Know what really matters

- Your values, what you hold most dear and are willing to strive for, determine your actions as a leader and how you view your world. Values drive your choices in life and in work. The kind of career you choose, the people with whom you want to spend time, and your capacity to inspire. People want to know what you stand for. Your values are essential building blocks for your growth and impact as a leader. Picture yourself meeting a new team, for instance. Sharing your values with the other members by saying something like this, this is what's most important to me, candor, compassion, and commitment. And briefly explaining why these are values that drive you will increase the chances of your getting the support you need from this team. When you've clarified what's important to you it becomes easier for you to make your values come alive in your everyday actions, in any setting. People are drawn to those leaders who have this kind of self-knowledge and can articulate their values in plain terms because such leaders are seen to be acting with a sense of purpose. To act in a way that's consistent with your values, you have to be conscious of what those values are and use specific words to define them so you can communicate your values succinctly. So, what words describe what you believe in? I'd like to guide you through an exercise to help you describe your core values. You can do this quickly, return to what you've composed as you digest the meaning of the words you chose, and then revise as you see fit, now or in the future. Core values are unique to each person, and spring from the core. They're typically long-standing and resistant to change, but they can shift over time, as life unfolds and you discover more about who you are and what you believe in. In a word or a phrase, list the values, between four and seven is ideal, that are most important to you. Feel free to pause here. Draft your list. Do these words suit you? Are there others that might be better? Next, for each one, explain why it's important to you in a sentence or two. Remember, you can always revise. Here's a list one of my students generated, along with his reasoning for why he chose these words. Authenticity, I believe in what I'm doing. Without that, people can see the lack of passion, and my leadership becomes ineffective. Honesty and trust, with honesty comes trust, and without trust, the only effective leadership style is coercion. I think it's also important to trust others to get their job done, to do the right thing. Inspiration, the most effective leaders can make people feel they want to show up every day and give it their best. They make people feel good about who they are and what they're doing. Your distinctive values are an important part of what makes your own particular brand of leader. Now that you've drafted your list, here's a further challenge for you, an invitation. Think about how your everyday life squares with what you said was important to you here and what you might try to do to forge a better fit than currently exists.