THE FIRST STEP YOU MUST TAKE ALONG THE PATH to becoming an exemplary leader is to discover your personal values and beliefs. You must define a set of principles that guide your decisions and actions and find a way to express them in your own words, not in someone else's. You must find your voice.

Yet leaders don't speak only for themselves. They also speak for their team, organization, and other key constituents. Therefore, you must understand and appreciate the values of your team and find a way to affirm shared values that everyone will commit to upholding. Shared values give people reasons for caring about what they do, instead of simply following orders.

Finally, leaders stand up for their beliefs. They practice what they preach. They show others by their actions that they live by the values they profess. They also ensure that others adhere to the values and standards that have been agreed upon. It is consistency between words and actions that builds credibility.

To Model the Way, you clarify values by finding your voice and affirming shared values and set the example by aligning personal actions with shared values.

Here are some examples from the personal‐best cases we've collected of how leaders Model the Way:

• The manager of a manufacturing facility saw that housekeeping conditions around the site didn't meet the plant's vision of being a “World Class Plant.” He painted the words “World Class Plant” on a two‐gallon plastic bucket and began walking around every day picking up trash. Word spread quickly and it didn't take long for more buckets to appear. The process he started by his visible example soon became the norm and generated lots of new ideas about how to make the job of cleaning the plant easier.
• A senior manager in a nonprofit that provided resources to seniors began her new job assignment by taking her management team on a “virtual retreat,” a series of Zoom meetings held over a period of two weeks. The purpose was to develop a set of principles that would serve as a guide for all team members. The manager began by sharing her personal values with the team. Then she engaged the team in discussions of their own personal values. At the final meeting, the team developed a set of common values and made a commitment to discuss those values with all of their direct reports.
• The president of a chain of neighborhood convenience stores does not just talk about the importance of employee satisfaction and work–family balance. On important national holidays, he and other corporate office staff members work in the stores so that employees can spend time with their families.
• The division vice president of an electric and gas utility works diligently to demonstrate the importance of customers. She makes a point every day of talking about customers whenever she interacts with members of her team. The first agenda item in her staff meetings is always customer satisfaction.
• The new superintendent of a large school district shared a document with the more than 250 staff members entitled “My Leadership Principles & Core Values.” He explained that “investing time to pinpoint my leadership principles has been hugely beneficial because it forces me to abide by these standards in my day‐to‐day operations.” He framed the document and placed it on his office wall where he can see it every day, and he looks for opportunities to discuss his leadership principles with staff, parents, and others in a variety of settings. He has found that most people appreciate his transparency and that many share his core values.

OBJECTIVES

As a result of completing the worksheets in this chapter you will be better able to:

• Clearly articulate your personal values to the members of your project team
• Engage your team members in a discussion of their values
• Build consensus on shared values
• Align your leadership actions with the shared values