Part 2 Core Ideology….
What is it? It combines value and purpose. It cannot be confused with core competency. It guides and inspires. It is required to be lived with authenticity, discipline, and consistency.
Phew! In a nutshell it does mean many things.
Breaking down these many things one by one thus an explanation can be definitely provided for each one of them. So here goes….
It combines value and purpose….
Indeed. In the preceding part 1 value and purpose have been well illustrated. Continuing with the example of the teacher provided in part 1 “the teacher gets down to the level of the students while imparting knowledge”. If we perceive this statement carefully the value and the purpose which the teacher believes in is embedded in the statement.
The teacher being my client she was able to conceive and identify her value and purpose in the due course of the coaching sessions with her. She figured out her value was to expand her possibilities for the students and her purpose was to bring about a change in the life of her students. Thus, her core ideology was being guided by her purpose and value. She does not consider her competitors which would be other teachers in the school that she is professionally engaged with while comprehending her value and purpose. They are what she believes in and adheres to.
Here I am jumping to the last statement…
It is required to be lived with authenticity, discipline, and consistency…
The teacher does live with her ideology with authenticity, discipline and consistency since she has perennially ensured that she puts in additional efforts, thus expanding her possibilities to make the students comprehend the given topic. Hence here the teacher is authentic in her efforts because from within her heart she wants the students to comprehend what she teaches so that they can use it all through their life. She follows a discipline which is portrayed in case of each topic and is not limited to one topic alone. And finally she is consistent with her efforts thus adding discipline and authenticity to them.
Then I move onto the statement before the last one….
It guides and inspires…
In the teacher’s case her value and purpose guide her and inspire her consistently in taking the efforts that she does as described above in the explanation to the last statement. It can also be stated that her passion which is the value and the purpose that she lives, gets reflected through the efforts that she takes.
And finally…
It cannot be confused with core competency…
The teacher’s core competency are the efforts that she takes to adhere to her core ideology. Her efforts are the variety of strategies that she adopts to consistently follow her ideals her core ideology. Core competency can change from time to time as per the demand of the situation. However, core ideology remains as is. It never changes.
Hence having a complete comprehension of the essence of core value and core purpose is important to know core ideology. This also means that core ideology never changes unlike core competencies which can change. The efforts the teacher takes may never ever get repeated or they may repeat time and again but her core ideology will remain static.
The moral is anything that changes cannot be core ideology….
Part 3 delves on Envisioned Future….
References: Collins J.C. & Porras J.I. “Building your company’s vision”, On Strategy, Harvard Business Review