Name the value first
Pick the lens before the options: which value, and why it matters here. Focusing attention on one attribute tends to increase how much it weighs in a choice.
Conscious LeaderInner Game
Purposeful Leadership: The Value Lens
from values on a poster→to values at the fork
The Goal
Filter the next decision through the value you say you live by — expand it, don’t dilute it.
Ideal For
Leadership offsites, performance-management edge cases, ethical decision points, and strategic trade-offs where short-term cost tests long-term commitment.
The Shift
From values on a poster to values at the fork.
The Science
Focusing on one attribute, like a named value, tends to increase how much it weighs in a choice. Reflecting on a core value tends to make people less defensive about difficult information, and goals that express your own values tend to get more sustained effort.
The Values Filter, step by step
- Bring a live decision (pre-work)One current decision where the options pull against something you value, with the options you are weighing.
- FilterName the value and why it matters, then the decision. If naming the value doesn’t make the decision harder, pick a different value.
- TestFor options A and B, write the one feature that bears on the value; only then add an honest option C. Ask of each: does it expand the value, or dilute it?
- DecidePick the option that most expands the value, and name its cost out loud.
- The value-aligned move“When [moment], I will [the option that expands the value]”, with the cost you are accepting. A partner checks in within a week.
The techniques, and why they work
Values at the fork
Lay out A, B and an honest C, then ask which one expands the value rather than dilutes it. Reflecting on a core value tends to make people less defensive about difficult information.
Make the move, count the cost
Commit to one move with an if-then plan and name what it costs. Goals that express your own values tend to get more sustained effort.
Selected research
- Hare, T. A., Malmaud, J., & Rangel, A. (2011). Focusing attention on the health aspects of foods changes value signals in vmPFC and improves dietary choice. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(30), 11077–11087.
- Cohen, G. L., & Sherman, D. K. (2014). The psychology of change: Self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 333–371.
- Bardi, A., & Schwartz, S. H. (2003). Values and behavior: Strength and structure of relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(10), 1207–1220.
- Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 482–497.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
- Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead. Random House. (Practitioner source.)
From the research
The thinking behind this lab, published in full: