In the dynamic landscape of leadership, the connection with personal values stands as a compass, guiding us, as leaders, through the complexities of decision-making and management. This intrinsic compass is not just a moral framework; it’s the essence of authentic leadership that resonates with our teams and stakeholders alike. And it’s not just that – In the research for their book ‘The Leadership Challenge’ Kouzes & Posner, highly respected leadership researchers, found that leaders who are clear on their own values delivered as much as five times greater returns for their organisations than those who are unclear on their values or not operating to any particular compass.
What are Values?
Personal values are deeply held beliefs that shape our behaviour and decisions. We form our values consciously and subconsciously; while we consciously choose some values, others can come from our early socialisation and experiences, from our religious and cultural backgrounds, and so on.
For leaders, values are a foundation upon which trust is built. When we are clear about our values, they create a transparent and predictable environment where team members feel secure and understood and where we ourselves can fire on all cylinders, aligned with our core beliefs.
While alignment with organisational values is important, research has identified that it is our ability to align our personal values with our work that creates the real catalyst for igniting meaning and motivation.
It’s very important that as leaders we actually know what our values are and that those values are serving us. While true values will not change from day to day, we may need to reframe some of our values over time to reflect our own development, growth, and learning or the context in which we now operate.
Why connect with our personal Values as Leaders?
1. Kouzes & Posner’s research (The Leadership Challenge) showed the vital importance of our personal values as leaders – leaders who are clear on their own values delivered as much as five times greater returns for their organisationsthan those who are unclear on their values or not operating to any particular compass.
2. Leaders who align their actions with their values are seen as authentic. Authenticity fosters trust, and trust is the currency of effective leadership.
3. When we share and act in harmony with our values, we become predictable in the best way possible. This consistency reassures and motivates team members and allows them to focus on their goals, knowing that their leaders’ decisions are made with integrity.
4. As leaders, we face tough decisions daily. Personal values serve as a decision-making fra
mework, simplifying complex situations. When choices are filtered through the lens of personal values, the path forward becomes clearer, and decisions are made with conviction. Challenges are inevitable, but when we are rooted in our values we navigate these with grace. We use our values as a guide to manage crises, ensuring that our responses are not just effective but also principled.
5. Alignment with our personal values empowers us as leaders; it’s a source of self-motivation, energy and strength – and it’s a foundational step to finding your unique voice as leader.
6. The impact of a values-based leader creates a ripple effect, influencing the broader organisational culture and setting a standard for ethical behaviour and social responsibility.
We find that the importance of connecting with personal values cannot be overstated in leadership. It’s the silent pulse that keeps you and your teams aligned, motivated, and moving forward. We also find that our clients are consistently amazed at the insights they gain from exploring their values – it’s genuinely the most insightful and productive two hour coaching session you will experience!
If you would like to know more about values, here’s a link to our previous blog on this topic : The Power of Core Values for Leadership.
If you sense there’s more to achieve, new levels of thinking you can explore, if you desire to elevate your leadership and magnify your impact, and you’d like support and structure as you seek to explore your personal values, then we invite you to reach out to us at info@mojoforleaders.com.
We’ll be delighted to help you via a once off powerful Focus Coaching Session or you may benefit from our Elevate Executive Coaching
Believes passionately that coaching and facilitating are catalysts for action and self-accountability – igniting enthusiasm, creativity, energy, and focus. She is inspired by the insights, courage, and capacity of clients as they connect with their inner confidence and initiate actions to achieve their visions. Betty adopts a collaborative, solution-focused, results-oriented process, tapping the clients’ positive energy and inner wisdom, facilitating the enhancement of personal insight, life experience, and goal attainment.
