What do you see as the relationships between Giving Voice to Values and Sustainability? Incorporate specific examples from the Gentile readings.? Please write 2-3 Paragrap

MBA 715‐Week 5

Preeti Gopalani

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Discussion Question: What do you see as the  relationship between Giving Voice to Values and  Sustainability?

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Giving Voice to Values(GVV)

• What would I say and to whom? How to say it?

• What are the typical objections or arguments? 

• What will my response be to those arguments?

• How can I be the most effective in acting on values?

When I face  conflicts to my  values 

GVV starts with recognizing that people possess values and ethics. And normally, many will encounter value 

conflicts in their careers when the way people want to live and the things they want to accomplish seem to 

conflict with the expectations of various stakeholders. In these situations, they want to choose to act on their 

values and would like to have the ability to voice their value successfully and effectively. People have the 

potential to act on and express those values, however, often remain silent. Mary Gentile’s goal in creating 

Giving Voice to Values (GVV) is to help individuals learn to recognize, clarify, speak, and act on their values 

when conflicts arise. 

The GVV program is based on the research that practice makes perfect. It focuses on scripting, creating 

ethical action plans, and practicing the script, which builds the skills, and confidence to voice their values. 

Practicing what to say develops a habit of voicing values (“ethical muscle memory”). The GVV approach 

includes:

 An emphasis on self‐assessment and understanding of one’s strengths. This leads to understanding  one’s core values and purpose and is helpful when looking for a way to align one's individual sense of 

purpose with that of an organization. 

 Opportunities to construct practice responses to frequently heard reasons and rationalizations for not  acting on one's values

 Positive examples of times when people have found ways to voice and thereby implement their values  in the workplace.

 Learning to provide peer feedback and coaching to enhance effectiveness.  Communicating our values, by using the style with which we are most skilled and comfortable with, will 

most likely enable us to speak up.

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 Consider what is at stake for others as opposed to focusing exclusively on our own needs and desires.  Objections, arguments, and justifications for not acting ethically will always be encountered. Identifying 

these arguments and developing responses to counter them will build confidence to act in effective 

ways. 

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Giving Voice to Values(GVV)

To develop the  ability to face  challenges in the  form of reasons  and  rationalizations

What are the arguments? What are the reasons and  rationalizations you need to address? 

What’s at stake for others, including those who disagree  with you

What levers can you use to influence those who disagree  with you?

What is your most powerful and persuasive response? To  whom it should be made? When and in what context?

Identifying the stakeholders and potential inhibiting arguments and rationalizations in advance helps us to 

recognize them when we encounter them and to understand the way of thinking that produces them. This 

provides an opportunity to script our responses and practice those responses.

Common arguments/rationalization examples encountered in values conflict include:

 Expected or Standard Practice: “Everyone does this, so it’s really standard practice. It’s even expected.”  Materiality: “The impact of this action is not material. It doesn’t really hurt anyone.”  Locus or Responsibility: “This is not my responsibility; I’m just following orders here.”  Locus of Loyalty: “I know this isn’t quite fair to the customer, but I don’t want to hurt my

reports/team/boss/company.”

Some examples of patterns of reasoning and levers can identify over time and include:  Thinking in the long run was well as the short run.  Considering the situation in terms of the group and the firm’s wider purpose, rather than in terms of the

immediate transaction alone.  Positioning oneself as agents of “continuous improvement” as opposed to the source of complaint.  Consider who we need and can attract as an ally in our efforts  Considering the costs to each affected party and looking for ways to recognize and mitigate these in order

to make our arguments more appealing.  Assuming our audience members are rationalists and are looking for ways to make it feasible for them to

the right thing.

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Ethical Values/Issues What & How do I say?

Define Purpose &  Acknowledge Choice

Identify Stakeholders

Voice/Communicate Self Assess

Scripting & Practicing

Anticipate conflicts & arguments

GVV Process/Pillars

Keep it  going/improvement

Put plan in place

CSR Guideline for  getting started

Engage others and  gather support

Where you want to go Understand where 

you are now 

Relationships between Giving Voice to Value and Sustainability

Understanding risks

‘Never doubt that a small band of caring and committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has’ —Margaret Mead page 401 of The Sustainable MBA, Giselle Weybrecht

To be successful in the long term, these sustainability values must be embedded at all levels of the 

organization.  Sustainability generally starts in an organization with a suggestion or demand from the CEO, or 

one of the stakeholders of the organization. It usually starts when an individual starts exploring an idea based 

on one’s own values, that would perhaps bring social and environmental change from within any company or 

at any level. This entails collecting information and understanding where the company is at and where it 

should be to be socially responsible. It requires identifying the different stakeholders who would be affected 

with these choices, engaging with them, and gathering their support and aligning your values with that of the 

business that is looking at the way to embed sustainability goals across all functions. It requires understanding 

the risks, answering any arguments or rationalizations against implementation. After an action plan is agreed 

upon, and put in place, efforts need to be continued to bring improvements by continuous evaluation and 

feedback. 

As it can be seen from the above discussion, to be successful on its journey, communicating effectively at 

every level is key—at the start, during and after the plan has been embed. 

GVV with its process of learning to solve the problems of how to speak up for your values can be applied to 

sustainability. It is concerned with implementation of the conversations about our values and focus is on 

building skill in voicing those values. An individual interested to bring sustainability issues to the forefront can 

seek guidance from GVV on how to they can use their voice to bring focus on the CSR. It’s acceptance of 

presence arguments and addressing them by scripting, practicing would enable individuals to communicate 

effectively when rationalizations and objections to the change resulting from bringing in sustainability are 

raised.

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An instance where GVV can be applied is where one of the arguments is regarding the question of 

“responsibility” and rationalization against the sustainability process (sustainability is often voluntary) is that 

‘This is not my responsibility; I am just following orders here.” GVV concept teaches to accept that presence of 

such arguments is normal and prepares the individual to be ready to be able to face such a situation. We can 

pre‐script our response as we know that this means the problem is already being acknowledged. The best way 

to respond is to not argue that it’s their responsibility but rather to engage them to come up with ways in 

which the situation might be effectively addressed and how CSR strategy can be embedded in the job. 

Motivating people may be easier with logic and rational thought. This could be the first step toward engaging 

others in the organization to bring a change.

Source: How to act on your values, with Giving Voice to Values founder, Mary Gentile ‐ Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (state.gov), Jewellel Saunders

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Relationships Between Giving Voice to Values and Sustainability

The first relationship that I see between voice to values and sustainability is reasons and rationalizations one needs to address:

In sustainability reasons and rationalizations are how sustainability is found. Without these two points how can we persuade the organization to work towards it.

The second relationship is identifying what is important to stakeholders:

In sustainability making sure the primary stakeholders’ key points are covered and can be maintained allows for the organization to achieve the desired state.

The third relationship is leveraging sustainability to influence those opposed:

This is where predictive models on sustainability can be used as leverage to influence those who oppose the model.