Leadership Insights

Make value-based decisions. That’s it. When you don’t live in alignment with your values, you tend to lack the energy and initiative for leadership. If you don’t know what you value, your team may find your decisions inconsistent and unreliable. The one surefire way to increase your leadership effectiveness is to have a clear set of values and then make decisions and take action in alignment with those values.

Here is why this one, simple behavioral change makes such a big difference:

Thinking and acting in alignment with your values gives you the energy, passion and power for effective leadership. When we prioritize and act upon those things that matter most to us, we feel good. Our energy increases. We feel aligned with our purpose. We think more creatively and find resolutions to problems quicker, because our brain is operating from a positive place. Others are inspired and influenced by our energy and excitement. It becomes culturally contagious. Through living in alignment with our values, we empower our teams to do the same.    

Values give you a platform for making clear and consistent decisions. Being a leader means making a thousand decisions a day. Our decisions not only have ramifications for ourselves, but for others as well. Values create a platform for making these decisions. If you value health, then supporting a new wellness initiative for your company is an easy decision. If you value freedom, you would not want to take away flexible scheduling or work-from-home days. If you have a decision between two competing values, the rank ordering of your values helps you decide. For example, if you value education more than fiscal responsibility, it may help you decide to invest in a costly, but beneficial training program for your team. Using your values as a platform allows you to make decisions quickly and confidently take action.

Values connect you to the “why” of your work, which inspires others to act. People don’t follow your lead because of what you do, they follow your lead because of why you do it. Defining your values allows you to connect to why you do what you do. People want to work for leaders who can envision and create a better future. When you operate from a belief platform, created by your values, your team takes action to support your vision. They do it not because you are paying them, but because they want the same things you want.

If your family and your faith are your top two values, you’re doing it wrong.

Hang on. Don’t freak out. I believe that you do value your faith and your family, but those values are not specific enough to create a platform for daily leadership and decision making. What is it about your family that you value? Do you value providing for them? Do you value being present for them? What is it about your faith that you value? Do you value faith-based community service? Do you value daily prayer?

Values are not an Oscar’s speech where we quickly name off those things that have most contributed to our success. Values bring clarity to who we really are and allow us to consistently express our authentic self.  Values create a road map for what we want to create in the world.  Simply put, well written values provide a foundation for daily leadership and life.  When we don’t have well written values, we often experience the five symptoms written about here.

To go beyond basic values and identify the type of authentic values that can drive your daily decisions, follow this five-step method:

1.  Start by writing a summary statement.

First, write a summary statement that clarifies who will be included in your values. Second, clarify the outcomes you expect your values to provide. The summary statement ensures your faith and family are represented, so you can dig deeper.  Here is an example:

• These five values create happiness in my life and define success with myself, my family and my work.

2.  Take five minutes. Write a long list of everything you value.

Set your cell phone timer for five minutes.  Just write.  Don’t edit. Here is a short list of values to help get you started:

• Acknowledgement
• Competition
• Decisiveness
• Education
• Empathy
• Exhilaration
• Encouragement
• Fitness
• Giving
• Humor
• Integrity
• Justice
• Openness
• Perseverance
• Reflection
• Strength
• Trustworthiness
• Willingness

3.  Edit, edit, edit – until only five values remain on your list.

Now that you have a nice, long list, it’s time to edit. As you edit your list, think about your thoughts, choices and actions over the past week. Have you worked out every day? If so, it’s likely you value health or fitness. When you watch sports, do you root for the underdog? If so, it’s possible you value perseverance. Are you the first to laugh when something goes wrong? If so, you may value humor. Editing your list gives you the opportunity to define who you are with brevity.

4.  Rank order the list from one to five.

Value number one should be the most important to you. Value number five should be of lesser importance. If a decision between two competing values arises, the rank ordering will help you make the decision. For example, if you value growth more than stability, you would value an out-of-state promotion more than your family living in the same city their entire lives.  While rank ordering can be challenging, the payoff is clarity and consistency with decision making.

5. Define what each value means to you.

To finalize your values, it helps to write a short sentence defining what each value means to you. The definition will give you a clear road map to actualize the value in your life. For example, if you value freedom, you might write: I value my own internal compass, the ability to be present and the freedom to live a value-based life.

Don’t be surprised if you find yourself revising your values over the course of a couple weeks.  It takes time to discover who you are and what matters most to you.  Next week, we will discuss how to make good, value-based decisions.  If you haven’t already, sign up for the weekly insight and guidance newsletters so you don’t miss it!

Values are a personal expression of who we really are as people. Values clarify our authentic self and give us a road-map to create or invent what we most highly desire to be present in the world. However, values are often misunderstood and misused in leadership.  While they get a lot of lip service and are often recorded in the most formal of corporate documents, they rarely create a platform for action.  When values are used correctly, they should be seamlessly integrated into daily decision making.

When we make decisions and take action in alignment with our values, we feel energized, passionate and powerful. When our decisions are discordant with our values, we feel bored, stuck and miserable.  If you are experiencing any of the five symptoms below, you may be living a life out of alignment with what you really value.

Fatigue

• You awake in the morning with bone-deep fatigue and a foggy mind.
• No amount of coffee will energize you.
• You ask yourself daily, “why am I so tired?”

Overwhelm

• When you look at your to-do list, you want to take a shot of whiskey and go back to bed.
• You feel angry and resentful when others speak to you because they are interrupting the endless conversation you are having with yourself.
• You often ask yourself, “why can’t I get all this stuff done?”

Anxiety

• You feel immense pressure to get things done, but have absolutely no desire to do anything on your task list.
• You feel that your task list is a bottomless pit, and you will never get everything done.
• You ask yourself, “why am I so out of breath?  Why are chest, neck and shoulders so tight?”

Boredom

• You feel that you are caught in your own personal Groundhog’s Day, a meaningless repeat of the day before.
• It feels like you are moving through molasses, that there is resistance to everything you do.
• You ask yourself, “why am I not enjoying anything?”

Zoning Out

• You can’t wait to turn on the television and have a cocktail at the end of the day.
• You find yourself taking a mental vacation when you should be listening.
• You ask yourself, “what was I doing?”

If you are experiencing these symptoms on a regular basis, it’s time to take stock of what you value most in your life. Next week, I will share how to identify your authentic values.  If you haven’t already, sign up online for my weekly insight and guidance newsletter so you don’t miss it.