Learn how to lead with values. This guide covers values clarification, authenticity, purpose-driven leadership, and how to align your decisions with your values.
Her Success Coach helps women leaders build confidence, overcome self-doubt, and lead with clarity. Cambridge-trained, evidence-based coaching for senior women in tech, business, and finance.
In a world of competing demands and pressures, it is easy to lose sight of what truly matters to you. Yet leaders who are clear on their values and who lead in alignment with those values are more effective, more authentic, and more fulfilled. This article explores the importance of values in leadership and provides a framework for clarifying your values and leading with them.
Values are the principles and priorities that are most important to you. They are the things that guide your decisions, shape your behavior, and define who you are. Examples of values include integrity, compassion, excellence, growth, family, creativity, and service.
Values are different from goals. Goals are specific outcomes you want to achieve. Values are the principles that guide how you pursue those goals. For example, you might have a goal to be promoted to senior leadership. Your values might be integrity and service. These values would guide how you pursue that goal through honest work and by focusing on how you can serve others.
Research by Jim Collins has shown that companies with leaders who are clear on their values and who lead in alignment with those values outperform those that do not. Additionally, leaders who are clear on their values are more resilient, more engaged, and more fulfilled in their work.
Values also matter because they build trust. When your team sees that you are consistent in your values and that you make decisions based on those values, they trust you more. This trust is the foundation of effective leadership.
Many people have never taken the time to clarify their values. They operate on autopilot, following the values of their parents, their culture, or their organization, without consciously choosing them. This can lead to a sense of misalignment or inauthenticity.
Take some time to reflect on the following questions:
Based on your reflections, identify your top five to seven core values. Be specific. Instead of just "success," you might identify "continuous learning" or "making a meaningful impact."
When you are faced with a decision, ask yourself: Does this decision align with my values? If you are offered a promotion that would require you to compromise your values, it may not be the right choice, even if it seems like a good opportunity on the surface.
Let your team know what you stand for. This helps them to understand you better and to align their own work with your values. For example, if one of your core values is integrity, you might communicate this by saying, "In this team, we value honesty and transparency. We will always tell the truth, even when it is difficult."
When you make decisions based on your values, even if those decisions are difficult, your team will respect you more. This builds the kind of authentic leadership that inspires others.
Sometimes, your values may conflict with the values of your organization or your team. When this happens, it is important to address it directly. Have a conversation with your manager or your team about the conflict. Sometimes, you can find a way to align. Sometimes, you may decide that the organization is not the right fit for you.
Leaders who are clear on their values and who lead in alignment with those values are more authentic, more effective, and more fulfilled. By taking the time to clarify your values and to ensure that your decisions and actions are aligned with them, you create a foundation for authentic, values-based leadership.
Ready to lead with greater authenticity and purpose? Book a free discovery call to explore how coaching can help you lead in alignment with your values.
Iveta Dulova is an executive and leadership coach for women with a decade of experience in global technology and a Masters in Coaching and Leadership from the University of Cambridge. She works with women managers, directors, and founders across technology, financial services, and consulting who want to build executive presence, negotiate with confidence, and build a career that reflects their values rather than their fears.
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