Unit – II

The four principles of value based leadership: (i) Self Reflection – Understanding self-
reflection, (ii) Balance and perspective -Doing the right things rather than being right, (iii)
True self-confidence – Building confidence and competence, (iv) Genuine humility –
Recognizing the value of everyone.

From Values to Action –By Harry M.Kraemer: The Four Principles of Values-Based
Leadership

Leadership is the ability and capacity to influence others. Values –Based Leadership
is where leaders inspire and motivate others to pursue what matters most. Values –Based
Leaders are committed to and actively engaged trying to make the world a better place
within their individual sphere of influence. The ultimate objective of Values –Based
Leadership is to do the right thing by influencing those they interact with to make choices
and decisions which are aligned with their values and those of the organization’s values.

Three phases of Value Based Leadership

Phase –I: Know who you are and what you stand for - Four principles
Phase- II: Learn how to build a Values Based Organization – Six practices
Phase –III: Lead the organization from success to significance – Two essentials

The three phases of Values –Based Leadership is explained further as follows;

Phase –I: Know who you are and what you stand for - Four principles

The path of becoming a value based leader begins and ends with the four principles
of values based leadership. These principles are closely interconnected and build on each
other. Together, they form a solid foundation for values based leadership.
 1. Self Reflection: Self-reflection is central to leadership. The more the individual
self-reflect, the better he knows about himself or herself; strengths, weaknesses,
abilities, and areas to be developed.

Important drawings:

a) To lead people effectively, one should lead himself or herself effectively. For this
engaging in self reflection on regular periodic basis is important.
b) True leadership should come from heart rather than mimicking others.
c) Self reflection makes the leaders more aware, more connected and more aligned
with what’s happening around them.
d) Making better decisions is possible with self reflection.
e) Leaders become sensitive to opportunities and challenges
f) A leader becomes better equipped to be more productive
g) Self-reflection helps him or her in creating opportunities
h) Helps in identifying areas where the improvement is required.
i) Self reflection is the work that should be done in silence and listen to inner voice.
j) Best way to assess the things happened and the things yet to happen.

2. Balance: Balance is the ability to see issues, problems, and questions from all
angles, including from differing viewpoints, even those that are diametrically
opposed. With balance decisions can be made explicitly with an understanding
of the broad impact, instead of focusing narrowly.

Important drawings:

a) Pursuing balance in all aspects of life professionally and personally will give a
richer and holistic perspective.
b) The leader will know there is always more than one way to look at anything.
c) Eliminate the narrow perception of leader that “I am right and others are
wrong”.
d) Allows to solicit ideas and suggestions from everyone on the team
e) Robust decisions possibly take place.
f) Helps in managing effective teams
g) Leader should take long term and short term objectives in to consideration by
adopting balance between both.
h) A balance between career, family, social responsibility, fun, health and making a
difference is crucial for a leader.

3. Self-confidence:
True self-confidence is the attribute that allows the leader to see and accept
leaders as they are. Self-confidence makes the leaders well aware of their
previous failures and successes. They understand what they are in real? What
are their strengths and weaknesses?
Important drawings:

a) True Self-confidence is an inner quality that establishes leadership and

enables empowerment of team.
b) It allows the leaders to recognize their strengths and weaknesses.
c) Paves way for continues self-improvement.
d) Make leaders’ proud of achievements but realistic about short comings.
e) Self-confidence comes out of self-reflection.
f) Leaders with self-confidence are easy to work with.
g) Appreciate the skills and qualities of others Welcome anyone who challenges
the facts
h) Leaders with self-confidence will have courage to admit mistakes and take
corrective actions.

4. Humility:
Humility is easy. It will help the leaders never to lose the insights of their
grounds from where they have come from. The more the humility is
practiced, the more the leader will shine.

Important drawings:

a) Leaders with humility remain humble and approachable.

b) They take criticism and appreciation with balance.
c) Humility motivates the team.
d) Never let the leader forget the
e) roots
f) Reminds about the leader but not the job
g) Helps in recognizing the values of others.
h) Humility enhances every dimension of life.

These four principles of Values Based Leadership are very important in career. A leader has
to embrace these principles to grow in the career and to horn the leadership skills.

Importance of Four Principles of Values Based Leadership

Leadership is one of the cornerstones of masculinity. It is not human resource

management, or manipulation. It is not team-building exercises where everyone gets a
trophy. It isn’t being a boss, demanding minions to perform. True leadership is the upward
pull, creating distinction and achievement. It is the core nature of hierarchy, understood
and embraced by every member, no matter where they are on the totem pole. It is the
divine spark that builds civilization.

1. The leader achieves professional competence.

2. Appreciates his/her own strengths and limitations while pursuing self-
improvement
3. Seeks and accepts responsibility.
4. Leads by example.
5. Leads them to the accomplishment of the mission.
6. Promotes the welfare of subordinates.
7. Develops the leadership potential of the followers.
8. Makes sound and timely decisions.
9.
10. Trains the soldiers as a team and employs them up to their capabilities.
11. Keep the followers informed of the mission, the changing situation and the
overall picture.

Phase- II: Learn how to build a Values Based Organization – Six practices

In a values-based organization, people at all levels work together to achieve a higher

purpose. Values generate the culture of the organization and set the tone for every
interaction which occurs.

The six foundation elements of a values – based organization are:

1. Lead with values: The values what a leader carries should be powerful
motivational phrases. They have to describe the leader, for what he stands for, the
purpose, how the organization is built on such values, etc. A leader should engage in self-
reflection, balance of him/her and be confident and humble. He has to set an example to
everyone.
2. Develop talent: Right talent is to be attracted, keep good people engaged and
provide development opportunities for the next generation of leaders are to be created.
Talent development also requires both depth and breadth. Depth is a matter of gaining
competency in an area of expertise such as sales, marketing, finance and product
development. Breadth is a global perspective and an appreciation for the way products
have to be sold differently in diverse markets. To truly develop talent, a leader has to
provide opportunities to people to gain broad expertise and perspective.
3. Set clear direction: For a values-based organization to succeed in making progress
towards its objectives, it’s vital that a clear direction be communicated. Clarity is
essential at every level of the organization or else a disconnect can arise between what
 the organization believes and what its people do. To set a clear direction, both clarity and
simplicity are required. Productive organizations always keep things simple. Leaders
can set a clear direction everyone will understand and appreciate what that entails.
When a clear direction is set; there is a higher probability everyone will work towards
the nominated end result.
4. Communicate well: Effective communication never happens automatically and
autonomously. The whole object of effective communication is to convey ideas and
information in an open way which cannot be misunderstood. It won’t happen when people
are in a rush or feel under intense pressure.
5. Build engagement: Teams don’t just automatically come together by themselves. A
leader has to build them purposefully and with intention in order to succeed as a values-
based leader. Learning how to build, engage, motivate and then empower a team of people
who are passionate about achieving an objective. The real foundation key to engaging a
group of people and forming them into a cohesive team who work towards achieving a set
objective is trust.
6. Execute: Execution is where everything a leader does as a values-based leader comes
to fruition. Unless a leader make the right things happen, nothing will be accomplished
even if he has done everything else correctly. Effective leadership is a balancing act
between delegating and motivating.

Four management processes are always required for execution:

• The strategic process involves determining where the leader is today, where
he/she wants to go and what he/she wants to become. The strategic process is
ongoing and continuously updated rather than static and set in stone.
• The people process is all about getting the right people in place with values which
are consistent across the organization. The objective of a leader is to put a high
performance team in place plus develop future leaders.
• The operations process outlines the steps required to exploit the opportunities
open to the organization and then making those things happen in the here and
now. It’s about what a leader does today to achieve his/her short-term and long-
term goals.
• The measurement process is often neglected but at the end of the day, what gets
measured is what gets done. Here, a leader has to specify how results will be
determined, how progress will be quantified and how rewards will get allocated
out.

Part of being a values-based leader is to get all four of these systems operating in sync. A
 leader needs to have a balanced overall perspective on all four parts because each is
required. He also need to know when it’s time to stay the course and focus on executing
better and when it’s time to make a mid-course correction. To make those sorts of
judgment calls, a leader got to be close enough to the action to know what’s really going
on with customers but far enough back that he gain take a top-down perspective on
what’s happening. That’s a difficult but essential balancing act to get right.

Phase –III: Lead the organization from success to significance – Two essentials

Once a leader made the commitment and done all the hard work involved in
building a values-based organization, there may be a natural tendency to now sit back
and reap the rewards. The leader has to genuinely be self-reflective and consider the
broader context and realize the work is not really done. He has to make the transition
from being successful to becoming significant. He will do this by demonstrating his or her
commitment to act for the greater good. That sounds easy in theory but in the real world,
change, controversy and crises crop up all the time. These are to be expected and it’s vital
that a leader view them as opportunities to showcase his/her values:

▪ When change arises in the marketplace, a leader needs to become proactive in using
those changes to benefit the organization. Many values-based leaders initiate change
before the market forces them to do so. By taking these calculated risks, the values-based
organization can then become and stay a market leader.
▪ When controversy arises, values-based leaders take swift and firm action to respond.
They provide everyone with clear and frequent communication about what’s going on so
there’s no confusion and no need for anyone to speculate.
▪ At some time or another, every organization faces a decent crisis or two. Values-
based leaders commit everyone to doing the right thing when the need arises and then
get busy making that happen.

The best antidote to fear of change, controversy and crises is the knowledge that
regardless of external or internal pressures, the organization will have the courage to do
the right thing in the best way it possibly can. Courage doesn’t mean a leader has all the
right answers but it does mean that he/she will put values into action even when the
stakes are high. Doing the right thing won’t be easy but it’s the only choice if a leader has
to truly succeed in moving from success to significance.

The world is full of problems, issues and challenges – poverty, environmental problems,
malaria, high infant mortality rates, literacy, the digital divide and so on. The truly values-
based leader won’t assume those are problems others should be solving but he will
commit to becoming an active participant in trying to address these issues himself.
Values-based leaders understand and accept their broader callings to make a difference
and then get busy doing things which are significant from a global perspective.

This isn’t just a matter of throwing money at a problem and hoping that will make a
difference. To become significant, he must be more thoughtful and deliberate. To
genuinely change the world:

1. Take the time to get a global perspective – understand all of the underlying drivers of
these problems and gather details on what has been attempted to date. In other
words, be self-reflective and balanced by gathering as many perspectives as feasible
before you jump.
2. Realize a leader can’t do everything – so select just one or two issues that he feel most
passionate about or with which he has an obvious affinity.
3. Raise attention and awareness about the issue – express to others the genuine
concerns a leader has about this issue so he can attract the help of others who will
amplify his efforts.
4. A leader has to look at things what he can do on the ground to make a difference – for
example, one charity bought a fleet of trucks so as to help the local farmers in a region
get their crops to market without paying exorbitant freight charges

Conclusion

Becoming significant is really just a matter of extending a leader’s reach beyond

the organization’s boundaries. Values-based leaders aspire to make a lasting and
meaningful impact on the world one project at a time. “As leader expands his horizons,
values-based leadership becomes a lifelong journey. A leader has to realize that the
more he knows, the more he needs to know. A leader sees how the four principles of
value-based leadership – self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine
humility – make a difference personally, within the organization, and in society.