This post courtesy of The Conference Board’s Human Capital Exchange.

Don’t get me wrong. Books on leadership can be worth reading. Over the last ten years, they permeate both the business press and the mainstream media, often reaching bestseller status. Some are actually written (or ghost written) by former CEOs attesting to their unique brand of leading, managing and achieving results through people. Superstar CEOs sell books, become commentators and maybe soon will have their own clothing lines. Academics, researchers and management consultants also write books. Advice and wisdom is readily available.

The problem is that much of this becomes the latest “hula hoop” of the year. The latest thinking is always at the doorstep. If you only do this or that, you will have a successful company, an engaged workforce and an envied workplace. Fads and quick fixes rarely succeed. However, we now have created an appetite for “what’s next” and “what’s new”. With an expectation, that if it worked there, it can work here. The field is filled with failed Maginot Lines of benchmarked best practices.

Instead of gearing-up for the latest, we might instead be asking: “So what have we really learned about leadership and what really works?” What have we learned from those that have worked for us? What really does matter? What is unchanging about human nature? What are the basic tenets that we should trust about leadership and those that we aspire to lead?

I have had a chance to interview a small number of world famous thought leaders over the last few years. I have asked them about the impact that modern human capital management, including the HR function, has had within organizations. Although not by any means a validated research study, the news is not good, and seems consistent with current employee engagement research. There is a significant loss of trust in leadership. A large number of employees find little or no meaning in their lives at work. People are tired and numb.

What we should be demanding is a stronger moral fiber in our leaders. Reading the headlines and seeing the increasing gap between executive and employee compensation, the continuous number of situations involving corporate wrongdoing, you would think that stewardship is dead and that self-interest is flourishing. Leaders at the top have both unique challenges and opportunities. Yes, they are responsible for strategy, but they are also responsible for culture and for managing the impact and affect that their leadership has on both.

In the good old days (just a few years ago), when we used to talk about leadership and culture, we started by discussing values. You remember, we would draw a triangle and have values at the bottom. The foundation. I wonder if we don’t spend sufficient time on values these days? How people (both employees and customers) should be treated, much less managed. How sacrifices should be shared, and not delegated to the lower levels. Where is the ongoing discussion about the importance of values on leadership and on the culture? The importance of starting with values when managing and leading employees, and of communicating and managing change based on values.

Our history shows us that what makes us unique as a country is the perception (whether real or no longer believed) of a perceived fabric of fairness. A belief that opportunity and advancement exists, if not for all, then for at least most of us, especially in the middle class. If this perceived fabric of fairness tears, we will have a larger problem than the loss of employee engagement. We have a direct threat to the overall fiber of our larger society. Values-based leadership is desperately needed in the halls of government and not just in the corporation.

By Steve Steckler, Principal and Senior Consultant with inTalent Consulting Group