Values- based leadership: two points for leaders to consider

How many people look up to you as a leader? 

Your direct reports? An entire team or department? 

The answer is every single employee in your organisation. That could be 5, 50 or 500 people.  

Leaders’ behaviours set an example for colleagues to follow. So it’s essential for every leader to lead and take actions based on the Values of your organisation. 

Are you leading your organisation’s Values every day?

It’s amazing when you can see, hear and feel an organisation’s culture and Values being brought to life. There’s a feeling of excitement, togetherness and teamwork. Colleagues are more likely to be engaged and happy at work.

When customers and suppliers begin to comment on your team living the Values you know you’re on the right track. I see it with my own clients. Their culture and Values are alive and kicking behind the scenes, not just front of house for customers to experience. 

When leaders don’t lead by example it leads to confusion. If leaders think company Values are “for them and not me” those Values will never land, resonate or be brought to life in your team’s daily work.

So what actions can leaders take to ensure they lead the Values consistently?

Communicate the Values at every opportunity  

Weaving the Values into everyday conversation will guide your team and help bring your company Vision to life. Give your team the opportunity to fully understand what good looks like. Share examples and scenarios to help them understand what this means for them. Communicate the Values with every interaction: emails, team meetings, coaching conversations, water cooler chats. 

The aim is not to create cookie cutters or turn your team into robots who only do things one way. Quite the opposite. It’s about each colleague finding their own unique way to live the Values. 

Think about the Values when recruiting

A good way to establish if a person is the right fit for your organisation is to ask them what’s important to them in how they live their life. Explain the company Values and ask them what they think and feel about them. A positive reaction is a good sign! If a new recruit is inspired and aligned to your Values, they will likely be a good match to support you and your team to deliver. Learning new skills and knowledge comes more naturally when someone is aligned to your Values and behaviours.

Embedding the Values successfully

It’s magical when everyone in the organisation embraces the Values.

I was privileged to work with an organisation on embedding their Values. We shared the company Values in training and explored the impact they have on our actions and behaviours. The team focused on one Value per day and shared some incredible examples of when they had been brought to life.

The team began to use the Values in their daily communication. One day, a leader was working with colleagues on a specific project. The leader said to the colleagues. ‘This is amazing work.’ The colleague’s response was, ‘Thank you, I take pride in everything I do.’ Pride is one of their Values. 

I love this story. It shows some of the benefits that come from successfully embedding the Values - positive energy, focus and understanding.

What can leaders learn from this example?

The sense of belonging in this particular team was awesome. The team were loyal to their colleagues, loved what they were doing (and by the way, made lots of money for the business). 

Each year the senior team felt overwhelmed by the growing financial targets being set, and each year they smashed them. You can only achieve such amazing results when the whole team contributes and works together to make a difference. Recognising and rewarding colleagues who live and breathe the company culture is one sure way to make great things happen. 

An awkward situation with a positive outcome

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. I’ll finish with an example of when leaders failure to lead the Values caused awkwardness and confusion.

I was delivering a workshop on the theme of Trust with a team of leaders and their CEO. One of the tasks I did to prepare for the workshop was to research their company Values. 

During the workshop, I asked the team ‘What are your company Values?’ The CEO contributed and clearly didn’t know their current set of Values. They quoted Values from several years ago. It felt very awkward. 

I’m pleased to say a key takeaway from this session was to re-launch and embed the current Values, which the leaders all embraced and committed to delivering. What began as an awkward conversation led to positive action being taken.

What will you do today to communicate and lead your Values?