VALUES-BASED LEADERS

Leadership, simply put, is the ability to influence others. Values-based leadership takes it to the next level. By word, action, and example, values-based leaders seek to inspire and motivate, using their influence to pursue what matters most.

What matters most, of course, depends somewhat on personal choice. Admittedly, some may decide that what matters most is attaining a particular job title or salary level, or perhaps having a bigger house, a vacation home, a luxury car or two. Obviously, that is not what I'm talking about here. For values-based leaders, what matters most is the greater good, the positive change that can be effected within a team, department, division, or organization, or even on a global level.

Deciding what matters most begins with the leaders themselves. Values-based leaders take the time to discover and reflect on what is most important to them. Rather than remaining within the confines of their defined job description and leaving the big-picture issues for someone else to address, values-based leaders are engaged and committed to making a difference and setting an example. Their objective is to make the world a better place within their scope of influence, no matter how great or small.

A values-based leader is driven to do an excellent job. As the chairman and CEO of Baxter International, a $12 billion company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, I used values-based leadership to motivate my team to become the “best” we could be, as we liked to define it: the best team for everyone at the company; the best partner to our customers and suppliers; the best citizen in the world, both in the United States and globally; and the best investment for shareholders. Those “bests” were pursued vigorously through values-based leadership.

Now more than ever, values-based leadership is crucial. Breaches of ethics, betrayal of public trust, and violations of fiduciary responsibility—from the financial crisis to political leaders who have fallen from grace due to scandals in their private lives—illustrate the need for a strong commitment to fundamental principles of leadership. Confidence in leaders has waned and needs to be restored. The National Leadership Index 2010, compiled by the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, showed that Americans' confidence in their leaders was “significantly below average” for the third year in a row. The report on the index findings, titled A National Study of Confidence in Leadership, found that “over the six year history of this survey, the dominant trends have been a majority view that America has a leadership crisis and a declining confidence in our leadership.”¹ Values-based leadership is an effective way for leaders to improve their competence and instill confidence in others.

Values-based leadership is a philosophy I adopted long ago when I was a member of a team that was working in cubicles. As a new hire in the business development department, I did not know whether I would ever be promoted out of those cubicles. It didn't matter, I told myself, remembering the values instilled by my parents, and my outlook on life. I would be the best possible team member I could be anyway. As someone who believes we're here on this earth for only a very short period of time, I wanted to make a difference with my life—by treating others with respect and never focusing on my own needs and desires ahead of the goals of my team or the organization. Over the years, as I was promoted to division president, then chief financial officer, president, and finally CEO and chairman, my commitment did not change. At all times, I was focused on what matters most and doing the right thing.

The objective of values-based leadership is to do the right thing by making choices and decisions that are aligned with your values. When crises arise, the values-based leader does not need to agonize over how to address every issue. Focusing on the right thing to do makes choices clearer to see and easier to make. This requires more than just a grasp of the situation or the players involved. First, you must know who you are and the values for which you stand.