My Core Values and How They Inform My Decision Making

I sometimes refer to my values as my North Star. They're my foundation, yes, but they're also what I look to when I'm lost. In my professional life, I strive to work for companies that have similar values.

Integrity

Integrity is not just about doing what's right when it's easy. Integrity is not a weapon you pull out to win arguments. It's being honest and ethical even when it might be easier or temporarily beneficial not to be. I will never claim to be perfect, but I will always stay true to my foundation and my values.

Integrity is a lens I look through before making decisions. At a high level, here are a few things I ask myself before moving forward with a decision:

• Is this a fair and honest decision?

• Who benefits from this decision?

• Have I explained the why?

• Will this be something I look back on and regret?

• What is the impact?

Unfortunately, I've worked for folks in the past who saw integrity as a word and not an action. I know how it feels to have faith in the cause, in the product, or in a company, and be let down when the stakes are high. Nothing will demotivate someone faster.

Flexibility

A lot of people are surprised when I say I am meant to work in "corporate America." I think it gets a bad rep and some of that reputation is totally earned! We hear horror stories daily of employees being mistreated and shady things that go on behind the scenes. So I focus on what I can do: be a great leader for a great company.

With that comes flexibility. What my direct reports have loved about working with me is that human side that I bring to the table. The empathy. And what prevents that understanding and flexibility from being taken advantage of?

Clear defined expectations.

My management style is about looking at a situation wearing both my empathy hat and my business hat (which don't always contradict each other!). If you give a team clearly defined expectations from the start, it becomes easier to determine when a line has been crossed and what route to take going forward.

I believe in treating my team as a partnership and if they hold up their end of the deal (e.g. meeting deadlines, showing up for their team, delivering great results, etc.), then I can meet them with flexibility, and sometimes sacrifice, on my end.

Self-Awareness

As I mentioned above, I will be the first to admit that I'm human. I will make mistakes. I think we've all worked for a leader who isn't self-aware. Maybe they interrupt others constantly, steamroll their teams projects, or automatically go to the negative when new ideas are proposed.

Those are examples of negative leadership traits but at their base level, they often come from a lack of self-awareness. They probably have a leader who isn't coaching them to improve or even sharing their opportunities at all!

I've been lucky enough in my career to have great leaders who nudged me in the right direction and opened my eyes to the blind spots I have. In the beginning, I would say impatience was one of my biggest areas of opportunity. Through coaching, I accepted that unless I set specific deadlines, I could not expect a co-worker to read my mind or even work at my pace.

Being self aware helps me to make decisions because I'm able to look inward before expressing outward.

Conclusion

I have to live and breathe my values every single day. Especially if I'm asking someone else to get on board and do the same. There are several other values that I consider very important, but these are the top three.

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