People in telephone companies, particularly rural ILECs, seem to resonate to the eight Shared Values principles because they use them every day in their communities and within volunteer organizations. This process is not about imposing a "new" set of values on them.

Telephone companies have traditionally been managed by using a "paternalistic" model (father knows best), which was effective as long as "father" knew all the answers. In today's more complex technological and competitive environment, we need all employees, particularly those who are closest to customers, to take responsibility for generating a higher level of participation in the types of decisions that are customer affecting.

People in ILECs set a high value on serving their customers effectively, and are many times frustrated by their inability to do this because of outdated processes that they can't change. ("That's the way it's always been around here"). This process teaches them that it is safe to them to speak up and change those processes, policies, and systems that don't effectively serve customer needs. It shifts the model by which the company is led from paternalism to partnership.

In the paternalistic model, leadership and responsibility for the whole existed only at the "top" of the organization. All others were considered to be "implementers." Shared Values enables leadership to be shared at all levels of the organization. This allows people to take similar levels of responsibility and leadership in their work environments that they have in their communities and neighborhoods.

Vitalwork, Inc. has been establishing the Shared Values Process within telephone companies since 1995. We have worked with companies who have from 2,000 to more than 100,000 access lines throughout the United States. We understand that the telephone industry is rapidly changing from a relatively simple, straightforward deliverer of dial tone to a complex, integrated network of voice and data provisioning. We also understand that the companies who will be successful in the long run are the ones who leverage their most valuable asset, their people, in their successful transition into this new world.