Values Based Leadership

Purpose, values, behaviours. In corporate life leadership no longer just tells you what you need to do, but rightly sets the tone from the top on how you should deliver.

Values matter. They are taken seriously. And for them to work they must be upheld.

In normal times living your values, staying true to your purpose and upholding the highest standards of corporate life is easy. It is when the pressure is on and the challenges are coming at you that there can be a desire to opt out. The problem is that in today’s world where all audiences overhear each other, then that expediency all too often compounds the problem. It is the cover up that does the most damage, not always the event or incident itself.

Under pressure it is only human to become defensive, feel attacked and react as though the world is unfair. It may well be unfair, but if that is how the world is, then that is what a leader must be prepared to deal with.

This doesn’t mean you should ignore the quick fix, if that is actually what it is, a fix. But when faced with a problem, great leaders and great organisations, respect that problem, accept the challenge and act to deliver change.

This is where values really come into their own. The right decision when under the harshest of lights can be incredibly tough. But testing that decision against your values and the values of your audiences, enables leaders to - knowingly and with their eyes open - understand the impacts of that decision, thereby standing strongly behind it. Having advisers who understand this, and the value of values, when times are toughest and the expedient answer is so tantalisingly close, can make all the difference to the long term outcome of issues.