Values Based Leadership

Isn't it obvious? We should all live by our values. We should all act and behave in a way that demonstrates what we believe in. Unfortunately, leading through ones personal values structure is not always what we see in today's society. Factors like money, popularity, and power take over and are what drives decision making. Leaders forget what they fundamentally think is important. For leaders to be effective, morally sound, inspiring, and empowering, they must lead by their values. So what does leading by your values really mean? What is Values-Based Leadership?
Values-based leaders are individuals who:

•  lead with their core values, principles and beliefs to ignite the potential in those around them. Behaviours are rooted in moral and ethical foundations.
• are rooted in who they are and what matters most to them. When you truly know yourself and what you stand for, it is much easier to know what to do in any situation.
• are willing to look within themselves through regular self-reflection and strive for greater self-awareness.

I emphasize the last point because this is where leadership development must begin. People must be challenged to explore their inner-self to help them understand where their strengths lie and where they need to improve. It is not enough to quickly identify a "SMART" goal, work on it, and then say okay, I am done. There is a lifetime growth mindset that must be adopted. As leadership guru, Peter Senge (2006) states,

"personal mastery is a process, a lifelong discipline (p. 132)".

​Leaders must commit to personal mastery because when they do, people "...are acutely aware of their ignorance, their incompetence, their growth areas, and they are deeply self confident" (Senge, 2006, p.133).

It is my hope that I can empower the students I teach and clients I work with by modelling values-based leadership, and guiding them through experiences that allow them to think deeply about where their strengths and areas of growth lie. It is my goal, to ignite the leadership potential within each of my students and clients, because as Kouzes and Posner (2007) state, "leadership is everybody's business".



Resources:
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Currency Doubleday.
Kouzes & Posner (2007). The leadership challenge. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass