Graham Moore Talks to Certified Master, Steve Coats About Values

Leadership values

This practice focuses on identifying and understanding values and then affirming those values by their behaviors. The individual’s values are foundational to affective leadership. It’s essential that leaders identify their personal values and understand what those values really mean to them, so that they live those values. Simply saying that ‘respect’ and ‘loyalty’ are values is not enough. The individual must live those value, must show by his or her behaviors that these are values which are directly represented in their behaviors.

It’s not simply a matter of picking a value or ‘thinking you would like to have that value’: it’s a matter of understanding what that value means to you and then in your every day life, living that value. One further advantage or outcome of this is that when the leader lives his or her values, the credibility amongst followers is reinforced. For example, if a leader says, integrity and honesty are values, demonstrating that in reality, builds trust and credibility with those who are observing them, their followers. An example of a leader ‘not living his values’ was the CEO of a health and safety company. He would ride his motorbike to work without wearing a helmet, he would go onto a potentially dangerous workplace without wearing the required safety protection equipment. His team members pointed out to him that not wearing a helmet in a non-work related environment, clearly showed to them that he was not living the value of integrity. An understanding and demonstration of personal values is a clear indicator of who you really are. It is key to building relationships. It’s essential that all leaders understand their own values and then without pause or excuse, that they those values every day.