Value based leadership

Oliver Kuhn July 2013 based on version August 2010

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Essay

What is Value Based Leadership?

Introduction

Value Based Leadership is a big concept that has deserved to be explored and thought about in

a broad view. I choose this topic because it is very broad. I think I can explain my thoughts and

learned insights best within this topic. I consider myself more as a generalist than a specialist at

this time of my life. Of course, I will become more a specialist in my future job. Nevertheless, I

will always want to keep a broad view over everything, I think this is a very important quality

for every leader. They cannot do every little job, they need to have the overview so that they

can delegate and let the company strive for a higher goal.

To use a metaphor: A leader is like the captain on a boat, sometimes there are storms,

sometimes the sea is quieter and the sun is shining. The leader, however, always need to have

the vision to reach the goal and has to lead the whole boat crew and the passengers to the next

destination. His goal is (or at least should be in my opinion) to reach this next destination with

the best possible outcome for everybody on the boat and the environment. That is why I

choose this topic and not one of the other ones, even though they are very interesting too.

However, I don´t want to lose myself in just a very specific part of Value Base Leadership, I want

to try to present a whole picture over this big topic in this essay.


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Main body

Value Based Leadership can be divided in two different parts: The first part is “Value Based”

and the second part is “Leadership”. “Values are assumptions about how things ought to be in

the society. There are broad tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over others”. But

which states are preferred by which people at which times in which situation? That is a very

difficult question, which is almost impossible to answer. At least there is no right or wrong

answer, there are only some attempts to come as close to an answer as possible. It is a

question of culture, of the company, of the goals and visions you have, of every individual and

much more. I will try to explain these aspects, what value based means or can mean, later in

this essay.

The second part of the whole expression is leadership which is by itself already a very complex

concept and combined with the words “value based”, even more. Leadership involves always at

least one or several leaders and his followers. Without followers, there is no leadership (see

Grint 2005, p.19). I will explain this later too (see page 6).

First, I want to try to give a personal definition of Value Based Leadership: In my opinion, Value

Based Leadership means to strive for excellence in every situation, to act as a role model in

following your own set of principles with the ability to react with flexibility to situational

circumstances. It is also about empathy and emotional intelligence, the feeling for others and

the art to treat every individual differently, so that at the end everybody feels threatened

correctly and will be motivated. This varies from person to person. The goal is to reach a better

situation for every individual so that at the end the whole community reaches an improvement


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to a higher level which means progress. To go back to the boat-‐captain metaphor of the

introduction, the goal would be to reach the next destination which will be a progress for

everybody on the boat (see introduction, p.1).

Leadership is also GLOCAL which means thinking globally and acting locally. It is about acting as

a leader in every possible and small situation, creating trust to all the people around you, and it

does not matter if it is the cleaning people or your boss. “Leadership is a consequence of many

small decisions and acts”(see Grint, 2005, p.39). This big concept includes a lot of tiny things like

just having a positive aura, looking into the eyes of the people, having a smile on your face,

being confident in what you are doing and having goals, visions and values that you will follow.

It requires open-‐mindedness, responsibility (for yourself first and then for others), humility and

RESPECT! But never forget the broad picture, the stakeholders, environment and so on.

I think the following quote of Harry Truman is a very good one: “A leader is a man who has the

ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do and like it” (see Truman, slides

session 1, slide 20). This stresses the quality to motivate people. They should start to like what

they do, even though they did not like it at the beginning. That will lead to more fun at work

and that to more success. My definition of leadership goes even further than the Truman

quote. I think a really good leader can create a working environment in which not the leader

himself get other people to do what they do not want to do and like but where the people

themselves will start to motivate themselves. The leader only creates the right circumstances;

at the end the people themselves are responsible for their motivation.


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Value Based Leadership is also an art of living; it is finding the right balance in every situation.

This is very difficult because nobody is perfect. “… -‐ omniscient leaders doesn´t exist but we

seem to need them” (Grint 2005, p. 34). That means that the followers sometimes expect

leaders to be omniscient but nobody is. It is important to get stick in the people´s heads that

nobody can be omniscient. In my opinion it is more important, and that is what is what

motivates me most, when a leader strives to be as perfect as possible but never loses the

quality of easiness. This is the art of living; this is real Value Based Leadership for me.

One of the best examples of a situation in which I experienced real value based leadership was

in a football team at the age of 18. I played for a football club called FC Aarau in Switzerland in a

selection that played a championship in whole Switzerland. The team I was in, played together

in the same constellation for approximately one year. The trainer, in my eyes one of the best

leaders I’ve ever seen, was called Walter Iselin. He used to be a very good football player

himself; he has been a professional when he was younger. So he had already the respect of all

of us because everybody in the team wanted to reach at least the level on which he had played.

Actually, he did not need this basic respect in advance because from the first moment you felt

that he is totally a person you will respect. He had this charisma, this energy, empathy and he

felt how to react in every situation. I can remember that once we were out in the forest running

very early in the morning and everybody was not motivated at all and he was full of energy,

smiling and said there is nothing more beautiful for him than being here right now. He had a

friend who had cancer and he told us this story and I think afterwards everybody was more

motivated to run for hours in the forest. He also knew how to treat every special


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character/person in our team. Our characteristics from person to person were so different but

he managed to treat everybody a little bit differently so that it was totally ok for everybody. He

made that everybody felt comfortable and wanted to give his best for the team. I think our

football skills were not the best in whole Switzerland but with this coach, the energy he gave us

and also the self-‐confidence we got that we are good if we help each other on the field and are

a team, were the key factors that we had chances to win the Swiss Championship till almost the

end.

Another example for person with high value based leadership qualities is Nelson Mandela. For

me, Nelson Mandela (as far as I know him), implements most of the most important qualities,

which a leader needs to have. It is very important to have a role model in your life which

inspires you and which help you to develop your own qualities. I think Nelson Mandela is a role

model of this kind for me.

He was the first black President of South Africa and was in charge between 1994 and 1999.

Recently, I watched the movie “Invictus” in which Morgan Freeman plays the role of Nelson

Mandela. I think he is the perfect role model as a leader because he acts in every situation like a

leader should act. He respects everybody, from the cleaning lady over co-‐workers to other

presidents. It does not matter if people are black or white, tall or small, or whatever, he

respects everybody how he is and that is how it should be. If everybody would act in this

manner, the world would be a better place than right now, where some extremists, radicals and

dictators try to rule the world. He shows a huge amount of self-‐awareness, trust and

knowledge. His wisdom is obvious and he shares it with the people around him. He tries not


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only to teach but also to learn in every situation and that is very impressive, especially for a

man in his age.

I would love to work for him or with him because I think I would trust him. I know that he would

accept and respect me how I am. He would try to share his wisdom with me and I would want

to reach his level of wisdom that would be a good combination. I also think that he would try to

learn something from me and I think I could show him some different points of view of life.

Especially his background and the experiences he made are impressive. He was in prison for a

long time and I think that formed him as a person.

A very good quality he has is that he has visions, big visions. Nevertheless he always tries to live

for the vision and to fulfill his dreams. He is a thinker and an actor at the same time. The very

best example for this is, of course, his vision of freedom in South-‐Africa between the white and

black people, the fight against the Apartheid.

He is very clever and smart as well. He completed his junior certificate in two years, instead of

the usual three years. What impresses me more than just a certificate is that he thinks in the

long-‐term and not in the short-‐term like a lot of people do nowadays (it’s all about money

making, shareholder maximizing etc.).

He also has this certain charisma which makes you trust him. He acts in a particular way, is calm

and does not get crazy when something special happens. He shows responsibility and nothing

can really get him out of control.


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He also shares the interest for sports. In the movie “Invictus” he supported the national team of

South Africa in a special way, talked with the captain and motivated the whole team and at the

end they succeeded at the World Cup. His intention was to bring together all the people from

the different races through this sport event. So he is also very creative and really tries to fulfill

his mission. His will is very strong, that is another very important quality for a leader (see

Collins, 2001). I think I would be very motivated by him and would like to be his follower in a

way, maybe his co-‐worker or something like that.

Another leader, which is actually not really a leader in the traditional way, I would like to follow

is the Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. He is probably the most famous tennis player ever and

holds a lot of records and is still one of the best players right now. He is more a role model than

a leader for me because he plays a one man and not a team sport. However, also in tennis you

have a team around you with the coach, physiotherapist, training partners etc. And he has a

family and twin daughters in which situation he has to act as a leader as well.

The two most fascinating things about Roger Federer for me personally are the following: First,

his development which was amazing. When you compare him how he acted when he was at the

age of 19 or 20 and now (I think he is now 31), he is a totally different person. He acts much

calmer, has more experience, never loses the view over the situation and makes the big points.

That means he is best when he is under pressure. Second, he is a frontrunner. A frontrunner is

somebody who, as soon as he is leading in a game, it gets almost impossible to beat him. That is

for me a very good quality. It is easier to be motivated when you see somebody in front of you

who you can beat than the situation where you are already leading and should not lose the


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nerves. I think this is a key factor to have success. There are a lot of examples of people who

reached something and then suddenly they lose everything because their characters are not

strong enough or they did not plan in the long run.

You can apply this metaphor from Roger Federer as a frontrunner in tennis to companies and

business in general. Companies should also plan in the long-‐term. I prefer companies with

basics and a solid background, which stay and produce at a high level for decades and not only

some years. In general, I think that sports is a very good field for observation of leaders and for

most people it is the first practical experience in leadership they do. For me personally, sports is

the best school of live you can have at a young age, especially team sports. There you are

leader and follower at the same time!

That leads me to the discussion of Value Based Leadership and Value Based Followership.

Leadership and followership belong totally together. Without followers there would be no

leader, without a leader, followers would not be followers (see Grint 2005, p.19). They stick

together. There is a leader in every group; mostly there are several leaders at the same time in

the same group. So, Leadership is a concept of the whole community, it is more a collective

than an individual phenomenon (see Grint 2005, p.19). The importance of followers and

especially their commitment to sense-‐making is crucial (see Grint, p.33). And Popper says: “It is

the responsibility of the followers to inhibit leaders’ errors and to remain as Constructive

Dissenters, helping the organization to achieve its goals but not allowing any leaders to

undermine this” (see Popper in Grint, 2005, p.35). What leaders need to posses is Charisma: the

ability to mobilize followers (see Grint, 2005, p.6)


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Another view is Distributed Leadership: “A system of leadership enabling control that facilitates

distributed leadership and the ability of local ground commanders to seize the initiative rather

than wait for order” (see Grint, 2005, p.38). I support this kind of leadership, I think it is

appropriate to these days and will be even more important in the future. Because everything is

getting more and more complex, leadership has to be distributed.

To go back to the term “Value Based” it is very important to consider the ethical aspects. Is

there a right or wrong way to act as a leader? Let´s consider Machiavelli´s point of view in this

topic: “…, he should not stray away from the good, but he should know how to enter into evil

when necessity commands” (see Machiavelli, p.60). So, Machiavelli claims that leaders does not

have to be nice all the time, they can also turn into evil if necessary. Machiavelli uses here the

comparison that leaders (in his case the prince) have to be “the fox and the lion” at the same

time. That means he has to be clever, smart and strong at the same time. But is that really still

an actual approach? I do not think so. Nowadays, leaders have still to be strong but not in the

same way like earlier. They do not have to be conquerors; they have to be more the first among

equals (see Gandhi, 1927).

For me ethical leadership goes one in one with moral leadership. “Ethical and moral leadership;

leadership which is necessarily moral, is also necessarily tied to democracy” (see Grint, 2005,

p.12). But at the end it lies always in the perspective of the perceiver, what ethical or moral

leadership really is (see Grint, 2005, p.73). For example, from culture to culture, moral

leadership can mean something totally different.


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This leads me to the discussion of the cultural aspects of leadership. Culture and leadership are

highly connected. Leadership styles can differ from culture to culture as also values can differ.

What is accepted and expected in one culture can be very rude in another one. Some cultures

are more individualistic and others are exactly the opposite.

Under culture I share almost the same opinion like Hans Gullestrup. I define culture as the

rituals, values and beliefs a certain group shares which are different to other cultures. I support

Hofstede’s quote: “Culture is not something you are born with, it’s learned.” That means that

you learn this rituals, values and beliefs from your birth till you’re grown up and can make your

own opinion. Family, school, the whole environment you grow up, friends, peers and even

strangers in your area help to create this culture.

There are certain core values which exist in every culture like you should not hurt somebody.

However, on a higher level the values can have a very big variety from culture to culture.

Everybody has a different cultural background, everybody is individual and that is good so.

Otherwise, if we would be all the same, that would be kind of boring. Especially nowadays,

immigrant rates are quite high and the different culture get more and more mixed. It can

happen that a person has four or more cultural backgrounds. We are also influenced from

different cultures through the globalization. TV shows, food, social media and the easiness of

travelling nowadays are factors which strengthen this influence.

In my opinion, the most important point between different cultures is respect. If everybody

respects the other cultures, can adapt and assimilate in a certain way when you are travelling,


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working or living in another culture than the one you are grown up, then the world can be a

better, nicer and friendlier place. This process is called acculturation and everybody has to go

through this process .

In my culture, Swiss culture or more general middle European culture, a leader is expected to

have the ability to build good relationships, networks and trust. A leader is a connector which is

approachable for everybody. He should be honest and trustworthy as well, of course.

Switzerland is a very low context country after Hall. That means that people in Swiss culture are

very precise and direct and they don not speak an hour about the same thing. They want to

point out what they want to say and you do not have to read between the lines like in other, for

example the Asian, cultures. This differentiation between high and low context cultures may

lead to misunderstandings. That’s why you have to be aware with whom you are talking or

making a deal and you should also be aware of the values which are common in this culture.

Another important point in my opinion lies in the quote of Hans Gullestrup who says that

cultures undergo a constant change. That means that also values undergo a constant change. I

think this is totally true. If you compare the values of a culture some hundred or maybe only

some years ago, then you see that they mostly differ.


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Conclusion

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” (see Aristotle in

Illes, 2010a, p.14). Value Based Leadership includes striving for excellence, excellence in every

situation, so that it will be a habit some when, that is true leadership in my eyes. This is the

shortest possible explanation what Value Based Leadership means for me. If you strive for

excellence so that it becomes a habit for you, people will follow you for sure. Excellence,

mastery, all this big words include value based behavior and leadership as well.

But that you can strive for excellence you have to be content with yourself first. The following

quote supports this: “A person who is fully differentiated and integrated becomes a complex

individual – one who has the best chance at leading a happy, vital and meaningful life” (see

Csikszentmihalyi in Illes, 2010b, p.9). I think only if you are that far in your life, if you have

reached this level of wisdom, then you are really ready to be a good leader. This is a long

process which takes many years and many hard and maybe painful experiences (like for

example Nelson Mandela had when he was in prison or Roger Federer when he lost an

important match). But at the end, I´m sure, everybody who wants and strives for this can reach

a certain leadership level. So the will is also very important (see Collins, 2001).

As I already mentioned: “Leadership is a consequence of many small decisions and acts” (see

Grint, 2010, p.39) and it has an impact on all different (also non-‐business related) subjects (see

Cambridge Business, Q2, 2010, p. 56-‐57). I think these two insights are also worth to be

mentioned in the conclusion.


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At the end, it is often the gut feeling which decides and leaders with the right values (whatever

that means lies in the perspective of the perceiver) will have this right gut feeling in most

situations, are flexible, self-‐confident and self-‐aware. All this factors and many others more like

finding the right balance in every situation, are crucial for Value Based Leaders. That is what I

am striving for, to improve and posses all these qualities!


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List of references

Grint K., 2005, Leadership: Limits and Possibilities

Machiavelli N., The Prince

Handouts 2010 (Session 1-‐10)

Illes K., 2010a, Personal Leadership

Illes K., 2010b, Trust and Maturity

Collins J., 2001, Level 5 Leadership

Cambridge Business, Q2, 2010, Judge for yourself


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Since September 2012 Oliver Kuhn works for SBB in the E-‐Business/E-‐Marketing departement.

Prior to that he was a Marketing Student at the University of Berne, where he wrote his master thesis

about Swiss SMEs and Social Media.

During his studies he worked 1.5 years as a part-‐time Management Assistant for Vujàdé Ltd, a

innovation consultancy in Biel, he successfully completed a 6-‐month internship at Scintilla AG (subsidiary

of Bosch) in the field of controlling, worked as a freelancer for Adidas, accomplished a 10 week English

language exchange in Canada and took summer courses in consumer behavior, leadership and

innovation at the Copenhagen Business School (2010, 2011).

Contact:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/olihandro

Xing: https://www.xing.com/profile/Oliver_Kuhn21?sc_o=mxb_p

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=105514811&trk=hb_tab_pro_top

Further reading:

http://www.therightsocialmedia.com/?p=936#.UbxSIYeHoM8.twitter

Value based leadership

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