How To Lead With Integrity and Transparency in Challenging Times

Do you judge whether you’ve had a good day based on the outcomes you achieved, number of tasks you’ve ticked off, or whether you’ve experienced the things you care about the most. Like experiencing generosity when you help someone, connection when you give someone your full attention, or collaboration when you listen to find value in someone’s different perspective, even if it’s one you’d disregarded.

To remain true to yourself and maintain your self-respect, you have to be grounded.

Engaging, influencing and inspiring people starts with people knowing who you are and what you care about. Why? Because people want to connect with you; the real you.

What’s really important to you at work? What do you care about the most?

You have a set of values – whether you’re aware of them or not. ?

Many people don’t know what they really value. Yet, your personal values are a central part of who you are. Your values guide you, for example, in how you think about things, make decisions, and connect with others. Leading with integrity means leading in line with what you care about. And ideally, your values support and compliment your organisation’s values.

So what exactly is a value?

Our end values are emotional states or qualities that we value above all others that we want to experience on a continual basis, for example, compassion, generosity, achievement, persistence, freedom, integrity.

You can have different sets of values for different areas of your life. In other words, who you define yourself to be at work - as a function of your values and beliefs - may be different than who you are at home as a wife/husband/partner, mother/father, friend etc.

If you don’t know what you value, how do you know what you stand for?

Jan was on the executive team and became increasingly uncomfortable with how some people based decisions were executed.?They grated on her beliefs for how she thought people should be treated. For example, while she understood the need to let people go, she disagreed with the justification to exit people via a group zoom meeting vs separate 1-1 meetings. She didn’t speak up although she knew the approach wasn’t appropriate and it left her feeling riled up. At the eleventh hour she did speak up, which changed the course of how 20 people felt about being let go.

Living and leading in COVID is challenging to say the least. With the pathway out unfolding as we go, reminding ourselves the only we control is ourselves; is helpful.

When you work and lead with values in mind you can reduce stress, complexity and some of the challenge that comes with making difficult decisions.

If you feel good in making a decision, it will be in line with your values. In contrast, can you think of a time in the past when you found it really difficult to make a decision? Chances are, your uncertainty about what was important to you, lead to your self-doubt.

Knowing your values is important and living them consistently through life’s ups and downs is how you live life with integrity.

Great leaders and top performers don’t compromise on their values – ever. Their values form the basis of the high standards they set for themselves. Their values underpin their leadership brand.

Whatever your goals are – in any area of life – a great question to ask yourself is this: Is my current set of values going to serve me well to achieve them? Or do I need to redefine my values in order to achieve the goals I’ve set?

What are your core values?

Often, people look at a list of words and come to short list of words they like and think they should value (which is their ego talking).?

Questions that can help you define your values1:

Think about yourself in your current role (or in your old role if you’re not currently in a work role).

1.???Notice your hot buttons. What do you react to at work?

?2.???Notice your strengths (what are the consistent themes in your work life that are important to you eg: acknowledgement). What accurate feedback are you getting from your environment/the?people around you?

?3.???Notice what do you spend lots of time talking about. It might be obvious, or just a theme which is between the lines or an umbrella theme that ties lots of things together, for example, sustainability.

?4.???Notice what underpins your results. Your results are a clue of what you value (eg: discipline; some people?consider a good working relationship at work to be based on consistently doing what it takes to keep it good, and this consistency requires discipline). Look at your environment and your relationships at work.?

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what your values are, then ask yourself:

If these are my values at work, what is my proof that they are in fact what value?

How can my values shape how I define myself as a leader and the leader I want to become (remember that if you work with others, then you are a leader – you have more influence than you think)

What values are going to be your compass to help you get through the rest of this challenging year ahead? I’d love to know.

1The questions are based on the work of Anthony Robbins.

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Toni Courtney is a leadership influence expert who works with leaders and teams to build core leadership capability. Email her at [email protected] to see how she can assist.