The Concept Of Value-based Leadership

By Author: Fabiola Groshan
Total Articles: 2671
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Value based leadership/management is the newest concept in companies and organizations nowadays. The concept is highly appreciated given its power to influence behaviors even though many people believe that the way it is executed depends on the maturity of the followers. However, in order to execute value based leadership/management, one should first define it and understand it and regarding this aspect, there are many sharp distinctions among its definitions. Apart from this, leadership and management are two different concepts, even though there are many people who refuse to differentiate them.

Thus leadership, also known as lederskab in Danish, is a dynamic concept, mainly described as the process of influencing the behavior of others toward group goals in a way that fully respects the freedom. Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less, yet it emphasize on respecting the freedom of others. While leadership is an activity, management(ledelse, in Danish) is a role meant to get things done as efficiently as possible. Leaders have followers while managers have subordinates so the biggest difference between ...
... them is the way they inspire the people who work with them. Many times these concepts are used interchangeably in spite of the fact that leadership is often situational rather than positional, it identifies opportunities and seize the moment to take a risk and act. It motivates people to move a project in the right direction and ultimately, it achieve change and makes a difference. On the other hand, management is virtually about using the authority attached to a role in order to accomplish day to day tasks and make sure that the entire project is completed in a timely manner. It relies on rules, business processes, strategies, tactical direction and control in order to manage activities and people.

Taking into consideration the aforementioned, value based leadership/management (værdibaseret ledelse, in Danish) can be defined as the process through which the mission, values, vision, strategy, performance management, rewards and recognition as well as processes and system are aligned. Value based management/leadership is virtually a system that takes into consideration the whole organization and focuses on creating value, managing for value and measuring value. It has the needed approach that ensures consistency in all the processes that take place within an organization.”value-based' virtually means that the organization has values not just in financial terms, but rather in relationships. Whether is about lederskab (leadership, in English) or ledelse (management, in English), they both rely on core value which are core convictions that employees regarding the way they must behave in the fulfillment of the organization's mission. Core values should not be confused with operating practices, business strategies or cultural norms; they are not the organizational culture but rather part of it and the interesting thing is that they don't change and they are not important in their intrinsic nature but in their extrinsic value. It can be stated that værdibaseret ledelse ( value based management/leadership) is the foundation of a consistent corporate culture and it is both management philosophy and execution practice.

For more resources regarding lederskab or even about ledelse and especially about værdibaseret ledelse please review these pages.