The Dynamics of Value-Based Leadership - Lessons From Saint Ignatius

The choices, decisions, and actions we make in life are going to be driven by the values we hold. Values are the guiding principle in our lives. In leadership, it all begins with one’s values. Leading successfully and effectively is impossible without values informing our mission, our vision, and why we do what we do.

Humility and authenticity are examples of values that drive leaders and organizations. Other values that might drive leaders and organizations are: Service, integrity, wisdom, compassion, trust, commitment, sacrifice, respect, and courage.

In the Gospel, Jesus Christ spoke of values such as peace, justice, hope, and love. As followers of Christ, we are called to uphold these same values. We need to understand these values and their meaning in our lives for they will guide our actions toward our goals, particularly our heavenly goals.

Leaders must have their values identified, defined, clarified, and communicated not only for their own personal sake but for the sake of their followers. Followers expect their leaders to guide them toward achieving that shared vision and common goal. The core values, the objectives, the activities, and the mission of the organization will likely reflect the values that the leader upholds and projects. That means the followers, the members of the organization, will likely carry and project personal values that align with the values not only of the organization but also of their leaders. Values stem from the leaders and flow throughout the organization. Values build and solidify the bond that group members have with one another. Individuals who are disconnected from the values of the leader and the organization are not going to be effective contributors. On the other hand, individuals who are strongly connected to the values of the organization and have internalized those values and adopted them as their own will be in lockstep with the leader and with one another as they march towards the accomplishment of the mission. Effective leadership is difficult to achieve without leadership that is founded on clear and inviolable moral principles. Followers set their goals, beliefs, and behaviors wholeheartedly if they can adopt the values and moral principles of their leader.

The Jesuits became a large organization with an extensive following that spans centuries and the entire globe not because it had an organizational strategic plan or a marketing scheme but because it had a founder in Saint Ignatius of Loyola who led with values. And his followers understood his values and they themselves upheld and carried those same values forward. Each member of the Jesuit organization embodies the same values that were embodied by their founder.

One of the key values in the practices of Saint Ignatius is self-reflection. In his Daily Examen, a technique of prayerful reflection that he himself developed, he shares with us the invitation and opportunity to reflect on God’s will in our daily lives. Self-reflection is an opportunity for us to discern whether the values that we uphold and the inner compass that directs our decisions and actions are in alignment with the will of God. Some of Saint Ignatius’s followers and companions like Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Peter Faber, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, and Robert Bellarmine pursued their own missions in life guided by the values that their leader upheld and taught. These saints became saints and leaders because they were guided by the saintly and value-based leadership if Ignatius. They identified strongly with his values that they, too, led others with the same values. They were led by values that were etched not only in his writings but more importantly and more clearly in the life that he lived. He wrote about and exemplified and exuded values such as self-reflection, selflessness, integrity, service to God and service to others, humility, respect, patience, courage, and trust in God. His values were apparent to his followers and so they understood the direction he was heading in and they were willing to follow his lead.

There's a lot we can learn from Saint Ignatius on value-based leadership. Many of the leadership failures we are witnessing in today's society is not due to a lack of technical and strategic skills but to a lack of values, good moral values. Followers who don't hold the same values as their leaders are going to struggle aligning to the mission and the activities of the group. There will not be any cohesion and there will be a lot of disconnections. Our values hold us together. Leaders must recognize what these values are to uphold the cohesiveness of the group and the alignment of the individuals to the mission.