What is the most important leadership core value?

Great question and it's important to break that question down: What we "value" is what we place importance on or what we find worth or significance in. Central to leadership is the ability to influence so that followers can be gained. Even the leaders that have no significant title, passion, or integrity may become "great" ("great" being defined as exceptional in degree or intensity). Hitler had limited integrity, but could be defined as a great leader because he influenced many followers. Ghandi did not show his passion and had no formal title, but he influenced many followers. There are even some leaders that don't even want to be a leader, but people follow them (a scene from Forrest Gump comes to mind....fictitious but could be true). All of these leaders have one thing in common: They're going somewhere. So...from an outsiders' perspective, the outsider would value the ability to influence as the most important and from an insider's perspective, the leader would value where they are going (vision) as most important.

How do you deal with a deviant or destructive family or organizational culture?

I know this sounds like a depressing answer to the question of how to deal with a deviant or destructive family or organizational culture, but you can't change culture just like you can't change an individual's nature without a death or near-death experience. Both need to be changed from the inside out. So since we're talking about a culture, the only way to deal with it is to replace behaviors. When the people with the more constructive behavior outnumber the deviants, the culture will follow.”

Are you one that offers advice freely?

You may mean well by offering a co-worker or family member advice, but your comments may be taken the wrong way.

Here’s how you can offer advice so it’s well received:

1. Give some advance warning. Don’t jump right into your advice. Lay some ground work before you begin. An opening such as, “I have some ideas that may help you …” gets others ready to listen. It also gives them a chance to stop you if they don’t want your input.

2. Phrase your advice in first-person singular. The other person will be less defensive and more likely to listen with an open mind. Instead of, “What you need to do is…” use yourself as an example: “What helps me is…”

Source: Dance Lessons, by Chip Bell and Heather Shea, as seen in Positive Leadership, 323-960-4100.

Should we pay the married and child-rearing employees and citizens more in overall pay & benefits?

Inherent in this question is an assumption that they should be paid the same, which in a free market society, does not work. "Pay for Performance" has nothing to do with marital status and number of exemptions. However, marital status and number of dependents MAY have something to do with how the employee views responsibility and how they perform for their pay.