Values-centered Leadership® - A Model for Work and Life
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The metaphor for a life based on values is the bicycle and we call the model The Values Cycle.
The Back Wheel
If you or your team (or family, church, or organization - any group of humans) were a bicycle, it would derive its power from the back wheel and its direction from the front wheel. From the back wheel we derive the values that are the life skills that energize individuals, teams and organizations. They are called Primary Values and they help us to kick-start personal development and change attitudes. Most of us know and practice these Primary Values every day, but we need to increase our practice of them. The Primary Values on the back wheel are:
MASTERY: Undertaking whatever you do to the highest standards of which you are capable. CHEMISTRY: Relating so well with others that they actively seek to associate themselves with you. DELIVERY: Identifying the needs of others and meeting them.
The Accelerators
Becoming proficient in Mastery, Chemistry and Delivery requires that we first adopt three other behaviors and habits, called the Accelerators (because they accelerate The Primary Values). Mastery, Chemistry and Delivery are driven by these three Accelerators and gain their momentum from them. The Accelerators on the front wheel are:
Learning: Seeking and practicing Learning and Wisdom. Empathizing: Considering the thoughts, feelings and perspectives of others. Listening: Hearing and understanding the communications of others.
The Shifts
The values on the back wheel provide Power to our lives and our organizations, as well as Acceleration. But our motives can be flawed unless they are tempered by the values on the front wheel that provide our Direction. While most of us are familiar with the back wheel values, to a greater or lesser degree, we simply need to increase our practice of them. This cannot be said of the front wheel values; they are qualitatively different. Most of us are not committed practitioners of the values on the front wheel - in fact, we need to shift from "old" values to these "new" ones. This is why we call them "Values Shifts." They are:
The Vector is a tool that helps in measuring the relationship between The Primary Values and the Accelerators. Hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals have applied Values-centered Leadership® to their everyday practice, using it to guide their decisions and navigate their journey to higher ground. All successful relationships and human actions depend on the routine practice of the back wheel values. Friendships are built on these values; championship performance depends on them; they define customer service; effective meetings and negotiations are guided by these values; marriages grow stronger through their daily use.
The Values-centered Leadership® model is effective in work-related situations as well as personal ones. For example, in the work-related context the model has been used to develop business plans, customer feedback programs, service and quality standards, compensation plans, performance assessment, consensus building, leadership feedback and project management.
One of the greatest benefits of Values-centered Leadership® is that it is a life-model, not just a work-model, transferable to any situation and usable in any context. It has been effectively used in educational settings (teacher/student effectiveness), the home (parent/child communications), the political arena (elected official/constituent feedback), therapy (counselor/patient discussion) and among friends. It is an integrative, holistic process that works well in any condition where individuals or groups must interact with each other in order to be effective and fulfilled. With practice, you will find that the language and the values become second nature for you and a vital tool for renewing your soul. (See, for example, the chapter of my book Reclaiming Higher Ground: Creating Organizations that Inspire the Soul, entitled Blithe Spirit, in which I have described how to develop a Personal Mission through the use of The Values-centered Leadership® model).
The purpose of our work is not material but spiritual. We do not go to work in the morning to manufacture widgets or produce reports. We go to work because it is part of our life mission to be of service to each other and to contribute to the healing and recovery of the planet. Each of us has chosen a different means of working, different skills, different organizations, products and services, but we can all unite in a shared goal: to celebrate and honor each other and make our planet more peaceful, beautiful and loving.
