what

we stand for, shaping our path and driving every decision we make. (About TPC , 2015)

Leadership: While working with the PGA TOUR, and the TPC, they stressed leadership to all

their management and supervisors. It’s a strong core value and one that is practiced everyday

through their ongoing education and desire to be the leader in the golf industry.

Community: The PGA TOUR Charities is a significant part of the PGA TOUR and the TPC’s

across the globe. With every tournament there is a charity in the city that hosts one of their golf

tournaments, from the Regular Tour to the Champions Tour. Over the past 30 years they’ve

raised over $2 Billion dollars for local charities. Over the past ten years they have focused on the

Armed Servicemen and Women through Birdies for the Brave, which was started by Phil

Mickelson and his wife. Each TPC hosts a B4B tournament and have raised over $10 million

dollars since 2004.

Excellence: They pride themselves in bringing excellence to the game and bringing that out in

their employees. When you work for the PGA TOUR and TPC you know you are in an elite sport

and will always be recognized as the leader in excellence. They are the brand to be compared to;

they have set the bar high for other golf organizations and more importantly other sports. They

have the highest integrity rating among all sports.

Service: Through training programs and high expectations, every PGA TOUR and TPC employee

know that they have to be the best and excel in service. We are service industry, in addition to

being a major sport. Most TPC Clubs are affiliated with resorts and hotels and to separate

themselves from a “regular” resort, great service is always “top of mind” with the staff.

The Game: Golf is the game and everyone working with the PGA TOUR and TPC, and those

who observe the game, know it’s why the PGA TOUR exists. It is instilled in all employees that

without the game and the integrity for the game, we would not be the leader in the industry.

Heidi Halvorson, 2014, wrote, “it’s one thing to set goals—and entirely another to get the people

in your organization to actually accomplish them. To make the leap from vision to execution, you can’t

just define what needs doing; you also need to spell out the details of getting it done. One motivational

tool that enables this is “if-then planning,” which helps people express and carry out their intentions.

The PGA TOUR and TPC practices “if-then planning” and ensures that all their values and goals are tied

to each other, making that connection with their staff and getting the buy-in to be the best in the golf

industry and to be proud of being a part of the network of clubs. Having that recognition that you work

for the PGA TOUR makes you part of an elite sport and elevates you personally to a higher status among

your peers, within the golf industry and to golf enthusiasts alike.

If-then plans work because contingencies are built into our neurological wiring, says social

psychologist Halvorson. Humans are very good at encoding information in “If x, then y” terms

and using such connections to guide their behavior, often unconsciously. When people decide

exactly when, where, and how they’ll fulfill a goal, they create a link in their brains between the

situations or cue. (Halvorson, 2014)

Another author, (Nader, 2014), wrote about teaching values to turn your company around. Although the

PGA TOUR is the leader in golf, it doesn’t mean they haven’t had some issues brought on by the

economy. With the downs have come lost sponsorships and tournaments, and you may think that morale

would also go down. But, as Nader explains, there are ways to turn around the negative impact into a

positive and the TOUR does it very well through their value system.

Nader explains that to turn around his company, as the new CEO, he had to develop some core

values to revitalize the company. He outlines simple rules to create and communicate those values.

Define the values in simple, sixth-grade language. Words mean different things to different

people. Therefore, it is important that the words used to define the values be simple, clear, and

easily understood by the constituents and are not jargon.

Don’t post plaques on the wall declaring the values. Mounting your values on a wall can

trivialize them and give the false impression that they have been already achieved by decree.

Values have to be internalized and lived and cannot be an object on a wall. Building a culture

with values that everyone embraces requires leading by example, interpersonal communication,

and permanent attention.

Teach people what the values mean. This must come from the top. My senior executives and I

made our values the language of leadership. They were embedded in how we worked and

communicated at every level. Credibility is truly at the core of building a values-driven culture.

Recruit people who naturally are inclined to live your values. It simply means populating the

workforce with individuals who naturally embrace the values and become role models. Cultural

fit is as significant as technical ability. Again, a company’s culture is a choice, and different

people find their fulfillment in different cultures. We integrate the assessment of candidates’

values in our interview process, check references accordingly, and rely significantly on referrals.

Make values a primary filter for performance evaluations. There is no stronger leverage for

promoting a culture than tying adherence to its values to individual compensation. Even

individuals on NPS’s leadership team who didn’t embrace our values had to go.

Your values must be non-negotiable. Over and over again, I have seen managers tolerate

unacceptable behaviors because they believed the individuals’ technical expertise was vital. This

shortsightedness is a recipe for disaster. One person’s expertise is not a good trade for negativity,

loss of credibility, and the metastases of other unacceptable behaviors throughout the

organization. The moment you make one exception, you’re doomed. (Nader, 2014)

The PGA TOUR and the TPC, of which I have over 20 years’ experience working with, walks the walk

through their vision and values, they are a part of their culture. You will witness at every TPC and within

every PGA tournament they host; the staff is proud to be a part of the company and it shines through

every day in the service and excellence demonstrated by their employees. Similar to the Ritz Carlton,

which is the standard by which they measure themselves, they want to be known for their service and

gratitude, and that you chose to be a part of their team.

Works CitedAbout TPC . (2015, March 30). Retrieved March 30, 2015, from TPC.com: http://www.tpc.com/about-

vision-and-values

Halvorson, b. H. (2014, May). Get Your Team to Do What It Says It’s Going to Do. Harvard Business Review.

Kenny, G. (2014, September). Your Company’s Purpose Is Not Its Vision, Mission, or Values. Harvard Business Review.

Nader, F. (2014, May). How We Built a New Company Culture. Harvard Business Review.

PGA TOUR. (2015, March 30). Retrieved March 30, 2015, from PGATOUR.com: http://www.pgatour.com/company/aboutus.html