Articles / Leadership Training and Values Formation: Building Ethical Leaders
Development, Training & CoachingDiscover how leadership training shapes values formation. Learn frameworks for developing principled leaders who make ethical decisions and build trust-based cultures.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Fri 9th January 2026
Leadership training and values formation work together to develop leaders who combine capability with character—creating individuals who not only know how to lead effectively but understand why ethical principles matter, enabling them to build cultures of integrity, make principled decisions under pressure, and inspire others through authentic, values-driven leadership. This integration distinguishes truly transformative leadership development from programmes that merely build skills.
Technical competence without values creates dangerous leaders. History provides countless examples: executives who could analyse markets brilliantly but defrauded shareholders, managers who motivated teams effectively but created toxic cultures, politicians who won elections masterfully but betrayed public trust. Capability amplifies impact; values determine whether that impact builds or destroys.
This guide explores how leadership training can systematically develop values alongside skills, creating leaders who organisations and societies genuinely need.
Values formation in leadership development is the deliberate process of helping leaders identify, clarify, and integrate ethical principles that guide their decisions, behaviours, and influence on organisational culture.
Core Values Fundamental beliefs that shape how leaders view their responsibilities—integrity, respect, fairness, stewardship, service. These values operate at the deepest level, influencing all leadership behaviour.
Instrumental Values Preferred ways of acting that serve core values—transparency, accountability, courage, humility. These translate abstract principles into observable behaviours.
Contextual Values Values that matter particularly in specific contexts—innovation in entrepreneurial settings, safety in high-risk industries, compassion in healthcare. Context shapes which values receive greatest emphasis.
| Dimension | Leaders With Strong Values | Leaders Without Strong Values |
|---|---|---|
| Decision-making | Principled, consistent | Expedient, inconsistent |
| Trust | High credibility | Questionable motives |
| Culture | Clear expectations | Confusion, cynicism |
| Crisis response | Maintain standards | Compromise under pressure |
| Legacy | Lasting positive impact | Short-term gains, long-term damage |
Most leaders espouse positive values; far fewer consistently act on them. Research consistently reveals gaps between stated values and actual behaviour, particularly under pressure. Values formation addresses this gap by moving from intellectual acceptance to genuine integration—making values operational rather than aspirational.
Effective values formation requires more than values statements or ethics lectures. It demands intentional design across multiple learning dimensions.
Awareness Leaders must first recognise their current values—both stated and operative. Many discover discrepancies between what they say matters and what their behaviour reveals actually drives decisions.
Clarification What do values mean in practice? Integrity sounds simple until you face situations where honesty might harm someone or transparency might disadvantage your organisation. Clarification explores values in complexity.
Commitment Intellectual understanding differs from genuine commitment. Values formation helps leaders move from "I believe this is right" to "I will act this way regardless of consequences."
Integration Values become truly formed when they operate automatically—when ethical behaviour requires no deliberation because values have become part of identity.
| Method | How It Develops Values | Best Application |
|---|---|---|
| Case analysis | Examines values in realistic complexity | Clarification, complexity tolerance |
| Reflection exercises | Surfaces operative vs stated values | Awareness, self-knowledge |
| Role modelling | Demonstrates values in action | Inspiration, practical example |
| Accountability structures | Creates consequences for values alignment | Commitment, behavioural change |
| Community dialogue | Tests values against diverse perspectives | Clarification, depth |
| Experiential challenges | Reveals values under pressure | Awareness, commitment testing |
Values develop primarily through experience, not instruction. Training programmes must create conditions for values-forming experiences.
The classic development ratio suggests 70% of learning comes from experience, 20% from relationships, and 10% from formal training. Values formation follows similar patterns:
70% Experience
20% Relationships
10% Formal Training
Leadership researcher Warren Bennis identified "crucible experiences"—transformative moments that forge leadership character. These experiences, whether planned or circumstantial, create conditions where values are tested, clarified, and strengthened.
Effective training creates crucible experiences through:
Integrating values formation into leadership development requires intentional design choices.
Make Values Explicit Don't assume values formation happens naturally. Name values development as an explicit objective alongside skill building.
Create Cognitive Dissonance Comfortable learning rarely changes values. Design experiences that challenge assumptions and create productive discomfort.
Provide Role Models Abstract principles gain power through concrete examples. Include leaders who demonstrate values in action.
Build Reflection Capacity Values develop through examined experience. Teach and require reflection practices.
Establish Accountability Values without accountability remain aspirational. Create structures that make values commitments consequential.
| Phase | Purpose | Key Activities | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | Establish values awareness | Self-assessment, values inventory, philosophy articulation | 1-2 days |
| Challenge | Test and clarify values | Case analysis, ethical dilemmas, perspective-taking | 2-3 days |
| Application | Connect values to leadership context | Role-specific scenarios, action planning, commitment statements | 1-2 days |
| Integration | Embed values in ongoing practice | Peer accountability, coaching, reflection routines | Ongoing |
Values Assessment Begin with understanding current values—both espoused and operative. Tools include values inventories, behavioural analysis, and 360-degree feedback on values demonstration.
Ethical Frameworks Provide frameworks for ethical reasoning: consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, stakeholder theory. Leaders need tools for analysing values-laden situations.
Case Exploration Use cases that present genuine complexity, not simplistic right-versus-wrong scenarios. Real values formation happens when multiple valid principles conflict.
Personal Philosophy Development Guide leaders in articulating their leadership philosophy—the principles they commit to embody regardless of circumstances.
Accountability Partnerships Pair leaders with accountability partners who observe behaviour, provide feedback, and hold each other to values commitments.
Values development faces obstacles that training design must address.
Relativism "Values are personal; who's to say what's right?" This challenge requires distinguishing personal preferences from ethical principles that enable collective flourishing.
Cynicism "Everyone compromises under pressure." Address cynicism through examples of leaders who maintained values and examination of long-term consequences of values compromise.
Complexity "Real situations are too complicated for simple values." Acknowledge complexity whilst maintaining that complexity doesn't eliminate values—it requires more sophisticated values application.
Institutional Pressure "The organisation rewards different behaviour." Address the reality that values-based leadership sometimes conflicts with short-term organisational incentives.
Habit "I've always done it this way." Values formation requires changing ingrained patterns, which demands sustained effort over time.
| Resistance Type | Root Cause | Effective Response |
|---|---|---|
| Intellectual | "Values are subjective" | Philosophical grounding, consequences evidence |
| Practical | "Nice in theory, impossible in practice" | Real examples, graduated challenge |
| Cynical | "Everyone talks values, no one lives them" | Authentic role models, personal accountability |
| Defensive | "My values are fine" | Assessment data, behavioural feedback |
| Systemic | "The system won't support it" | Peer community, incremental wins |
Assessing values development presents challenges but remains essential for programme improvement.
Behavioural Indicators Observe actual behaviour in values-relevant situations. Do decisions align with stated values? How do leaders respond under pressure?
360-Degree Feedback Gather perspectives from those who observe the leader's behaviour. Include specific values-related items alongside general leadership effectiveness.
Self-Reflection Quality Assess the depth and honesty of leaders' self-reflection. Growing self-awareness indicates values development even before behaviour fully changes.
Decision Analysis Examine how leaders reason through decisions. Are values considerations explicit? Do leaders recognise values dimensions of situations?
Culture Impact Evaluate the culture leaders create. Teams led by values-formed leaders typically demonstrate stronger ethical climate.
| Stage | Observable Indicators |
|---|---|
| Awareness | Can articulate values; recognises values dimensions of situations |
| Clarification | Understands values in complexity; can apply to specific scenarios |
| Commitment | Makes explicit commitments; accepts accountability |
| Integration | Consistent behaviour across contexts; automatic values application |
Understanding values formation in action helps clarify development objectives.
Consistency Behaviour aligns with stated values across situations. Private actions match public commitments. Pressure reveals values rather than compromising them.
Transparency Values-formed leaders make their principles visible. Others understand what they stand for and can predict how they'll respond to values-relevant situations.
Courage Acting on values sometimes requires accepting personal cost. Values-formed leaders demonstrate willingness to sacrifice short-term advantage for principle.
Humility Strong values don't mean moral certainty. Values-formed leaders remain open to learning, acknowledge mistakes, and engage different perspectives respectfully.
Influence Values-formed leaders shape culture through consistent example. Their behaviour establishes norms that influence others' conduct.
Consider how values-formed leaders approach common leadership challenges:
Resource Allocation Beyond efficiency, considers fairness, stewardship, impact on stakeholders. Values shape what counts as good allocation, not just optimal allocation.
Personnel Decisions Hiring, promotion, and termination decisions reflect values. Performance matters, but so does character. Values-formed leaders don't retain high performers who violate principles.
Strategic Choices Strategy reflects values about what the organisation should become, not just what it can achieve. Some opportunities are declined because they conflict with values.
Communication Transparency, honesty, and respect shape how values-formed leaders communicate—even when difficult messages must be delivered.
Values can be developed throughout life, though formation becomes more challenging with age. Childhood establishes foundational values, but adult experiences—particularly crucible moments—can clarify, deepen, and sometimes transform values. Leadership training won't create values from nothing, but it can surface latent values, strengthen commitment, address values-behaviour gaps, and develop more sophisticated values application.
Meaningful values development typically requires months to years, not days or weeks. Training programmes can initiate the process through awareness and commitment, but genuine formation happens through sustained practice, ongoing reflection, and accumulated experience. Programmes should be designed with long-term follow-up rather than expecting transformation from isolated training events.
Values represent what leaders believe matters—principles they hold important. Ethics provides frameworks for reasoning about right action. Leadership training typically addresses both: helping leaders clarify their values whilst providing ethical frameworks for applying values to complex situations. Strong values without ethical reasoning capacity leads to well-intentioned but sometimes harmful decisions.
Values formation doesn't require values uniformity. Organisations can maintain core values (integrity, respect, responsibility) whilst allowing diversity in how these values are expressed. Training should help leaders distinguish between non-negotiable ethical principles and values preferences where diversity is appropriate. The goal is principled diversity, not homogeneous values.
Integrating values formation throughout leadership development proves more effective than isolated ethics modules. Values become relevant when connected to specific leadership challenges—delegation, feedback, strategy, change management. Each skill area presents values dimensions that training can address. Separation risks treating values as abstract principles disconnected from daily leadership practice.
This represents one of the greatest challenges in values-based leadership. Training should acknowledge this reality rather than ignoring it, provide strategies for values-based leadership in imperfect systems, build peer communities for support and accountability, and help leaders identify where they can influence organisational culture whilst accepting limitations. Long-term, values-formed leaders tend to either change organisations or leave them.
Leadership training and values formation together create leaders who deserve the influence they hold. Technical competence enables effectiveness; values ensure that effectiveness serves worthy ends. The leaders organisations and societies most need combine capability with character—not because values are pleasant additions to competence, but because leadership without values causes harm that no amount of skill can justify. Developing such leaders requires training that takes values formation as seriously as it takes skill building.