“It is all about shifting the discussion in ethics from the cognitive realm-what is the right this to do? – to the practical realm – when I know the right thing to do, how can I act efffectively in a way that honors my values?”
Dr. Gentile is the Director of Giving Voice to Values, launched with The Aspen Institute and Yale School of Management and hosted at Babson College for 6 years, now based at UVA-Darden. This pioneering curriculum for values-driven leadership has had over a thousand pilots globally and has been featured in Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, McKinsey Quarterly, etc. Gentile, faculty at UVA Darden and educational consultant, was previously at Harvard Business School. She holds a B.A. from The College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York-Buffalo
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Q:
What is Giving Voice to Values?
Giving Voice to Values (GVV) is an innovative approach to values-driven leadership development in business education and the workplace, pioneered by Dr. Mary C. Gentile. GVV is based at the University of Virginia-Darden School of Business, having been launched by Aspen Institute as Incubator & Founding Partner, with Yale School of Management; then supported at Babson College 2009-16. Drawing on actual experience and scholarship, GVV fills a long-standing critical gap in the development of values-centered leaders.
GVV is not about persuading people to be more ethical. Rather GVV starts from the premise that most of us already want to act on our values, but that we also want to feel that we have a reasonable chance of doing so effectively and successfully. This pedagogy and curriculum are about raising those odds.
Rather than a focus on ethical analysis, the Giving Voice to Values curriculum focuses on ethical implementation and asks the question: “What if I were going to act on my values? What would I say and do? How could I be most effective?”
– Mary C. Gentile
Q:
Where can you find the book and the curriculum?
The curriculum is available at http://store.darden.virginia.edu/giving-voice-to-values or under the “Curriculum” tab at www.GivingVoiceToValues.org.
The book from Yale University Press is Giving Voice To Values: How To Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right and can be found here. A series of 6 online interactive, social cohort-based customizable modules are also available here. Additionally, a new 4-week online course on “Ethical Leadership through Giving Voice To Values” is available from Darden in partnership with Coursera at https://www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-giving-voice-to-values.
– Mary C. Gentile
Q:
We are standing in awe of the moral agency you demonstrate by creating Giving Voice to Values. What message would you like to send to our conference attendees?
Giving Voice to Values was created to help people understand that they often have more choices than they think. I want us all to feel more confident and competent about enacting their values. It is all about shifting the discussion in ethics from the cognitive realm – what is the right thing to do? – to the practical realm – when I know the right thing to do, how can I act effectively in a way that honors my values?
– Mary C. Gentile
Q:
This makes me think that Giving Voice to Values has much to offer to the current discussion about moral distress. Initially we looked at the external variables that create barriers to our acting on what we believe is the ethically right course of action. Now we understand that internal variables are also critical. All of us on the conference planning committee are passionate about helping nurses use the voice of their values and experience to make health care work for all, especially the most vulnerable. While health care leadership sometimes marginalizes nurses’ voices, many of us lack the courage to speak up or are unsure of how best to do this. Can you give us a hint about how you will address this?
I have some difficulty with framing these challenges as questions about moral courage. I think this leaves many of us disqualifying ourselves from the need to respond because we see the risk as too great or because we feel that we lack the courage to respond. I find it helpful to shift from the focus on moral courage to moral competence. Research tells us that we often respond to these challenges emotionally and then retrospectively rationalize our failed response or inaction. I want us to rewire that connection so that when confronted by an ethical challenge my automatic response will not be to feel limited but to immediately recognize that I have options of how best to respond, options that I have practiced, and feel confident using. I learn to act on my values routinely.
There are actually seven pillars in Giving Voice to Values and my favorite is “Self-knowledge and Alignment.” I learned listening to people tell me about their own experiences voicing values that we don’t necessarily have to be assertive risk-takers to respond to ethical challenges. People who are introspective and more risk-averse, who think of doing the right thing as “the safer route” and respond in ways that have been persuasive and successful for them in the past, can also be effective.
– Mary C. Gentile
Q:
Someone reading your book wrote, “Giving Voice to Values heralds a revolution in ethics education… It’s like a self-defense class for your soul.” Can you say more about this?
The more often we act on our values and do so effectively, skillfully, the more we feel whole and truly ourselves. When we fail to try, we can begin to feel alienated from our own deepest identity.
The metaphor of “self-defense” actually resonates with one of my own experiences when I was developing Giving Voice to Values. I was taking a self-defense class and after learning different defensive moves, the instructors introduced us to the concept of “specific state muscle memory.” Once we had practiced our defenses, they would bring in a gentleman in a padded suit and we would have the opportunity to practice them on him, safely, when he would attack us. The idea was that if you’ve practiced a response enough in advance, you won’t freeze in a moment of a challenge because you have developed that “muscle memory.”
Similarly, the Giving Voice to Values approach is all about developing a “moral muscle memory.” If we practice finding ways to be comfortable and skillful doing the things that mean the most to us, that accord with our highest aspirations, we will do this routinely. Then we can bring our whole identity to work with us and not feel alienated from our truest, most authentic self. The converse leads to burnout and moral distress.
– Mary C. Gentile
Q:
May we ask you how you measure a “good” day? Perhaps phrased differently, what gets you up in the morning ready to work again? What refuels your energy?
When someone shares an anecdote of how they have re-framed their own experience and used the Giving Voice to Values insights to more effectively act on their own values, well then I feel as if I haven’t lived in vain.
– Mary C. Gentile
Q:
Any last words?
I have worked with all kinds of business leaders but I have also done work with health care leaders and professionals. These interactions have been some of the most rewarding in my career. While health care professionals are appropriately concerned about their well-being, they really care about their patients. I’ve found this inspiring. The pain they feel when not able to express their values when they silence themselves, is deep. I want to help and believe Giving Voice to Values offers a different solution.