How can under-pressure leaders navigate their way through these turbulent times? Here’s a great example of how a single personal value helped one leader see the wood for the trees.
This particular leader was at their wit’s end, feeling let down by their team, at the mercy of stakeholders and facing potential legal action.
They were adrift and could see no good way forward.
Every option seemed like a cul-de-sac of chaos.
Until they realised that bugging them more than anything was the feeling that they themselves had got caught in the trap of acting unfairly.
Once they determined through coaching that being fair was the missing piece of the jigsaw, they could see a clear way ahead.
All their old zip and chutzpah returned.
Now, you might knock this and say that fairness is too a woolly concept to be of much help to a leader.
But that’s not the point.
The point is that by tapping in to something that really mattered to them, the leader opened a gateway to a more empowered response.
Leaders who are driven by a clear set of personal values are:
😇 More decisive
😇 More authentic
😇 More resilient
😇 Better at fostering trust and respect
😇 Better at encouraging creativity and innovation
Leaders who don’t act on their values are not only missing a trick, but also run the risk of being, well, less valuable.