Written by: gfesadmin on October 19, 2012

My all-time favorite question I ask when interviewing leaders for American Baptist Homes of the West is “Tell me about your leadership values and how you have used them to lead others in your past experiences?” I very seldom get a well thought-out response. I am not surprised as I have found few leaders have taken the time to write out what their values are. I have had the opportunity to speak nationally about leadership topics and often ask the audience” how many of you have written down your leadership values. Typically, about 5% of the audience will raise their hand.

The most common answer to the leadership value interview question is – leading by example. The Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice by Nohria and Khurana talks about the economist’s theory of leading by example from Hermalin’s model [p.248]. Hermalin believes the best way to motivate a team member is to lead by example. This is one of the first generation models of leadership to come from economic research on leadership.  A more recent comprehensive model in the same chapter came from Richard Parsons [CEO of Time Warner] who identified five main elements of effective leadership in corporations [p.242] which are: setting a vision, communication, empowering others, execution and integrity [Nohria and Khurana 2010]. There is a similar list found in The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner which is a grounded theory research found in successful leaders experiences Successful leaders: 1) model the way, 2) inspire a vision, 3) challenge the process through execution, 4) enable others to act-empowerment and 5) encourage the heart-by showing appreciation. The importance of this research is that excellent leadership is much more than one model but it incorporates many values to be effective.

Kouzes and Posner break down the practice of modeling the way into two commitments of leadership: first, the leader needs to find their voice by clarifying their personal values and second, to set the example by aligning actions with shared values [Kouzes and Posner 2002]. Bennis[Bennis 2009] and Covey[Covey 1990] also reiterate the importance of a leader articulating their leadership values. When leaders write down what their leadership values are, it enables them to understand how they lead and how they can mentor others. It demonstrates they have given reflective thought and critical thinking to the way they lead. This practice will help any leader become more intentional and aware of how they lead.

I have a ten page description of what my leadership values are. It has been a great tool to help explain to others what I believe about leadership.  Whenever I am hired for a new leadership position, I ask direct reports to share with me what they believe about leadership. Then, I share with them what I believe about leadership, how I lead and why. This leadership value document is edited every year as my values change and grow through experience.

The practice of writing down my leadership values started 20 years ago when I first became an Administrator of a large Skilled Nursing Facility. I asked myself what I would want to know about a new leader I would be directly reporting to. I started to journal about what I believed about leadership, principles on leadership I have adopted from books and leaders I looked up to. I also tried to think of stories or analogies that would help me to explain what my values are. Eventually, these practices led to developing a questionnaire to help others develop their leadership values.

I challenge you to begin to write down your leadership values. I would be happy to send you the leadership value questionnaire [msteele@abhow.com].  Who knows, maybe one day you will find yourself in an interview and you may be asked “Tell me about your leadership values and how you have used them to lead others in your past experiences?”🙂

Bennis, Warren. On Becoming a Leader. Philadelphia: Perseus Books Group, 2009.

Covey, Stephen. Principle Centered Leadersip. New York: Fireside, 1990.

Nohria, Nitin and Khurana, Rakesh. Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice: An HBS Centennial Colloquium on Advancing Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2010

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