How to Lead with Clarity by Aligning Your Actions to Core Values

1 BIG Idea: In this episode, we explore how aligning your actions with your Core Values creates leadership clarity, helping you lead with confidence and authenticity.

3 Ways to Apply This:

1. Define Your Core Values – Get clear on what matters most to you and use them as a guide for decision-making.
2. Evaluate Misalignment – Identify signs that your leadership actions are out of sync with your values and make necessary adjustments.
3. Make Decisions Through Your Values – Use your values as a filter to simplify decision-making and stay aligned with your true self.

3 Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. Are my current leadership actions aligned with my Core Values?
2. What signs of misalignment am I experiencing in my leadership right now?
3. How can I start making decisions based on my values to build clarity and confidence in my leadership?

Tune in now to discover how purpose-driven women like you can lead with clarity, by aligning your actions to your Core Values.

Links & Resources Mentioned

• Core Values Coaching Program (Beta): Discover your unique values and integrate them into every aspect of your life. 
• Core Values Course: A self-paced guide to uncovering your unique values and living with intention. 

Check us out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fYoO3FqRQnY

For a deeper discussion, DM me @theintentionaloptimist (IG or LI) or email me at andrea@theintentionaloptimist.com. 

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:02

You're listening to Stand Tall and Own It, a podcast for high-performing female leaders who are ready to make an impact by discovering the safety that comes from understanding their own values and exercising their own authority. I'm your host, Andrea Johnson, and I'm here to tell you it is time to just truly be you, my strong friend. It's time to stand tall and own it. Hi there, welcome back to another episode of Stand Tall and Own It, the podcast where we equip purpose-driven women to lead with authenticity and impact. I'm your host, Andrea Johnson, the Intentional Optimist. Now, one of my most rewarding, I don't know, aspects or activities as a coach is to watch that light bulb pop on over a client's head. Their eyes get wide, they light up, and it is evident that they have just experienced that clicking noise that means all the lenses have kind of fallen into place and they can see their issue really clearly. Clarity is something that we all crave as leaders. We want to know we're making the right decisions, we're moving in the right direction, and that we're staying aligned with what truly matters. But too often, we think that clarity means having all the answers up front, knowing exactly what to do, how it's going to turn out, or even feeling completely certain before we take any action at all. But that's actually where we get stuck. We hesitate, we second guess, we overthink it, that's my problem. Because if we don't have all the answers, we assume that we're not ready or capable. But the truth is, clarity isn't about certainty. It's about alignment. It's about understanding and knowing who you are and what you stand for, so that even when the next step isn't extremely or blatantly obvious, you trust yourself to move forward anyway. Waiting for that moment, it's just like watching water boil, you know? They just my son will do that. When it's time for Ramian, he wants to see the water boil. I'm like, dude, step away, come back in two minutes, right? It's not gonna it's gonna take a lot longer. It's gonna feel like it takes a lot longer for that water to boil while you're watching it. And I am one of those who just can't stop playing one situation or a challenge or a problem over and over and over and over in my head until I figure it out. But I find that I end up rehashing emotions rather than solving the puzzle. And usually I just have to take a full-on step back and shut it all down. Recently, I've realized that I often fail to lean on my own understanding of my core values, and here I am a teacher, right, to help in this area. Specifically, I was very frustrated with feeling out of touch and not connected to a group in which I used to be part of the inner circle. And one of my top core values is belonging. And when I took a look at what that means for me, I understood both my frustrations with the situation and why I was feeling that way. But I was also able to remind myself that ultimately, I belong to me. I belong to my family, my friends, and in spiritual language, I belong to God. In the last episode, we talked about how not knowing the answers doesn't mean you're unqualified or unprepared. In fact, embracing that uncertainty can actually give you confidence. But when you trust yourself, when you're grounded in your core values, you don't need to have every single detail figured out. You just need to take the next right step. That's why today we're talking about how aligning your leadership actions and decisions and goals with your core values builds that clarity. Not the kind of clarity that guarantees a perfect outcome, but the kind that keeps you moving in the right direction one step at a time. We talked about that last week. Progress over performance, right? Now, clarity is one of those things that really can just feel out of reach no matter how hard we try to grab it. And one of those things that kind of the more you grab it, the faster it slips through your fingers. As leaders, we want to feel confident in our decisions, right? We want to know exactly what to do next. We want to move forward with purpose. We want everybody to look at us and not necessarily in that pride sort of way, but to feel confident that everything that we're doing gives them the confidence that they need to follow. But instead, we often find ourselves feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or completely unsure about our direction. There are so many reasons why clarity feels elusive. Some of it is our lack of clear instructions, like from a roadmap or a step-by-step process to follow, or from our boss or from the group that we're working with. Other times it's too much information. So many voices, opinions, and strategies that we just don't know which one to trust. And right now, it feels like, you know, there's like information coming at us from a fire hose. Then there's the frustrating reality that even when we have all the information, we can still feel uncertain. These feelings are only compounded when you're leading others. The weight of each decision feels heavier because it's not just about you. It's about other people. They're depending on us. Our choices don't just impact our own path, they shape teams, businesses, and the people that we lead and love. The pressure to quote, get it right, can make us hesitant, overthink every move, or seek external validation instead of trusting our own internal wisdom. So let's talk about that internal versus external clarity. Most of us have been conditioned, truly conditioned, to look outside ourselves for the answers. We think, you know, if I just had the right plan, the right mentor, or the right strategy, then I would be totally clear on what to do. And we go looking for them. We do digital courses, we take classes, we get degrees sometimes. But the truth is, external clarity is fleeting. Strategies change, plans fall apart, or they go like, or strategies or ways of doing things completely go out of style or out of fashion, or worse yet, they're left behind by digital progress or the way we do business changes. But even the best advice just cannot replace what you can determine for yourself. Real lasting clarity comes from within, from knowing who you are and what you stand for. And that's where core values come into the picture. Core values are how you define yourself. They become the filter for every single decision, every priority, every challenge. And instead of trying to process endless information and opinions, you run everything through the lens of your core values. That's where you get clarity. For instance, should I take this business opportunity or job opportunity? Well, I don't know. Does it align with my values? How do I navigate this particular conflict? Well, what do my values tell me is the right approach for me? Not necessarily for someone else. Am I making the right decision here? Well, is it in alignment with what truly matters to me? You see, when you have that internal foundation, the noise fades. I'm not going to tell you it ever goes away. The noise outside never goes away for sure, but for me specifically, the noise inside never goes away. There's always a little voice in there talking to me. There will always be outside opinions, uncertainty, and moments of doubt. But the difference is you're no longer paralyzed by them. Clarity isn't about having that perfect answer. It's about knowing that whatever happens, you have the ability to make decisions and choices that allow you to lead from a place of authenticity and truth. Instead of getting stuck in hesitation or second guessing, you move forward with confidence because your choices are grounded in what really matters to you. Now, we've talked about how clarity isn't about having all the answers, it's about alignment. So how do we actually take that idea and apply it in real time? How do we actually use our core values to guide decisions, set goals, and lead with confidence? Well, I'm going to share with you an exercise that I use in workshops, and it's very simple but powerful. It's a way to check in with yourself to ensure that your actions, decisions, and leadership are all aligned with what truly matters to you. So it's a four-step process. I'm going to share it here, and I am really curious to see how it helps you because I know what happens in workshops. I watch literally, this is where in a workshop in a larger setting, it's not just one client. I might see light bulbs pop on all over the room. So the very first step in figuring out how to align your decisions, your actions, your goals with your core values is to define your core values. I mean, you have to have a benchmark to start with. So before we can align those actions, we have to be clear about our foundation. Your core values are the principles that define who you are and how you operate, no matter your circumstances. They aren't just nice words on a page, they aren't aspirational, things that you'd like to be, and they're not external. They shape how you make decisions, solve problems, and interact with others. If you're new to my podcast, welcome. This may be the first time you've heard core values defined this way, but if you go back through past episodes, you're going to hear it over and over and over again. Now, you may have already done some core value core values work to define yours. You may have done my free download that helps you figure that out. You may have done my my digital course or even worked with me as a coach. But if you haven't done it, um, and if oh excuse me, if you have done it, it's a great time to revisit your core values. I'm learning that if I whenever I do my weekly review and whenever I do my monthly review so that I can plan for the next week or month, if I look at my core values and look at the goals that I have going on, it really keeps them top of mind. So just that's a little pointer, a pro tip there for you to be able to keep them top of mind and to remember what they are. So this is a good time to revisit. If you haven't actually done any work, please, I have a free download exercise that will walk you through the entire process. Just go to my website, theintentionaloptimist.com, and click the free downloads button at the center top of the page. Or you can start real quick right here by asking three big questions. Number one, what drives me, like at my core? What is the thing that keeps me going? Number two, what principles do I refuse to compromise on, no matter what? What are your non-negotiables? Those things that literally you might sever a relationship over, that you might say, I'm out of this job over, that you know, the hill on which you will die. What are those that you refuse to compromise on? I told my son the other day, I said, buddy, I'm willing to like fall on my sword for you in this one, so I need to make sure, because that's who I am, but I need to make sure that we have all the information, right? So it's whatever those things are that you just cannot compromise on. And the third big question to ask if you're looking at your core values for the first time is when have I felt the most fulfilled or what some people might call in flow, like, man, it's just everything just works clicking along. And then what values were present in those moments? What is it about those moments that made me feel that way? Once you actually have your top core values, most people go with three to five, you can start using them as your filter for clarity. So the first piece, the very first step, is to actually define your core values. Step two, evaluate where you might have misalignment. I once had a car. Um it was cute. It was red, it was a Pontiac sunbird, I think. Um, and it it was a little sporty, two-door, you know, but it was kind of bigger, felt like something in between, like a transam and a, I don't know, something like a between a sedan and a firebird or something. But I could not, for the life of me, keep that car, the front wheels in alignment. Something was just off. There was something wrong with the axle. I don't know if it was soft, I don't know what it was, but they would just literally start to skew as like as I was pulling out of the the parking lot after having them aligned at the garage, like new tires on, balanced, aligned the whole thing. And for a while, I was putting on new tires on that car once a year. That is amazingly terrible. I even once had a blowout on a Richmond Overpass on the way to a job interview. Because one of the biggest reasons that we feel stuck and frustrated or overwhelmed is because our actions aren't aligned with our values. They're not in alignment and they get off and they they start to wear on us just like tires get that crazy, like uneven wear on them. Um, then if you try to line that back up, everything feels wobbly. But often we just don't recognize it right away. Just like with my tires, by the time I'd recognized uneven wear on them, it was too late. Like the edges were all bald or and it was just so fast. Isn't that how misalignment works in leadership too? We don't always notice it until we're already dealing with the consequences of that misalignment. So, what do misalignments look like in your in your life, in your leadership? I mean, in my car, it's really easy to check. Like I look at the outside of my um the tread on the tire and I see that it's all evenly worn. I just had to replace tires recently because I had something off and it was the inside that was worn, and I couldn't figure it out. So um, so we need to know in leadership or in our lives, what are the signs of misalignment? Well, there are things like feeling frustrated a lot or resentful, especially in your leadership role. And I tell you, I cannot tell you how, well, I tell you, I cannot tell you. Yeah, that's me trying to express with emphasis how often I hear this particular one so frustrated in leadership roles, especially in the university system. We've got a lot of people, and there are other organizations and systems that are like this, but we have a lot of people who are really good individual contributors, like they're the best at sales or they're the best at whatever they do, and they get promoted to a management position and they do not have the skills, they do not have the training, they they may not even have the personality to actually do that role. It might wear them out. So we get frustrated, those of us underneath those leadership people, we get frustrated, or we get frustrated with the fact that we don't have authority that, or we don't have, we have a responsibility without authority. Another sign of misalignment is struggling with indecisiveness or constantly second guessing yourself. Even if it's in a personal aspect of your life, when you're constantly second guessing, there's something out of alignment. There's something that just isn't clicking, and you need to really take a good look at your core values and see where they're being honored or not. Another sign is experiencing burnout, exhaustion, or lack of motivation. And, you know, I don't even know how to start on this one. That's a whole other podcast episode. And so maybe we'll do that. Maybe we'll look at something about how burnout, exhaustion, and lack of motivation comes from a misalignment and not honoring your core values. And another one, another um misalignment. Um gosh, what am I talking about? Another sign of misalignment. I don't know, the the word just kind of just blew out of my head. Um, it means saying yes to things that don't feel right. Maybe it's because this is the one that I do the most. We say yes to things just because we've said yes in the past and we haven't paid attention, and maybe it doesn't feel right anymore. Or we say no to things that actually do align with our core values, but we don't we don't know that and you you don't know what you want or who you are. And so we say yes to things that are wrong and no to things that are right, and when we start recognizing that that's showing up in our lives, man, that's a good sign of misalignment. So when you start recognizing these patterns and you take a step back, you can ask yourself a couple of questions. Where am I making decisions that don't align or honor my core values? What do they look like? Why am I making them? What compromises am I making that make that kind of feel out of character for me? Where am I compromising and what am I compromising for? What am I putting above my core values or myself? How am I allowing myself to be stepped on? Like, where are my boundaries off? That kind of thing. The awareness in this area can be a complete game changer. So first you're gonna define your core values, second, you're looking for signs of misalignment. And third, you're gonna make decisions through your core values. When you start filtering your decisions through your core values, everything seems to just simplify. Instead of weighing a million pros and cons, like I am all for that, like pro and con list, but ask yourself these questions, lots of questions today. Does this align with my core values? Does this honor my core values? Right? And if it doesn't, usually the answer should be no. Or it may be how can I approach it differently? Another question is, is this decision moving me closer to or further from what matters most to me? For me, um, and I'll share a little bit about this in a second, um, belonging is a top core value. So is this decision or is this action or is this goal bringing me closer to belonging or further from belonging? Which one is it, right? Or freedom of thought. Is this bringing me closer to freedom of thought or further away from it? Or further closer to, I'm just telling you my core values, closer to authenticity or away from authenticity? And then thirdly, am I choosing this out of fear or out of alignment? Right now, this question is so important. We're watching um for the last, I don't know, four or five years in the United States, almost all of the political rhetoric is fear-based. It doesn't matter where it's coming from, it doesn't matter who's saying it, it's fear-based. And so we've got a situation in our family right now, and I told my husband, I said, I have to kind of look at this, I have to reframe it. What if I looked at this situation not from a place of fear over this issue that may or may not pertain to what we're talking about here? And what if I looked at it from the perspective of someone who is actually living in that fear? How would that change the way I look at this? And that in itself was honoring my core value of freedom of thought. But you've got to be willing to ask yourself, is this coming from fear? Am I choosing it because I'm afraid of something, or am I afraid of missing out on something, or I'm afraid of not having something? Or is it coming or is it coming out of alignment and honoring of my core values? If an opportunity, a project, a decision doesn't align, it's just a no. And that's hard for us. Especially women, we're taught we should say yes. If we take on more, they will give us more and we will be recognized for it. No, we won't. Historically speaking, we will not. We will just be given more. So if it doesn't align, it's a no. That's just the way it goes. If it does align, even if it's uncertain or challenging, it should be a yes. And that just feels weird, right? I don't want to present this as easy. Simple yes, easy, not necessarily. There's a learning curve that comes with using your core values as a filter. I just shared, I'm still learning to do that. I've recognized recently that I was having a problem with this belonging thing. And I was trying to do things that were not aligned with honoring my core value. When we first define our core values, they're often they start really broad, more like guiding principles than precise tools. As we work through using them as a filter, however, light gets shined on them, more questions get asked, and there's often a need for refinement. Don't be afraid of this process. Embrace it as a valuable tool to make the filter even more useful in the future. That particular core value for me of belonging started out as community. As a matter of fact, if you go to my core values digital course, I'm gonna tell you in there that one of my top core values is community. That's because it started out broad as a principle. And what I realized, the more I filtered things through and the more I asked questions of myself, was that I was using community to feel belonging. So I was trying to use community or the idea of community to feel to honor my actual core value of belonging. Now, it may be five years down the road, I've asked myself even more questions and I realize it's something deeper than belonging. But this is an iterative process. It just keeps going. So don't be afraid of it. Just embrace it. It's going to make your filter even more useful. This practice strengthens your confidence. We talked about that last week. Not because you'll always have that perfect answer, but because you'll know that whatever choice you make, you're staying true to yourself. All right? So first define your core values, then look from misalignment. And then three, make decisions through your core values. And fourth, communicate it with clarity. When you lead from your values, your team, your clients, and peers, they trust your direction because they can see that you really want to go there. They also see your consistency. They know where you stand, what you prioritize, and how you operate. Your messaging becomes clearer because it reflects who you are, not just what you think others want to hear, right? It becomes who you are. Even if as a leader, you are prescribed certain messages that you have to give to your team by the organization in which you're functioning, they can still reflect you. They can still be presented in a way that reflects you. This becomes makes everything become much clearer and it helps everyone see you as an authentic leader. Your leadership also becomes stronger because you're no longer making decisions based on external pressure. External pressure is for the birds. Don't give in to it. Make decisions based on internal understanding, right? And your relationships become much more aligned and purposeful because you're attracting the right people who share or respect your values. And I will just put a caveat in here. There are times when doing this process will help you see I don't need to be in this circle. Anymore. I don't need to let these people. I had been attracting the wrong people. I don't need these people in my life. And that's okay. Friendships come and go. Some will be with you forever. But most of the time, friendships, I'm just listening to the Let Them Theory with Mel Robbins, and she reminds us that friendships are based on time, how much time you have, proximity, how close you are together, and the stage of life that you're in, right? So it's like, how does all that work? And just remember that some of those relationships were not aligned with who you are. And so when you start getting aligned with who you are and you actually live that out and you make decisions based on it, you're going to attract the people that really appreciate it. I can promise you, in my work, in my business, the more I lean into my core values, the more the less marketing I do, the more people reach out to me and say, I'm interested in working with you. Can you come talk to my organization? Can you come do a workshop? Can you help us with this? Maybe it's five or six years of doing the work and putting myself out there, but I cannot discount the idea that it's because I am more authentic. And I am just being very clear in my messaging because now I know what it is, right? And this is how clarity grows for you. Not from having all the answers, but from knowing that no matter what, you're leading with authenticity, truth, and alignment. Let me share a story from one of my clients who experienced firsthand how aligning leadership actions with core values can bring that kind of clarity. Now, she was juggling three businesses. If you're an entrepreneur, this we call them streams of revenue, but for general purposes, and I think she does too, she was juggling three businesses, right? They had three separate businesses. And if you've got multiple income streams, those are three to four, to six, to however many eight you might have businesses that are actually you're working with. So she was juggling them, and she had just launched another round of a group coaching program, something that she had been committed to for a long while. It was the third or fourth iteration of it. It was a program she had built into her brand and business. She had a podcast that went with it. But all of a sudden, this time, something felt off. Sales weren't where she wanted them to be. And it wasn't just that though. Beyond that, she couldn't shake this feeling that this program simply wasn't right anymore. She felt stuck, apprehensive, and disconnected from her own work. She wouldn't have described it that way until she started working through a core values coaching process. And in that process, she had a major realization. This group coaching program no longer aligned with her values. And in a super bold move, she shut it down right in the middle of the launch. She had an assistant she was paying, she had people she had to refund money. I mean, this was not an easy decision. This was something that she had invested in, something she had seen as part of her brand. But once she made the choice, the clarity was undeniable. And that's how she describes it. It was undeniable. She knew exactly where to focus next, pouring all of her energy into the business that she shares with her husband. And in just about six months, it's skyrocketed. I would love, I need to get from her the actual whatever X it is that has, you know, if it's two, four, eight, ten, whatever X it is that she's now, that they're now working in that business. But she now looks back on that single decision as one of the best and clearest she has ever made in her own leadership journey. You see, when you lead from your core values, you don't second guess. You know what's right for you. How's that for clarity? Now, we've seen how powerful powerful core values are in creating leadership clarity. They help you align your decisions, actions, and direction in a way that's true to who you are. When you lead from this place of alignment, you stop second guessing, you move with confidence, and you make decisions that truly resonate with your purpose. If you're ready to go deeper and gain clarity that you need to lead with confidence, I invite you to explore my core values course. This is a structured, small program. I mean, it's not like 12 or 10, 15 modules. It's like six modules that are about 10 minutes long with work to do in between. And it's a structured program that guides you through the process of defining, refining, and then living out and integrating your core values, helping you lead from a place of authenticity and truth. You can check out the show notes for the link or just visit theintentionaloptimist.com forward slash values to start this the course today and take that next step in your leadership journey. Now here's a real quick recap of what we've talked about today. One, true clarity in leadership doesn't come from having all the answers. It comes from alignment and with and honoring of your core values. Two, when you evaluate your decisions through the lens of your core values, it simplifies the process and strengthens your confidence. And three, leading from your values attracts the right people, builds trust, and helps you communicate with clarity. Remember, clarity isn't about perfection. It's about alignment and taking the right next step, even when the full picture isn't clear. I would absolutely love to hear how you're applying core values in your leadership. I hopped on a call uh two days ago and the gentleman had been in a workshop and he said, I brought back your information to my organization, and he didn't use exactly what I had taught. He he took the concept, he took the principle and applied it to something they were doing. I just literally that gives me cold chills thinking about it. So feel free to reach out via email, social media. Let's continue this conversation. I want to know how you're applying your core values in your leadership. Now, as a reminder, I'm still offering my core values coaching program in beta form. This program combines my core values digital course that I just told you about with six one-on-one coaching sessions to help you deeply explore and integrate your core values into your life in leadership, just like my client did that shut down that third part of her business in the middle of a launch. Now, that story I shared, all that clarity, it came while working through this coaching program. I'm accepting only 10 beta participants, and this is at a significant discount. So if you're ready to do the work in a structured, thoughtful way, now is the time to experience the program before it becomes my signature offer. If this sounds like the right fit for you, don't wait. Check out the show notes for details and links, or click the core values beta button at the very top of my website. Or you can even reach out to me directly. Sometimes people just need to have a conversation, and I am all here for it. You can DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn at the Intentional Optimist or email me at Andrea at the intentionaloptimist.com to set up a discovery call. Let's take that next step in your growth and leadership journey. Now, coming up next, what are we looking at next week? Have you ever been shoved into leadership? I used to ask leaders, especially on my early episodes of my podcast, how they got their start. Did they step up? Did they step into a leadership role, or were they shoved into the spotlight? Well, next week we're gonna look at that leadership role that you didn't expect and what it's like to embrace the unexpected in leadership. Thank you so much for joining me today. Don't forget to check the show notes for all the resources mentioned. It's time to stand tall and own the clarity that comes when you view your leadership decisions through the lens of your core values. Because it's not about having all the answers, it's about trusting yourself to figure things out. And when you lean into that trust, you'll discover the confidence that confidence isn't as elusive as you thought. It's already within you, waiting for you to act. The world needs more curious, welcoming, and wise leaders. Leaders who understand their core values, recognize their strengths, and live by a clear set of principles. And that, my friend, is you. Until next time!