Giving Voice to Values-based Leadership: How to Develop Good Organizations Through Work on Values

The complexity facing today’s organizations calls for a rethinking of leadership. The world is facing grand challenges for people and the planet. Leaders and employees bear the responsibility of formulating strategies grounded in strong values. These strategies aim to foster the growth of sustainable organizations and promote ethical work practices. This book gives voice to values-based leadership and provides a method for leaders to develop a values-based organizational culture.

Values play a role on many levels in how we work as individual leaders, in teams, and in organizations and in how organizations approach societal challenges. Values can be a compass or orientation point, giving direction for decisions and actions. Awareness of values can make organizational responsibilities clearer and give a sense of meaning to work and help leaders to create organizations where corporate, moral, and social values are embedded at every level. This book gives insight into a Scandinavian values-based leadership model built on the institutional leadership tradition. It provides processes and practices that leaders can use to develop organizations where values are continuously nurtured. The book provides practical ideas of how leaders can work on becoming conscious of both the organization’s explicit and implicit values, as well as working on the direction of the organization and its broader organizational culture.

This book will be an invaluable resource for both practitioners and graduate students interested in leadership and organizational development.

Gry Espedal is an associate professor at VID Specialized University, Norway. Espedal is the head of the Department of Values-Based Leadership and the Centre of Values-Based Innovation. Espedal has done extensive research on values and is an internationally published author, including articles in leading international journals and books with international publishers.

Frank Elter is an adjunct associate professor at the Norwegian School of Economics, where he teaches at executive programs. He is a full-time director and researcher of strategy and organization in Telenor R&I and an advisor to executives.