Leadership Skill Training:
Leading Through Values

There are some who believe that good leaders are born, not made. Even if that were true, it is still likely that a good leader will only become a great leader with the right kind of training and experiences. If you are a manager, then your team is depending on you to set the pace and solve the problems and give them the direction and coaching they need to reach their full potential. Who is going to help develop the leadership skills you need to reach your potential? For over 25 years, our Leadership Skills Training classes have been equipping people like you to become great leaders. We will give you the practice and the coaching you need to better understand the needs of the people on your team, so that you can motivate them to achieve that level of success you all are aiming for.

If you want to be a strong leader, you've got to get your priorities in order and start matching actions with words.

Q: I don't think I'm as strong a leader as I could be. What should I be doing to develop my leadership skills?

A: Before building leadership skills, you must define "leadership." Unfortunately, there are about 10,000 leadership books on the market, and most have their own definition. Yet we all know leadership when we see it, and we miss it when it's not there. And even with 10,000-plus books on leadership, it's never been rarer in America, so let's not look to the business press for definitions that work (until my book--number 10,001--comes out, of course).

For the sake of being on the same page, let's define leadership as inspiring others to follow your vision/direction/dream. In business, this means getting people aligned and moving in one direction--the direction that makes the business fly.

Most people I've asked say they're inspired to follow leaders who stand for something. These leaders know their values and direction (the "vision thing") and ask people to step up to the plate to help make that vision a reality. The followers are motivated by the chance to be something greater than themselves. And the leader gives them that opportunity.

People want integrity in their leaders. There's no faster way for a leader to tumble than to lose the trust of his or her followers. Most of us have values we believe in, talk about and tell to our children--and on every third Sunday we might actually act on those values ourselves. ("Family is my highest value" is oft followed by an explanation of why, just this once, the work commitment must come before the child's soccer game.)

Integrity comes from living your values, not from what those values are. If you don't value product quality as much as keeping immediate costs down, that's fine. You can be a fine leader as long as you stand for "low cost." You only run a risk if you start preaching the gospel of product quality.

The values people see in you are those you act on, not those you talk about. Your actions will always be consistent with your real values, whether or not you are aware of or admit those values. But if you know yourself well enough to know your real values, you can make sure your words and actions match, demonstrating the integrity people want to follow. If you discover that you actually value work over family, that's fine. You just change your message to acknowledge it, or you change your actions to make family your number-one priority. Either way, you demonstrate leadership integrity.

If you'd like to read more about leading through values, Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People discusses values in some depth, while books on servant leadership approach leadership from a specific set of values, based on the idea that the leader is actually the caretaker and servant of the organization.

For finding your values, check out Cheryl Richardson's Stand Up for Your Life: Develop the Courage, Confidence and Character to Fulfill Your Greatest Potential. It's not a business book, but it has some great concepts and a chapter on values that includes a step-by-step exercise for uncovering your core values.

There is much more to leadership than simply living your values. But values form the core of what inspires others to follow. Future columns will address developing many of the other attributes of powerful leaders.

By Stever Robbins
Las Vegas

Leadership Skills - Match Actions with Words

Leadership Skill Training Quote
"The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people."
Woodrow Wilson

Leadership Skill Training: Leading Through Values

If you want to be a strong leader, you've got to get your priorities in order and start matching actions with words.

Suggested Reading:

Leadership Skill Training:
Leading Through Values