Basic requirements for the journey
GOOD governance is one side of the coin, whose other side is anti-corruption. To pursue a program for good governance (or anti-corruption), any enterprise or institution would have to think long term: Such a program takes a reasonably long time to make a difference and eventually succeed.
With such a reasonably long time horizon, good governance can be viewed as a journey that may involve several hundred kilometres. In undertaking any journey, it is essential that we know what our destination is. The destination of any governance journey is marked out by a dream: this dream is what we see the enterprise becoming at some time in the future, long enough to bring out the best elements and highest ideals of the many people with stakes in the enterprise. That dream — or vision — needs to be broadly shared, since it puts in bold relief what the “common good” of the enterprise may actually bring about for all those who put in personal sacrifices for its eventual delivery.
A dream about the common good or a shared vision for the enterprise is the first requirement for undertaking any governance journey. Many individuals from within the enterprise may participate in, and contribute towards, formulating the enterprise vision. But at the end of the day, this is an essential task that the leader of the enterprise (one charged with its leadership function) needs to take on. It is a leader’s primary duty to articulate a vision for the enterprise, and to set a clear direction towards a given “North Star”, where the enterprise should head towards, moving forward into the future.
In articulating a vision, the leader needs to take into serious account two fundamental elements that help shape the basic identity of the enterprise.
The first of these is the enterprise mission. In many instances, such a mission is mandated by law. In every instance, mission identifies its core purpose or essential function. What is the enterprise for? What is it supposed to do? What positive difference is it expected to make? Going by the dictum, “tell me what you do, and I will tell you who you are”, the enterprise mission defines in a very fundamental manner what the enterprise is. It is in this light that an enterprise mission does not change; it is not time-bound, in much the same way that the basic identity of any person does not change with the season or with changing circumstances (much less with changes in leadership at the top).
The second is the set of core values that the enterprise professes and wishes to be known by. These values from part of the fundamental character of the enterprise: Again, a somewhat similar dictum holds, and it goes as follows, “tell me what values you seek to live by, and I will tell you who you are”. In fact, values provide a sound foundation for any enterprise. They represent the highest ideals and the deepest convictions that should guide everything that the enterprise does. They give rise to the healthy, positive, dynamic forces that would propel the enterprise towards the continuing pursuit of its mission and the eventual realization of its vision.
The enterprise vision is timebound: by a certain date sometime in the future, it has to be realized. But for inner consistency, such a vision has to have basic alignment with the enterprise mission and its properly chosen and deeply held core values. It is this inner consistency between shared vision, enterprise mission, and core values which give a clear direction to any governance program. Not only is the destination set (and to be arrived at following a set schedule or time line); the core purpose of the enterprise is affirmed, and the core values of the people working in the enterprise are confirmed also.
In meeting the first essential requirement of a governance program by articulating a shared vision, an enterprise ends up having a clear governance charter: It includes along with enterprise vision, a properly articulated enterprise mission and a set of core values as well.