Values – Based Leadership is usually associated with organisational leadership practice; what about as an individual leadership practice.
Values are filters in your life, they are what you hold important to you, they influence your decision making, your actions and how you go about life.
They are your inner guidance!
As an individual leader your values will play a part in how you operate as a leader individually as well as in an organisation and it is valuable to understand your personal values and how they influence you and your professional situation.
Knowing your own personal values, supports you to lead through your values, supporting you to achieve your own purpose in life. When you operate outside your values, you can have a sense of not fitting in, misalignment, like something doesn’t fit.
If your values are not being met you are depleting yourself!
To operate from a foundation of values you need a clear understanding of your values, what they mean to you and how they can be met. Values drive your behave, which relates to your actions, which in turn relates to how your interact with others and add value to any given situation.
Just like in an organisation leading through your values creates a culture around your approach to leadership, leading self and leading others.
To lead self you need to understand what nourishes you and what depletes you as a person and a leader. You need to understand your values. What are your non-negotiables as a person, the things that are a must in your life to achieve wholeness, achieve your goals.
Ask yourself this question and respond with one or two word answers – What is most important to you?
By answering this question you are starting to discover what drives you and the way you operate, how you filter information, you are starting to discover your values.
Values are with you from the time you are born, and for many early years influenced by your parents. As you start to grow and mature your values change and start to align with you as an individual. Yes you may keep some of those that you were brought up with, some may change, some may have different meaning to you now. Values are a solid life foundation.
In knowing your own values, how they are met and how that influence your way of operating as a leader, gives you a flying start to developing your Values-Based Leadership approach, for self and organisation.
4 steps to lead-self with Values-Based Leadership
- Self-reflection – A true leader must have the ability and strength to look within; be open to what may need improving; celebrate what is working and understand the impact of this. In being able to reflect you are empowering yourself to truly understanding who you are, your values and how you can have them met.
- Curiosity to understand – The more you seek to understand, the more information you have to see the situation from differing views, therefore consider all elements and support sound decision making. When you are being true to your values, you are more likely to be curious (verse defensive) to understand and achieve the best possible outcome for those involved.
- Person power (confidence in self) – Confidence in self is critical to being a leader. The more confidence you have the more action you take. Confidence stems from knowing yourself and acting where things need to change; its being comfortable to stand up for yourself and those around you, its being comfortable to stand up for what is important to you – your values.
- Authenticity – Being true to yourself, and living your values is being authentic to you. If you do not know your values, how can you be authentic and true to self. This in turns supports you to build strong trustworthy relationships with others, people know what they are getting and feel they are dealing with a genuine person.
Nourish Yourself to Success – discover your values and how they make you a better leader for self and others.
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