The Power of Aligning with Personal and Team Values
This September, I left Oaxaca to host my Values Alignment Workshop for a team of 22 at Google Ventures in their Los Angeles office. It felt good to meet a few of my coaching clients face-to-face, witness the creative energy in the room, and see how deeply values alignment resonated with this talented group of leaders.
One moment that stood out: at the end of the session, I received a gratitude card filled with words of affirmation from the participants. On the back, someone wrote:
"You’re incredible! Thank you for helping me rediscover ME!"
That’s the heart of this work—not just building leadership skills or improving team dynamics but rediscovering the core of who we are as individuals and as a collective. Research shows that when individuals are deeply connected to their personal values, they experience greater job satisfaction, well-being, and engagement . The challenge is aligning those individual values with the shared values of the team in a way that honors both.
In our 90 minute workshop, we created a space where team members reconnected with their personal values and aligned them with the team’s collective goals. The result? A shared understanding that allows everyone to show up authentically in their roles, without compromising what matters most to them.
Why Values Alignment is Critical to High-Performing Teams
Research in organizational psychology consistently shows that personal values alignment is a key driver of employee motivation and commitment to company and team goals. When teams fail to honor the personal values of each team member and align them with collective values, it can lead to disengagement, frustration, and high turnover.
But here’s the real magic: when individuals feel that their personal values are respected and mirrored in the team’s values, they become more motivated, creative, collaborative, and understanding together. That’s when teams shift from just “working together” to thriving together. 🌱
Values alignment with your team is about finding that sweet spot where personal authenticity meets collective purpose.
3 Expert Strategies to Cultivate Values Alignment in Teams
So how do you cultivate values alignment in your team? Here are three strategies to help you create a stronger, more connected team grounded in shared values:
1. Start with Personal Values Reflection
Values alignment starts with self-awareness. To be clear on your core values, you must know what is most important to you, your core beliefs, and your guiding principles in life, both in and out of work. These support you in making big decisions, like who you enter relationships with, your career path choices, and what you invest your energy, money, and time in.
Many people aren’t fully conscious of their core values until they’re given the space to reflect. Encouraging individual reflection as part of your team’s development process is a powerful first step.
When people take time to reflect on their values and align their daily actions with them, they experience reduced stress, improved decision-making, and greater resilience during challenges. This personal clarity translates into stronger, more intentional contributions at work.
In the Google Ventures workshop, we guided each participant through a reflective exercise to reconnect with their core values. This reflection gave them the foundation to show up authentically when we transitioned into aligning with the team’s collective values.
2. Facilitate Open, Vulnerable Conversations
Creating values alignment isn’t a one-size-fits-all process, nor can it be imposed top-down. It requires open, honest dialogue that allows everyone to share their values without judgment or fear. Psychological safety is essential for building trust and encouraging vulnerability in teams.
In my Values Alignment workshop, we designed a safe space where people could articulate their values and listen deeply to each other’s experiences. This allowed us to identify areas of overlap and, just as importantly, where there were differences.
Aligning values doesn’t mean eliminating differences—it’s about honoring them and finding shared ground. This process allows teams to define collective values that resonate deeply with everyone in the room.
3. Build a Values-Based Action Plan
The third step is to transform shared team values into actions the team can commit to practicing. While theoretical alignment with your business values is great, real alignment happens in how the team shows up day-to-day. When organizations consciously incorporate values into decision-making, communication, and conflict resolution, they experience stronger cohesion and increased productivity.
At this GV workshop, we co-created a values-based action plan that identified specific behaviors and practical actions to uphold the team's core values in small and big ways daily. This co-created plan is what keeps the alignment alive, ensuring that values don’t just stay on paper but are actively lived and reinforced through team culture and intentional practices every single day.
The Transformative Power of Values-Based Leadership
Leadership isn’t about hierarchy or authority. It’s about authenticity and alignment—about leading from your core and creating space for others to do the same. When leaders are values-driven and teams align around shared values, the impact is tangible: increased engagement, better collaboration, and a more profound sense of belonging.
If you’re ready to bring this transformation to your team, my Values Alignment Workshop offers the space and guidance needed to reconnect, realign, and unlock the power of shared values. Let’s turn values alignment into the foundation of your team’s success.
Here’s to more leadership that’s rooted in what truly matters.
Here’s to taking risks, knowing ourselves, and doing it scared. Always.
Leadership & Negotiation Coach for Women of Color in Technology|Founder|Workshop Facilitator, Speaker & Trainer
Nadia’s career and leadership expertise has been featured in CNBC, HuffPost, FastCompany, New York Times Kids, Teen Vogue, and The Muse.
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