The Four Dimensions of Values-Based Leadership

This dynamic presentation uses examples from fiction and the real world to show how the most effective leaders inculcate these four dimensions of values-based leadership in their organizations:

• Character
• Expectations
• Fellowship
• Quest

Participants will learn about the art of empowering leadership from Gandalf the Wizard in The Lord of the Rings; the power of purpose from Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale; the challenge of fostering fellowship from Randall Patrick MacMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; and the essence of servant leadership from King Leonidas of Sparta).

Some of the key points included in Values-Based Leadership program:

As defined by James MacGregor Burns in his Pulitzer Price winning book Leadership, transforming leadership involves a relationship between leaders and followers in which both are raised to higher levels of standards and expectations.

Character is destiny, said Heraclitus, and nowhere more so than in leadership (as we have seen repeatedly in recent years). Anyone can become a more effective leader by modeling their attitudes and their actions so as to cultivate strength of character.

Character is forged through commitment to a higher purpose, nurtured by selflessness, and it demands total self-honesty. This is a gradual process that requires a lifelong commitment, but the change can be profound and lasting.

You tend to get what you expect. This ancient wisdom has been repeated so often and in so many ways through the ages because it reflects an eternal truth, and nowhere more so than in the relationship between leader and followers. Effective leaders look beyond superficial appearances to find and galvanize hidden strengths in others.

We yearn for fellowship in our workplaces, not mere association. There are simple yet powerful strategies that can help to foster a greater spirit of community in any organization. The best leaders create an all-or-none spirit of shared commitment, use obstacles and setbacks to reinforce the bonds of loyalty, and appreciate the power of symbols, stories, and rituals, to create a spirit of community.

There is incredible potential energy waiting to be released when the corporate mission statement and the individual job description are subsumed into a real Quest. This has never been more important, because many experts are predicting a severe shortage of skilled workers in the decades to come, and the single-best way to earn workers’ loyalty is to make them feel that they are part of something bigger than a mere job – that they are part of a Quest.

A spirit of Quest promotes loyalty to the organization, commitment to the mission, and service to the customer.

By definition, a Quest entails uncertainty and anxiety (if it were easy and had a guaranteed outcome, it would not be a Quest). Therefore, one of the leader’s key responsibilities is helping people overcome anxiety and channel fear into the energy for constructive action.

A Quest is more clearly defined by the obstacles that are overcome than by the ultimate outcome, and effective leaders make people proud of their toughness in surmounting those obstacles.

listen to audio intro for Values-Based Leadership

“The first step to building a winning team is teaching individual team members the skills and attitudes required of a winning player.”
Joe Tye