My Personal and Leadership Values: The Importance, Assessment, and Congruency
In a world characterized by constant change with business landscapes being redefined faster than they can be solidified, leaders need to have a firm foundation on which to behave, build creditability, and base their decisions. As an emerging Christian leader, it is my task to define and understand the effect my personal and leadership values will have on my behaviors and my ability to lead others ethically and in a way that glorifies God. This paper will define and differentiate between as well as highlight the importance of personal and leadership values; it will argue that because my leadership values are an extension of my personal values, there is a high congruence between the two; and it will explore one major area of incongruence that will continue to prevent me from living up to my personal vision of glorifying God if not addressed.
Personal and Leadership values
Lee and King (2001) define values as the “standards or principles that guide your actions and beliefs” (p. 55). Values operate and drive a person’s behaviors within both personal and leadership contexts. Personal values are the standards and principles that operate in one’s personal life and relationships. Leadership values are the standards or principles that guide a leader in a leadership context.
Values also influence decision making. For example, people who value integrity should hold themselves accountable for the mistakes they make in their professional and personal contexts no matter what the consequence. Kouzes and Posner (2003a) argue that integrity is the main component of credibility—one of the most important attributes of a leader. My experience has revealed that people are judged by what they do much more than what they think or say. Since values drive behavior, and they greatly influence the decisions people make, values are the most important link between one’s beliefs and actions; thus, understanding one’s values is paramount.
Importance of Values
Jesus understood and communicated the importance of values. Jesus communicated his vision of how we could be blessed by upholding certain values within the Sermon on the Mount. For instance, in Matthew 5:1–48 Jesus admonished us with countless values embedded within his sermon that show “how a person who is in right relationship with God should conduct his life” (Walvoord, Zuck, & Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).
Understanding one’s personal and leadership values is important. Leaders who have taken the time to reflect upon and identify their key values will have an advantage when making tough decisions. Lee and King (2001) argue that “being aware of your personal values strengthens you as a leader and helps you get the most personal reward from your leadership work” (p. 55). Leaders are often called to choose between multiple actions, all of which are shrouded in ambiguity and carry with them negative possibilities. However, Jesus focused his lesson on values for us by saying, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth... but store up your treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19–21, New International Version) (Buzzell, Boa, & Perkins, 1998). Jesus commanded us to value heaven more than earth because it glorifies God. Ultimately, having intimate knowledge of one’s values may be a leader’s greatest advantage and most important step in developing his or her leadership values.
Assessment of My Values
Several assessments help demonstrate the congruence between my personal and leadership values. I have completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, n.d.), a Motivational Gifts Survey (MGS) based on Romans 12 (Della Vecchio, n.d.), and a 360-degree feedback assessment called Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) (Kouzes & Posner, 2003b). Because these assessments were not specifically designed to measure values, I have assigned values to the results and confirmed these values with an independent person. Validity of these assessments as a measurement of values is undetermined. In addition to these commercial assessments, I have engaged in deep personal reflection and critical assessment of my values.
The MBTI assessed personality type and how I interact with the world, which for this analysis will relate mostly to my personal values. The results of the assessment yielded seven values including logic, knowledge, ideas, adaptability, learning, problem-solving, and analysis. The MBTI assessed my personality type to be: introverted, intuition, thinking, and perceiving (INTP).
The MGS assessed motivational gifts, which could be a reflection of both my personal and leadership values. The results of the MGS indicated my top two motivation gifts are teacher and perceiver; both scored 90 percent on a scale of 100 (see Appendix B for complete results and descriptions of all gifts). The conversion yielded 15 values, which indicated that knowledge, wisdom, meaning, learning, personal growth, justice, excellence, perfection, joy, continuous improvement, success, encouragement, progress, discernment, and concern for others were highly important to me.
The LPI is perhaps the most suitable of the assessments to judge my leadership values because the assessment was a reflection of my observed behaviors while in a leadership role. The results yielded 19 values when only considering the top 10 of 30 items in the assessment. This measurement indicated that integrity, commitment, respect, concern for others, passion, the future, sharing, teaching, listening, learning, joy, achievement, cooperation, teamwork, problem solving, personal growth, continuous improvement, innovation, and creativity were reflected in my observable behaviors in the leadership context, thus, a relatively accurate reflection of my leadership values.
Assessing my values through reflection and self-analysis is an important ongoing task. Self-analysis provides me with a deeper understanding of my motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. Understanding my values will enable me to make decisions that will support my personal and leadership visions. As a result of recent and overall reflection, I have clarified and narrowed my values to 15: Acceptance, concern for others, consistency, continuous improvement, effort, faith, free will, integrity, learning, openness, perseverance, personal growth, personal leadership, service, and wisdom. This set of values will undergo constant revision and clarification as I learn more about what it means to be a Christian leader, what it takes to align my behaviors with my values, and where I am on my journey toward my personal and leadership visions.
In sum, 44 different values are represented; 33 are from the commercial assessments. Five values—knowledge, joy, integrity, wisdom, and problem solving—paired; three values—concern for others, continuous improvement, and personal growth—were each listed in three assessments; and learning was listed in all four assessments. Values matched nearly 20 percent of the time. Considering the inherent and extreme differences in the assessments, the range of possible values, and the absence of an empirical methodology, I surmise there is a high degree of congruence between my personal and leadership values because there are no instances of opposing values listed (e.g., cooperation and independence).
Congruence between My Personal and Leadership Values
There is a high degree of congruence between my personal and leadership values. Kouzes and Posner (2002) wrote, “Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow” (p. xxviii). Values are behavioral guidelines for conducting relationships with the people with whom we interact on a daily basis regardless of the context. While there are of course some differences due to organizational influences, relationships are fundamentally the same. According to my analysis of several commercial assessments as well as deep personal reflection, my leadership values are not different from my personal values; rather, they are an extension of my personal values, which are constrained by the organizational context.
My leadership values are an extension of my personal values because I am the same person drawing from the same experiences and influences. I bring my personal values to bear in leadership situations, and the lessons I have learned in leadership have influenced my personal life. Thus, there is a reinforcing dynamic between personal and leadership values. My life experience has taught me that people generally cannot behave consistently in ways that do not reflect their true character. Handling all transactions with integrity, continuously trying to learn and improve, and being concerned for others is important to me in my personal life; thus, understandably these values would surface in a leadership capacity.
Incongruence between My Personal and Leadership Values
Though my leadership values are an extension of my personal values, and there exists a high degree of harmony between them, there is also one notable exception. Since accepting Christ, I have had difficulty in incorporating faith into my leadership values. Spiritually guided leaders in secular environments often experience the limitations of the status quo; however, they can experience a faith-inspired vision of the future as well (Cogner & Associates, 1994). This is where there is divergence between my personal values and leadership values. If I do not conduct myself according to the values I say I have, how deeply held can those values really be? What effect will this inconsistency have on me personally and professionally? And, how will this affect my vision?
Embracing faith only in my personal life is a critical shortcoming that has several negative ramifications. First, my credibility may suffer. Being Christian comes with both the responsibility and inherent goal of conforming myself to the image of Christ. Ultimately, there will be numerous situations in which I will have the opportunity to let Christ’s light shine through me in both personal and leadership contexts. I will be judged by my actions whether or not I make that choice (Psalms 96:10, 13; 98:9; Ezekiel 20:36; Acts 17:31; Romans 2:16; Hebrews 10:30). As a leader, all eyes—mortal and immortal—will be on me (Lee and King, 2001).
Second, my ability to lead people will suffer. Credibility is the foundation on which leaders build trust, one brick or one action at a time. Without credibility, “leaders can have no hope of enlisting others to a common vision” (Kouzes & Posner, 2003a, p. 25). Trust is a key ingredient in my leadership style and losing trust would restrict my ability to lead others.
Last, this disparity between my personal and leadership values will inevitably prevent me from attaining my life vision: To live a life that glorifies God. Embracing God’s will only in my personal life is inconsistent with my values. Leadership is a part of my life; thus, if I want to live a life that glorifies God, my life in the context of leadership must be included as well. God wants all of me. In Colossians 1:10, Paul wrote, “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way.” There is no exception for leadership situations. Thus, excluding faith in my leadership values and resulting behaviors would damage my relationship with my followers, reduce my ability to lead, and inevitably damage my relationship with God.
Conclusion
Underscoring the importance of values, values drive behavior and influence decision making in both personal and leadership contexts. Through self-analysis, reflection, and the use of three commercial assessments, I have discovered that there exists a degree of congruence between my personal and leadership values such as knowledge, joy, integrity, wisdom, and problem solving and an even higher degree of congruence among values such as concern for others, continuous improvement, and personal growth. Moreover, the most consistent value was learning. However, there is one point of incongruence in perhaps the most important value—faith.
Not embracing my faith in the leadership context will have several ramifications including damage to my credibility as a leader, a reduction in my ability to lead as a result of a loss of trust, and my ability to fulfill my life vision of glorifying God will be jeopardized. Thus, I both fear and hope that I will spend the rest of my career reconciling that disparity in a manner consistent with my espoused values.
References
Buzzell, S., Boa, K., & Perkins, B. (1998). The leadership Bible: Leadership principles form God’s word. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Cogner, J. A., & Associates. (1994). Spirit at work: Discovering the spirituality in leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
DellaVecchio, D. (n.d.). Motivational gifts survey. Retrieved July 10, 2006, from http://www.gifttest.org/
Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B. Z. (2002). The leadership challenge. (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2003a). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B.Z. (2003b). Leadership practices inventory: Facilitator’s guide. (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2001). Discovering the leader in you: A guide to realizing your personal leadership potential. (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
The Myers & Briggs Foundation. (n.d.). The Myers & Briggs Foundation Home Page. Retrieved April 30, 2006, from Meyers-Briggs
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible knowledge commentary: An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Personal and Leadership values
Lee and King (2001) define values as the “standards or principles that guide your actions and beliefs” (p. 55). Values operate and drive a person’s behaviors within both personal and leadership contexts. Personal values are the standards and principles that operate in one’s personal life and relationships. Leadership values are the standards or principles that guide a leader in a leadership context.
Values also influence decision making. For example, people who value integrity should hold themselves accountable for the mistakes they make in their professional and personal contexts no matter what the consequence. Kouzes and Posner (2003a) argue that integrity is the main component of credibility—one of the most important attributes of a leader. My experience has revealed that people are judged by what they do much more than what they think or say. Since values drive behavior, and they greatly influence the decisions people make, values are the most important link between one’s beliefs and actions; thus, understanding one’s values is paramount.
Importance of Values
Jesus understood and communicated the importance of values. Jesus communicated his vision of how we could be blessed by upholding certain values within the Sermon on the Mount. For instance, in Matthew 5:1–48 Jesus admonished us with countless values embedded within his sermon that show “how a person who is in right relationship with God should conduct his life” (Walvoord, Zuck, & Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).
Understanding one’s personal and leadership values is important. Leaders who have taken the time to reflect upon and identify their key values will have an advantage when making tough decisions. Lee and King (2001) argue that “being aware of your personal values strengthens you as a leader and helps you get the most personal reward from your leadership work” (p. 55). Leaders are often called to choose between multiple actions, all of which are shrouded in ambiguity and carry with them negative possibilities. However, Jesus focused his lesson on values for us by saying, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth... but store up your treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19–21, New International Version) (Buzzell, Boa, & Perkins, 1998). Jesus commanded us to value heaven more than earth because it glorifies God. Ultimately, having intimate knowledge of one’s values may be a leader’s greatest advantage and most important step in developing his or her leadership values.
Assessment of My Values
Several assessments help demonstrate the congruence between my personal and leadership values. I have completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, n.d.), a Motivational Gifts Survey (MGS) based on Romans 12 (Della Vecchio, n.d.), and a 360-degree feedback assessment called Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) (Kouzes & Posner, 2003b). Because these assessments were not specifically designed to measure values, I have assigned values to the results and confirmed these values with an independent person. Validity of these assessments as a measurement of values is undetermined. In addition to these commercial assessments, I have engaged in deep personal reflection and critical assessment of my values.
The MBTI assessed personality type and how I interact with the world, which for this analysis will relate mostly to my personal values. The results of the assessment yielded seven values including logic, knowledge, ideas, adaptability, learning, problem-solving, and analysis. The MBTI assessed my personality type to be: introverted, intuition, thinking, and perceiving (INTP).
The MGS assessed motivational gifts, which could be a reflection of both my personal and leadership values. The results of the MGS indicated my top two motivation gifts are teacher and perceiver; both scored 90 percent on a scale of 100 (see Appendix B for complete results and descriptions of all gifts). The conversion yielded 15 values, which indicated that knowledge, wisdom, meaning, learning, personal growth, justice, excellence, perfection, joy, continuous improvement, success, encouragement, progress, discernment, and concern for others were highly important to me.
The LPI is perhaps the most suitable of the assessments to judge my leadership values because the assessment was a reflection of my observed behaviors while in a leadership role. The results yielded 19 values when only considering the top 10 of 30 items in the assessment. This measurement indicated that integrity, commitment, respect, concern for others, passion, the future, sharing, teaching, listening, learning, joy, achievement, cooperation, teamwork, problem solving, personal growth, continuous improvement, innovation, and creativity were reflected in my observable behaviors in the leadership context, thus, a relatively accurate reflection of my leadership values.
Assessing my values through reflection and self-analysis is an important ongoing task. Self-analysis provides me with a deeper understanding of my motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. Understanding my values will enable me to make decisions that will support my personal and leadership visions. As a result of recent and overall reflection, I have clarified and narrowed my values to 15: Acceptance, concern for others, consistency, continuous improvement, effort, faith, free will, integrity, learning, openness, perseverance, personal growth, personal leadership, service, and wisdom. This set of values will undergo constant revision and clarification as I learn more about what it means to be a Christian leader, what it takes to align my behaviors with my values, and where I am on my journey toward my personal and leadership visions.
In sum, 44 different values are represented; 33 are from the commercial assessments. Five values—knowledge, joy, integrity, wisdom, and problem solving—paired; three values—concern for others, continuous improvement, and personal growth—were each listed in three assessments; and learning was listed in all four assessments. Values matched nearly 20 percent of the time. Considering the inherent and extreme differences in the assessments, the range of possible values, and the absence of an empirical methodology, I surmise there is a high degree of congruence between my personal and leadership values because there are no instances of opposing values listed (e.g., cooperation and independence).
Congruence between My Personal and Leadership Values
There is a high degree of congruence between my personal and leadership values. Kouzes and Posner (2002) wrote, “Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow” (p. xxviii). Values are behavioral guidelines for conducting relationships with the people with whom we interact on a daily basis regardless of the context. While there are of course some differences due to organizational influences, relationships are fundamentally the same. According to my analysis of several commercial assessments as well as deep personal reflection, my leadership values are not different from my personal values; rather, they are an extension of my personal values, which are constrained by the organizational context.
My leadership values are an extension of my personal values because I am the same person drawing from the same experiences and influences. I bring my personal values to bear in leadership situations, and the lessons I have learned in leadership have influenced my personal life. Thus, there is a reinforcing dynamic between personal and leadership values. My life experience has taught me that people generally cannot behave consistently in ways that do not reflect their true character. Handling all transactions with integrity, continuously trying to learn and improve, and being concerned for others is important to me in my personal life; thus, understandably these values would surface in a leadership capacity.
Incongruence between My Personal and Leadership Values
Though my leadership values are an extension of my personal values, and there exists a high degree of harmony between them, there is also one notable exception. Since accepting Christ, I have had difficulty in incorporating faith into my leadership values. Spiritually guided leaders in secular environments often experience the limitations of the status quo; however, they can experience a faith-inspired vision of the future as well (Cogner & Associates, 1994). This is where there is divergence between my personal values and leadership values. If I do not conduct myself according to the values I say I have, how deeply held can those values really be? What effect will this inconsistency have on me personally and professionally? And, how will this affect my vision?
Embracing faith only in my personal life is a critical shortcoming that has several negative ramifications. First, my credibility may suffer. Being Christian comes with both the responsibility and inherent goal of conforming myself to the image of Christ. Ultimately, there will be numerous situations in which I will have the opportunity to let Christ’s light shine through me in both personal and leadership contexts. I will be judged by my actions whether or not I make that choice (Psalms 96:10, 13; 98:9; Ezekiel 20:36; Acts 17:31; Romans 2:16; Hebrews 10:30). As a leader, all eyes—mortal and immortal—will be on me (Lee and King, 2001).
Second, my ability to lead people will suffer. Credibility is the foundation on which leaders build trust, one brick or one action at a time. Without credibility, “leaders can have no hope of enlisting others to a common vision” (Kouzes & Posner, 2003a, p. 25). Trust is a key ingredient in my leadership style and losing trust would restrict my ability to lead others.
Last, this disparity between my personal and leadership values will inevitably prevent me from attaining my life vision: To live a life that glorifies God. Embracing God’s will only in my personal life is inconsistent with my values. Leadership is a part of my life; thus, if I want to live a life that glorifies God, my life in the context of leadership must be included as well. God wants all of me. In Colossians 1:10, Paul wrote, “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way.” There is no exception for leadership situations. Thus, excluding faith in my leadership values and resulting behaviors would damage my relationship with my followers, reduce my ability to lead, and inevitably damage my relationship with God.
Conclusion
Underscoring the importance of values, values drive behavior and influence decision making in both personal and leadership contexts. Through self-analysis, reflection, and the use of three commercial assessments, I have discovered that there exists a degree of congruence between my personal and leadership values such as knowledge, joy, integrity, wisdom, and problem solving and an even higher degree of congruence among values such as concern for others, continuous improvement, and personal growth. Moreover, the most consistent value was learning. However, there is one point of incongruence in perhaps the most important value—faith.
Not embracing my faith in the leadership context will have several ramifications including damage to my credibility as a leader, a reduction in my ability to lead as a result of a loss of trust, and my ability to fulfill my life vision of glorifying God will be jeopardized. Thus, I both fear and hope that I will spend the rest of my career reconciling that disparity in a manner consistent with my espoused values.
References
Buzzell, S., Boa, K., & Perkins, B. (1998). The leadership Bible: Leadership principles form God’s word. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Cogner, J. A., & Associates. (1994). Spirit at work: Discovering the spirituality in leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
DellaVecchio, D. (n.d.). Motivational gifts survey. Retrieved July 10, 2006, from http://www.gifttest.org/
Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B. Z. (2002). The leadership challenge. (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2003a). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B.Z. (2003b). Leadership practices inventory: Facilitator’s guide. (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2001). Discovering the leader in you: A guide to realizing your personal leadership potential. (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
The Myers & Briggs Foundation. (n.d.). The Myers & Briggs Foundation Home Page. Retrieved April 30, 2006, from Meyers-Briggs
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible knowledge commentary: An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
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