The Leadership Excellence Series – Values and Leadership
Purpose
This presentation, part of Toastmasters International’s Leadership Excellence Series, discusses the role of values in conducting business. Successful leaders recognize the importance of understanding their own values as well as those of their team and knowing how these values influence decisions and behaviour.
What are Values?
Values are a basic set of beliefs and ideas held by an individual or organization. Values affect the way people conduct themselves, guiding their decisions, behaviour, and world view.
In leadership terms, values are not to be confused with morals or ethics. Rather, they define what an individual finds worthy of his or her time and attention.
For example, the officers of Toastmasters Club X value having many people join the club, regardless of these individuals’ participation in educational activities. Alternatively, officers in Club XX value members’ educational progress above collecting names for the membership roster
,p>What are my personal values? Health, wellness, personal growth, integrity, effort
Everything a leader says and does reveal his or her values and the sincerity with which he or she regards those values. Effective leaders can also demonstrate the values he or she embraces by:
- Talking about them whenever possible
- Explaining how his values affect the decisions he makes
- Showing that he is proud of his values
Leaders also must understand the values of team members because team members’ values may affect the success of the leader’s endeavors.
Leaders can reinforce the focus on values by recognizing and rewarding team members whose behaviours exemplify the appropriate values, and recognize and correct team members’ behaviour that conflicts with the values. But the leader will only be successful if he or she is able to persuade team members to align their values with his or her own.
Conclusion
Successful leaders continually develop and adhere to a set of values that evolve from what they believe is important or relevant. They will earn the respect of the team by consistently acting in keeping with his or her values. (In other words, walking their talk!) They will also inspire their team to adopt his or her values, too. The leader’s values will become a compass that will help him or her consistently make the right decisions in leading the organization.
