Why Values Matter in Leadership and Career Planning

As an executive coach in London, I often ask leaders to pause and reflect on their values. Few of us go about our daily business naming our values, but we notice them immediately when someone violates them. Values sit at our core. They are the guiding principles, the personal blueprint that shapes how we live, lead, and work.

Understanding your values is essential for making career decisions, building resilience, and leading with integrity.

Living by Our Stated Values (and When We Don’t)

Some values we hold as aspirational. For example, honesty is a value many people would name as central, yet most of us occasionally tell a white lie to save face, avoid hurting someone, or stay out of trouble.

Other values run much deeper. You may only notice them when they are tested. Imagine a friend lets you down, and you find yourself saying, “I’d never do that.” That moment of anger reveals that loyalty is a core value for you.

The Challenge of Owning All Our Values

Some values are harder to acknowledge. I once worked with a senior manager who, after a terrorist atrocity, declared that revenge was the only appropriate response. When we explored this together, he realised that the same pattern showed up at work: when someone crossed him, he would bide his time, then make sure they suffered.

Becoming aware that revenge was an active value in his behaviour gave him choice. Once we recognise our true drivers, even the uncomfortable ones, we release energy previously spent in denial. More importantly, we can choose whether or not to act on them.

That’s what executive coaching is: making the unconscious conscious so you can choose how to lead.

Step 1: Identify Your Top Values

From the list below, identify the 10 values that matter most to you. Include both the values you know guide your behaviour most of the time, and those you aspire to.

Then, narrow it down. Remove five. Which values do you truly live by, day to day?

Possible Values

Step 2: Reflect on Your Career Highs and Lows

Think about three moments in your career when you felt fulfilled, rewarded, or energised. Look beneath the achievement itself and ask what value was being met in that moment. Make a note of recurring themes.

Now do the same for difficult times at work. What values were being ignored, challenged, or transgressed?

This reflection will reveal which values are most important to you and how they affect your career choices.

Step 3: Questions for Deeper Reflection

To take this further, consider:

What do your values mean in practice? What behaviours demonstrate them?
What would colleagues say your values are?
Where do your values clash with workplace expectations?
How do you react when someone transgresses your core values?
How do you manage situations where two important values conflict?
What is the cost to you when you compromise?

Why Work on Values with an Executive Coach?

As a leader, your values directly influence your decisions, your resilience, and the culture you create. Working through them alone can be difficult. That is where coaching helps.

As an experienced executive coach in London, I work with leaders to:

Clarify their true values and drivers
Recognise blind spots and unhelpful patterns
Make career and leadership choices that align with who they really are
Lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose

Next Steps

If this exercise has raised questions for you, don’t leave them unanswered. Understanding your values is the foundation for future career planning and authentic leadership.

Explore how executive coaching in London can help you uncover your values and lead with greater impact.

An Exercise for Planning your Future Career