Episode 81: Decisions, Discomfort and Core Values: Navigating the Tough Decisions

Episode 81

Decisions, Discomfort and Core Values: Navigating the Tough Decisions

Episode Summary

Most leaders can name their core values. Far fewer use them to make the hard calls — the client who doesn't feel right, the opportunity that looks good on paper, the shortcut that would save time but compromise the standard. Your values only mean something if they hold when it costs you something. Defined values don't make the hard calls easy — but they do make them cleaner.

Key Points:

• Your core values aren't who you want to be someday — they're who you are, and who you're committed to being even when it costs you something.

• Your values should function as a filter for every kind of decision, not just hiring and performance — from vendor relationships to public stances to saying no to revenue that pulls you off course.

• Turning down or ending a client relationship because of values misalignment is one of the most powerful signals you can send about whether your values are real.

Resources

• Blog Posts:

  • The Hidden Power of Values: Why Teams Struggle Without Clear Alignment

  • Do You Know Your Values?

  • Values in the Workplace: How to Create a Values-Based Organization

  • Taking Values from Paper to Practice

  • Beyond the Buzzword: Core Values Matter

  • The Hidden Power of Values: Why Teams Struggle Without Clear Alignment

  • Your Core Values Aren't Wall Art: Intentionally Creating Your Culture

• Free Leadership Toolbox

• Jim Collins

• Gino Wickman - EOS

• Michael Bungay Stanier

• Resources

  • The Coaching Habit

Related Episodes

• Core Values That Stick: From Empty Promises to Everyday Actions

• Cracks in the Foundation: 3 Common Culture Killers That Destroy Your Team

• Beyond Words: How Living Your Values Shapes Your Culture

• Living Your Values: From Ideas to Actions

• You Get What You Tolerate: Building, Protecting, and Defending Your Culture

• Built on Purpose: Creating the Organizational Culture You Actually Want

• Your Culture is Talking: What is it Actually Telling You?

Listen

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About Jacquie:

Jacquie is the founder of Leadership and Life by Kayric Inc, where she blends the best of teaching, leadership, and the occasional The West Wing reference to help non-profits and small business build strong leaders and healthy teams. Utilizing DISC and The Five Behaviours of a Cohesive team, combined with teaching knowledge and experience, Jacquie strives to empower leaders with the skills no one taught them and to create teams who want to work together.

Formerly a junior high teacher (who loves teenagers), Jacquie brings a decade of classroom wisdom, ten years corporate training experience, a growth mindset, and a sprinkle of mild rebellion to her dynamic approach.

In her free time, Jacquie channels her passion for community improvement by volunteering with school councils, serving on non-profit boards, and generally finding ways to make her corner of the world a better place. You can also find her on the side of a soccer pitch, at Remedy Café or in her scrapbook room.

Contact Jacquie