A Better Future Built on Value-Based Leadership

By Ashley Dugger

Visit the business section of any bookstore or library, and you’re likely to find dozens and dozens of books about management and leadership. After all, leadership is one of the most-studied social phenomena in history, and differing styles and preferences are evident even in the ancient world. Today, neuroscience has its hat in the ring, with recent discoveries about the human psyche suggesting that ‘value-based leadership’ is one of the best ways to optimize job satisfaction and personal fulfillment, while also maintaining productivity.

Put simply, ‘value-based leadership’ (VBL) centers humility, servanthood, and authenticity in leadership roles. This empowers employees, contributes to the professional development of the leader themselves, and well-positions the organization for longevity and growth. In other words, rather than leadership being merely transactional (or worse, draconian), VBL is humble leadership that comes alongside others, lives out the values of an organization, and encourages employees on the road to leadership themselves. This creates work environments that are more collaborative, where workers are more fulfilled, and where people have the support and resources that they need to be creative. And of course, employees who are valued in this way, with leaders who embody these principles, are likely to stay at an organization longer on average, and likely to work more efficiently.

So, given that VBL is an effective form of leadership, the real question is how leaders actually live this form of management. People-leaders in workplaces not only need to harbor these ideas and values personally, but also apply them to the day-to-day operations of their organization. They key is shifting the focus of the organization on a fundamental level to create sustainable improvements. The first step in this process is to change perceptions and experiences in the workplace, which in turn produces a different mindset in leaders and employees alike. From there, decisions and actions follow, producing results. This is how all organizational change happens—in order: perception/experience, mindset, decision, action, results—and so leaders need to work at the experiential level to foster an environment of mutuality, respect and creativity, thereby helping to create the conditions necessary for a shift in overall mindset and attitude, ultimately producing results.

Some of these principles are derived from Dr. Daniel M. Cable’s 2018 book, “Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do.” Perhaps one of the best practical summaries of VBL comes from Cable, in a blog post from the same year in which he summarizes some of his work. He talks about more than leadership, but on the topic, he explains VBL in this way:

“Work is managed by servant leaders, who help shape the vision, and then try to learn from employees and help them accomplish their goals rather than emphasizing hierarchy. When leaders express feelings of uncertainty and humility, they end up encouraging a learning mindset in others, which increases experimentation and innovation.”

This is one of a handful of characteristics that Cable identifies as essential for firms to develop a competitive advantage. But more than creating a financially successful company or organization, VBL is about preferring some risk and uncertainty to stale authoritarianism, driven by quantitative results and safety in traditional management structures. It’s about engaging with employees and being proactive, rather than passive or impersonal. Most of all, VBL cultivates an environment of collaboration, experimentation, curiosity and creativity instead of anxiety, fear and boredom.  In an era of increased attrition, the critical work of engaging employees and creating job satisfaction has never been more important for leaders.

We can start now, as leaders, in helping to foster these environments. It will take some “undoing” of the old ways of thinking about management and leadership, but in the end, it will be better for us, our people, our firms and ultimately our collective future if we center value. Furthermore, VBL must be more than lip service. Employees need to see their leaders personifying their values, and not just saying the value-based culture is important to the organization, in order for meaningful change to occur.