At first blush, these people had more things not in common with one another than they had in common. They came from vastly different parts of the world: India, Africa, Germany, and the United States. They had different religious viewpoints: two were Protestants, one a Hindu, and one a Catholic. And they had vastly different economic and educational backgrounds.

Yet each one of these leaders started movements that still exist today and delivered sustainable results that any executive would envy. How? By the one thing they did have in common with one another: commitment to a cause. Deep in their soul was a vision for what they believed in and a dedication to see that vision lived in real, tangible ways. Although Martin Luther King, Jr. was the only orator of the group, “I have a dream . . .” could be words that introduce each of these five’s life’s work.

We tend to think of vision differently in business, and that is not a good thing. Too often we define a “good leader” simply as someone who sets a big, measurable goal for a company. The problem is an organization may meet the goal but not grow in its character, undermining the ability for continued goal achievement. In others words, goals, as important as they are, must have a deeper why or they are not sustainable. There must be an engine that drives them, commitment to a cause that is bigger than just raw market share.

In coaching executives on the issue of tying vision and values together, you may experience significant push-back. Talking about values in today’s postmodern work environment is often seen by hard-charging personalities as soft and unrelated to the bottom line. Nothing could be further from the truth. Values-based vision is the essential foundation for enduring success, not just a good quarter or two, as evidenced by the research that follows.

Twelve years later, in 1994, Jim Collins and Jerry Porris conducted a similar six-year research project of companies that had achieved long-term corporate success, and another business classic was born: Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. What Peters and Waterman called being “value-driven,” Collins and Porris refer to as having a “core ideology.” Either way, Built to Last concludes as well that this is key to a company’s success:

Fast-forward another decade to yet another business best seller, The Leadership Challenge, by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. More research on this subject yielded the following real-world results:

What would these numbers do for the companies you serve? Clearly this issue has application beyond that of religious organizations and social movements. Here’s why.

Consider the difference between these two statements, a first and second draft of a real mission statement for a local organization:

Which one moves you? Why? The first statement gives you a job, providing affordable housing, but the second statement gives you a cause, raising the dignity of families and children. Yes, you need a job to fulfill a cause, but it is a cause that will drive you to do the job to the best of your ability and overcome all its obstacles along the way. Effective organizations and effective leaders help their people understand that they are not just laying bricks, as the well-worn story goes, they are building a great cathedral. And that makes all the difference in the world.

Walk into any Starbucks and you will find the lush aroma of fresh ground coffee, a friendly greeting—by name if you’re a regular—and a values statement. Prominently placed in every Starbucks is a 12-panel color brochure titled, “Social Responsibility.” On that brochure is a list of Starbucks’s core values, things like fair trade, the environment, social responsibility, and employee health insurance. But the brochure’s title is “Social Responsibility,” so in addition to these topics, specific, measurable steps of action for each value are enumerated for all to see. One of the reasons for Starbucks’s meteoric rise in the industry is that working there is not just a job, it’s a cause, a cause their employees fervently believe in and give their best effort to support.

In the war for top talent that hiring has become today, values-based vision also sets you apart. The best and brightest want to work for a company that is a making a difference in the world, not just making money. Your values, your core ideology, your commitment to a cause will make your organization an employer of choice and attract the very best candidates to the hiring table.

Visit any Marriott hotel and you will experience this phenomenon. “Do whatever it takes to take care of the customer” is their mantra and they live it every day. The heroes at Marriott are frontline employees who give money out of their own pocket to help with a guest’s cab fare or take special care of a package so that a traveler’s child receives it on her birthday. “Do whatever it takes to take care of the customer” drives fanatical care for their properties with extraordinary attention to detail and personal pride in their appearance. Not surprisingly, this also affects the bottom line. Marriott consistently stands as one of the most profitable businesses in the hospitality industry and in 2005 won an award for best customer service for any hotel chain in the United States.

Rules take you only so far with people. Principles like service and social responsibility learned and lived by everyone in your organization deliver an unparalleled customer experience that keep people coming back again and again and again. And the really good news is that this loyalty, once gained, makes price irrelevant. Clearly, Starbucks doesn’t sell the cheapest cup of coffee you can buy, nor does Marriott have the cheapest room in town. “Why would I go somewhere else just to save a few dollars,” your customers will say to themselves (and others), “when they treat me so well?”

We have all worked for bosses who had positional authority without relational authority and remember how painful the experience was. They could tell us what to do, and did so repeatedly at various volume levels, but never won our respect, because on a personal basis, they were so offensive. We couldn’t wait for them to move on, very often further up the organizational ladder. This kind of leadership ultimately derails as everyone tires of its tone.

Those of us who have sold for a living know well the person who has relational authority without positional authority within an organization. She is the executive assistant who does not appear on any flowchart but knows everyone in the company and is trusted explicitly by all. These unofficial leaders have great power, and you cross them at your peril, for they can kill any sale at its inception. Yet, as many a sales professional has found out, this person often has no vote on a final decision because she is not in the room when it is made. Their leadership influence, while real, is limited by their lack of positional authority within the company.

The most effective leaders have both positional authority and relational authority. They have the character that complements their rank and status. People follow them—and give them their very best effort—not because they are ordered to but because they want to. What they say they believe and how they actually live are in congruence, and that congruence earns our trust and respect. Emotional intelligence gurus Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee call this dynamic “resonant leadership” and state in their book by the same name, “We trust—and follow— people who are real, who are consistent, whose behavior, values, and beliefs are aligned. We trust people whom we do not constantly have to second-guess.” (Boyatzis and McKee, 2005, page 120)

A young Abraham Lincoln first ran for elected office at the age of 23. He did so with this pledge, “I have no other ambition so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.” (Oates, 1994, page 22) Over 30 years later he remained true to this pledge and died in large part because of it. The shadow of his leadership looms large across the pages of history as the greatest example of positional authority and relational authority working in concert.

Leaders who effectively lead others have a clear understanding of the way in which they will lead, the values that are at the core of their being. This is their vision, the cause to which they are committed. Goals come and go, as do sales contests and marketing strategies. Leaders who build enduring organizational capacity base their leadership on a clear set of values that drive them in everything they do.

Look at the list and the top 10 values that you have circled. Here comes the hard part. Cross out six of the top 10 that you have circled, leaving four values that you would say are at your very core. Crossing out a value doesn’t mean you don’t believe it; you are just saying that another word or phrase more accurately describes what you truly believe and makes it to your final four.

Look at this list in another way. Pretend your retirement dinner is next week and you will be presented with a very, very expensive gold watch for your years of faithful service. On the back of the watch is enough room for only four words. What four words would you want etched there as the legacy you leave for your life and leadership?

Choose three people you trust to tell you the truth. Share with them your final four values and the personalized definitions you have written. Also share your vision for how you intend to live out your values within the organization. Then ask for feedback. How are you currently doing this? How are you not doing this? Where do you need to grow to ensure that you are true to what matters most to you? This is a powerful exercise that people take very seriously and will give you great positive affirmation and caring, constructive input for your life and leadership.