Leading Through Differences in Values

This resource is part of Safety Huddle: Navigating Differences in Values for those who work in community social services. Download the Leading Through Differences in Values quick reference guide or watch the video.

As leaders in community social services, managers and employers face the dual challenge of supporting staff through values conflicts while maintaining high-quality service delivery. This article offers strategies for creating an organizational culture where different values can productively coexist.

Understanding Organizational Responsibilities

Organizations have both ethical and legal obligations to support diversity while maintaining professional standards. This requires balancing several key responsibilities:

Establishing and communicating shared organizational values that guide consistent approaches to service
Upholding anti-discrimination principles and inclusive practices
Supporting staff autonomy and personal values expression where appropriate
Maintaining clear boundaries between personal views and professional conduct
Creating psychologically safe environments for diverse perspectives
Ensuring consistent, high-quality service to all clients

The most effective approach isn’t eliminating values differences—an impossible task—but creating frameworks that allow differences to coexist while focusing on shared service goals and organizational values.

Proactive Approaches to Value Conflicts

Rather than waiting for conflicts to emerge, implement these preventive strategies to create a culture where differences are navigated with skill and sensitivity:

Establish team norms around values differences: Collaboratively develop and regularly revisit guidelines for how team members will engage across differences. Consider co-creating a “Values Engagement Agreement” outlining how your team will communicate when perspectives differ, including specific language and approaches for respectful disagreement.

Incorporate values awareness into regular check-ins: Make space in routine meetings to acknowledge and address potential values tensions. Add a brief “values check” to weekly case discussions, asking “Are there any values considerations we should be mindful of in this situation?”

Recognize and reward curiosity over judgment: Create formal and informal ways to acknowledge staff who demonstrate openness to different perspectives. Consider “Curiosity Kudos” during team meetings, where colleagues could highlight instances when a team member asked thoughtful questions instead of making assumptions.

Conduct regular “safety talks” about values: Schedule brief, focused conversations about how values influence practice before conflicts emerge. Consider monthly 15-minute “Values Snapshots” where staff discussed potential values conflicts in common scenarios, building shared language and expectations.

Use real-time coaching for values navigation: Train supervisors to identify and address values-based tensions in the moment. Consider a simple framework for supervisors to use when they observe potential values conflicts, focusing on immediate reflection and redirection.

These proactive approaches help normalize values differences as an expected part of diverse teams rather than exceptional problems. By building ongoing awareness and skills, teams develop the capacity to navigate differences before they escalate into conflicts.

Mediating Value Conflicts Between Team Members

When values conflicts arise between staff, early intervention prevents escalation and team fracturing. Consider this stepped approach:

Individual conversations to understand each person’s perspective without judgment
Facilitated dialogue that establishes shared goals and common ground
Clear agreements about respectful behaviour and professional boundaries
Follow-up to ensure lasting resolution and learning

Effective mediation focuses less on determining who’s “right” and more on how different perspectives can coexist while maintaining team cohesion and service quality.

Remember that some values conflicts touch on deeply held identities and beliefs. Approach these situations with sensitivity, recognizing that what might seem like a simple disagreement to one person may feel like an existential challenge to another.

Maintaining Service Quality Amid Differences

Differences in values do not have to get in the way of quality service. In fact, having different perspectives can often make support stronger. To keep service consistent and respectful for everyone:

Focus on client needs, their goals should guide the work of all staff.
Establish clear service standards that transcend individual values
Have a simple, respectful process to refer clients to another worker when personal values may impact service
Ask for and listen to feedback to identify when values might be affecting service
Use team meetings or case reviews to support staff with tricky situations involving values

When clients raise concerns about values or biases, respond quickly and fairly by considering both the client’s experience and the staff member’s perspective.

Modelling Respectful Engagement

As a leader, your approach to values differences sets the tone for your entire team. Model the behaviours you wish to see by:

Demonstrating curiosity rather than judgment toward different perspectives
Acknowledging the validity of diverse viewpoints even when they differ from your own
Addressing microaggressions about another person’s values constructively
Addressing when a disrespectful comment is made about another person’s values
Creating space for multiple voices in decision-making processes
Showing vulnerability about your own learning around values differences

This modelling is particularly powerful during team meetings, case discussions, and in response to community or organizational changes that highlight values differences.

Building Organizational Capacity

Strengthen your organization’s ability to navigate values conflicts through these structural approaches:

Policy development: Create clear, inclusive policies that help manage value differences while maintaining room for diverse perspectives. For example: clearly distinguishing between personal values and professional responsibilities, with specific scenarios and guidance for common situations.
Training opportunities: Offer skill-building in trauma-informed practice, cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence. For example: implement quarterly “Values Dialogue” workshops where staff practice difficult conversations using role-play and receive feedback from trained facilitators.
Supervision structures: Ensure regular, reflective supervision that creates space for values exploration. For example: add a standard “values reflection” component to monthly supervision sessions, using a simple framework of questions to help staff process challenging interactions.
Team-building activities: Use structured exercises that help staff understand and respect each other’s differences. For example: a values mapping activity; or begin team meetings with a brief “perspective-taking” exercise where staff considered client situations from multiple viewpoints before discussing interventions.
Environmental supports: Ensure that your workspace shows that people with different values and background are truly welcome and respected both physically and culturally. For example: display artwork from different cultures; or create a “values statement wall” featuring staff input on how different values contribute to client service.

Supporting Staff Growth

Values conflicts, while challenging, offer significant opportunities for professional development. Help staff grow through:

Framing values conflicts as learning opportunities rather than problems
Providing resources for deeper understanding of different perspectives
Creating mentoring relationships that bridge different viewpoints
Recognizing and celebrating growth in navigating complex values situations

Remember that growth happens gradually. Stay patient with the process while maintaining clear expectations about professional conduct.

Moving Forward Together

Creating environments where different values coexist productively isn’t a one-time achievement but an ongoing process. By approaching this work with intention, openness, and clear boundaries, you build organizational resilience and enhance service quality. Your leadership in this area doesn’t just solve immediate problems—it creates lasting capacity for your team to navigate an increasingly diverse and complex service landscape.