Leading from your values.

Have you ever thought about the role of values in leadership? How about bringing your values to work every day? Have you been told that you need to have different values in your professional and personal life?

While researching values for the upcoming leadership training, I came across Brené Brown’s research summary, where she stated:

“We can’t live into values that we can’t name, AND living into values requires moving from lofty aspirations to specific, observable behaviors.” 

For most of my leadership journey, I didn’t think much about my values and their role in my life. Honestly, I didn't even think I ever really knew what my values were. Over time I took various leadership or personality assessments, like Myers-Briggs or Strengths Finder, to discover some of my most vital traits and weaknesses that I need to work on. But I had no idea how to articulate my values. I knew some things deep down in my heart; I knew there was some roadmap I followed when I led, but I couldn’t name any parts.

Choosing values took a lot of work and time, especially when I had to select only the top five! I went through this exercise multiple times to ensure I understood the correlation between my values and how I showed up at work and in my personal life. I was determined to discover the connection between my beliefs, who I was being, what I held close to my heart, and my values.

Today, I want to share my values with you and walk you through how I put my values to work in my daily life, either at home or work. So here we are. My core values are Communication, Collaboration, Integrity, Trust, and Love.

Everyone knows communication is essential, yet only some are willing to communicate. For me, communication is the foundation of any relationship. It takes the guessing, stories, and beliefs out of the picture, allowing me to clearly understand where I stand, what I’m working with, and what my next steps are. For me, communicating my needs, wants, or desires or the organization’s needs, wants, or desires to my team enables me to move to the next stage successfully. 

With collaboration, the room for success is unlimited. If you ever found yourself in a team that doesn't collaborate, doesn’t feel like part of something bigger, and doesn’t work as one organism, then you know the opportunities for success are limited. As a leader, bringing individuals together and creating a team that brainstorms and collaborates is a skill that is necessary to run a successful team, yet only some leaders have it.

So, how do you build a team that communicates clearly and collaborate as one? Building a team based on trust works for my leadership style. I create an environment for my team where they feel safe to open up, freely share their ideas, and give me feedback during our 1:1 meetings or in a group setting. I clarify that we can only succeed if we work as one, with a clearly communicated vision and collaborative effort. They know I can’t do it alone, nor that I want to. I trust their judgment, and they trust mine. That is the power of my values that takes time to build.

But, to build a trusting team, my words must match my actions. This is where integrity comes in—giving honest feedback instead of pretending everything is OK. Asking for help instead of pretending I know it all. Taking responsibility and accountability for actions, especially admitting and owning my mistakes, makes me human and an honest and trustworthy leader.

Last but not least value is my favorite one. Love. Being able to show up from the place of love in my personal and professional life allows all other values to come together. I know I can have a difficult conversation, work on a complex project or even build a team from scratch because I can lead from my essence, my natural way of being, from my heart, instead of leading from fear, uncertainty, self-interest, and status-seeking.

I’m curious, what are your core values? How are your values aligned with your leadership style? If you ever need help clarifying how your values correspond with your leadership style, feel free to reach out.