Values are the principles and standards that motivate us in life. They are our basic convictions; our belief that tells us what is right, good, or worthy. They guide our thinking and actions like an internal compass.
Values serve as standards through which all decisions are assessed. They are the “givens” that map out the choices before and during the decision-making process. They are with us throughout the journey of leadership.
Most people have an idea about what they value, although the reasons behind their values are not always clear. By really knowing and articulating our values, we gain deep insights into our behaviours, the way we interact with others, and the lenses through which we make our decisions.
Exploring values forms a critical basis for self-awareness – which is essential for leadership success. Understanding values is a key element of what I describe as, “insightfully aware leadership”.
Understanding Values
By identifying our own individual set of values – whether personal, work or organisational – we can better recognise and accomplish the goals that are truly important.
Although values are abstract (such as trust, respect, integrity, achievement, making a difference and so forth) they are witnessed through our concrete behaviours and actions.
Studies show that values impact employee satisfaction, commitment, productivity and performance. Values influence perceptions of satisfaction with leaders – and intentions to stay or leave. Values affect organisational behaviour, ethics and citizenship. In a work scenario, successful leaders need to communicate, define and role-model shared values with others, to create a cohesive team striving for a common purpose.
Given the important impact that values have in all areas of our life, it is crucial to understand exactly what they are, how they operate, and what influences them.
In extensive research with my INSEAD colleague, Dr. Samah Shaffakat, we developed an integrated model of the “Personal Values System” – Understanding Values for Insightfully Aware Leadership. This builds on the leading values theories proposed by more than twenty different scholars in academic research during the past four decades.
In particular, we expanded on the work of social psychologist and cross-cultural researcher, Shalom Schwartz. He specifies values as voluntarily enduring standards or benchmarks that provide the stability needed for social interaction and group survival. His model identified 10 value types: self-direction, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, power, security, conformity, tradition, benevolence, and universalism. Through our research, we added another two: ethical judgment and highly abstract (such as ‘ultimate happiness’ or ‘bliss’ that is the person’s inner state when their other values are satisfied). Both the Schwartz model, and our “personal values system”, place these 12 values types in a circle and acknowledge that relationships – both compatibility and conflict – can exist between different values we hold.
An explanation of the full system of values type clusters can be found here.
Within our personal values system there is a hierarchy. Values people identify as being most important are ranked at the top, forming their “core” values. While our values (and their hierarchical position) may change, they are relatively stable and shape the perceptions, attitudes and behaviour we carry through all aspects of life.
Values develop initially through one’s upbringing, and social conditioning. Other sources that develop our values include: personality, national culture, gender, religion, age cohorts and adult life stages. Although our values system tends to remain stable over time, it can change with the impact of major life events and stages.
Personal values relate directly to work and organisational settings. This is why the capacity to understand values is of critical importance in leadership development and business performance.
Individual values and organisational values are linked through the idea of work-value compatibility and conflict – impacting behaviours and organisational functioning. For example, when leaders and organisations clearly define and live their values, it is easy to translate workplace expectations for dealing with customers, employees’ roles, and tasks.
When we understand our organisation’s values and direction we can test whether these resonate with our own personal values system. Sometimes our personal values and organisation’s values are not aligned. This “work-values conflict” tends to lead to negative behaviours, marked by frustration, disengagement, and poor performance.
Organisations are becoming increasingly focused on values and their impact on ethicality in operating within global business. However, the reality is that more attention is placed on ethics education and training that emphasises regulations and compliance, rather than engaging and sharing values. This is a shame, as studies show that sharing organisational values clearly affects the way tasks are carried out, and when clearly defined, leads to improved individual and organisational performance and ethicality.
When values are understood and communicated, much more transparent conversations can occur for leaders and managers. These include discussing the dilemmas they face, and feedback from peers about the consequences of decisions and actions.
From an individual perspective, having clear and conscious values is a key element of “insightfully aware leadership”. It helps executives to increase openness and better understand [one]self, others and situations. Values are central to “authentic” leadership, where the leader is deeply aware of how he or she thinks and behaves, and is perceived as being aware, of his or her own and others, values and strengths.
An “insightfully aware” leader has a profound and clear understanding of his or her purpose and the reasons behind it. Self-awareness of values helps leaders to reflect upon their emotions, goals, needs and motives. Individuals who are able to identify and articulate their values will generate meaningful insights about how they see themselves, the circumstances they face, the behaviours they display, and their potential reactions to specific situations. Comprehending their values (personal, work and organisational) enables leaders to know and accomplish what they believe is important.
As such, values exploration holds an important place in any leadership development initiative, be that coaching, leadership training, executive education courses, or reflection activities. For example, this is one element of the Advanced Management Programme. Here, understanding values helps senior executives to develop profound insights about their “strengths, weaknesses, drivers and blockers” as leaders.
Once armed with deep knowledge of who they are, and what they can be, a transformative blueprint for effective personal leadership and development can be created and implemented.
In work and life, self-aware leaders make tough decisions that will be guided by core values.
One very simple way people can start the journey of thinking more deeply about their values is to remember some specific moments of success, fulfillment, anger and frustration in their personal and professional life. Then reflect on what values were present in these. Try articulating these values and see what insights are generated.
Samah Shaffakat is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at INSEAD.
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Values Types and the Personal Values System
Extracted from Ian C. Woodward & Samah Shaffakat:
“Understanding Values for Insightfully Aware Leadership”,
INSEAD Faculty and Research Working Paper (2014/46/OBH)
Values can be clustered in 12 types each according to their characteristics. In our research Understanding Values for Insightfully Aware Leadership we have expanded on the 10 value types developed by Shalom Schwartz to create the list found below:
12 VALUES TYPES | ||
---|---|---|
Definitions | Word Description Examples | |
Self-Direction | Independent thought and action; choosing, creating, exploring, and drive. | Capacity to Contribute, Creativity, Empowered, Personally-Engaged/Diligent Freedom/Liberty |
Stimulation | Excitement, novelty, optimism and challenge in life. | Energized, Daring, Opportunity-Seeking, Alive, Excited |
Hedonism | Pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself. | Pleasure, Fun, Indulgence, Enjoying Life, Personal Gratification |
Achievement | Personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards. | Accomplishment/Successful, Esteem/ Pride/Confidence, Ambition, Rewarded, Intelligence |
Power | Social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources. | Powerful, Invincible, Social Recognition, Importance, Authority/Decisive, Affluence/Wealth |
Security | Safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self. | Security, Safety, Healthy, Financially-Independent, Sense of Belonging |
Conformity | Restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms. | Self-Discipline/Obedience, Professional, Dedicated, Persistent, Responsible, Respectful/Tolerant to Others |
Tradition | Respect for, commitment to, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide the self. | Respect Religion, Respect Social Norms, Respect Customs, Humility, Devout |
Ethical Judgment | Personal ethicality or moral compass in terms of integrity, honesty, fairness, transparency, accountability, dependability, mutual respect. | Honesty/Integrity, Accountability/ Reliability, Fairness, Ethical, Authenticity |
Benevolence | Preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent personal contact (the ‘in-group’). | Trust, Family, Relationships, Teamwork, Empathy, Loyalty |
Universalism | Understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature. | Equality/Inclusion, Helping Disadvantaged, Spirituality, Wisdom, Social Justice |
Highly-Abstract Values | Representation of an idealistic personal state when other values are satisfied such as absolute bliss, completeness, ultimate happiness or elation, total harmony, nirvana and the like. | Ultimate Happiness, Ecstatic/Elation, Nirvana/Bliss, Complete-Calm/Serenity, Absolute Joy/Fulfillment |
Schwartz (1994) placed his values types in a circle, a model which again we have amended to include our own research findings – and build upon research from Milton Rokeach (1973), Norman Feather (1995), Kyle Longest, Steven Hitlin and Stephen Vaisey (2013) as well many other studies. Values can be both compatible/congruent and in conflict with each other irrespective of where they lie in the circle and should be considered in context of any given situation.
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Anonymous User
Great article. Understanding our values is the basis of all decision making.
Anonymous User
An important fact is, to state so far how many organizations have practiced values and what is their rate of success. This fact sheet will motivate entrants interested in pursuing this approach.
thanks for reading.Anonymous User
I teach values to children and therefore responding to this article.If the values are written down by the employee or by the CEO and visibly posted, it will be a constant daily reminder what should and how should a task or decision be carried out. Such a simple Tool is capable of focussing at the moment and prevent mistakes.
Anonymous User
Very interesting article. Thank you for sharing your studies and conclusions thereof.
The way values (abstract concepts in their own right) are expressed is a reflection of the shared historical experience of a community. In other words, values are the glue that holds societies together.
However, each society will claim they value "honesty" or "life" or "education" but only assert it at face value. The real differences appear when two people explicitly state what they mean when they used such words. It is here that the specifics of a common experience (real or imagined, it makes little difference) come to the surface.
For a leader, it is fundamental to their success to understand the "true" meaning those being asked to follow put behind such a word. Communicating values is only as effective as the community this creates.
Anonymous User
Great blog reminding us of the power of values based leadership, as a means of creating emotional connection and engagement, interesting model, just curious, if innovation & entrepreneurship are the key catalysts for shaping a sustainable global future (G20 summit, World Economic Forum to name a few global bodies) why is innovation left out as a value, and creativity squashed in under Self Direction, and Conformity identified as a cluster why is self efficacy also left out, which is the underlying value of a successful entrepreneur. I am unable to understand why the tool is so conventional and today and not future focused,
Victor Seco
Outstanding contribution to the development of the structure of personal values proposed by Schwartz. It would be very interesting to consider such developments in terms of profiles of organizational values however proposed by Oliveira, AF & Tamayo, A. (2004). Profiles of organizational values. Magazine -RAUSP Administration. 39 (2), 129-140.
Anonymous User
Very insightful article !
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Anonymous User
04/02/2019, 08.51 am
Ian, this was a great read. I just downloaded your research paper and really looking forward to diving into this more to understand the leadership component.
I have been working with Dr. Schwartz to make his research and values assessment available to the coaching community at, https://www.discoveryourvalues.com.
On the coaching side, I've only just scratched the surface with this project, and definitely want to look into the management, leadership, corporate applications for this work.
We also run a podcast on values, I'd love to have you on our show to discuss this research paper in detail.