Over the course of my career, including my time in marketing and communications, I’ve had the opportunity to lead numerous projects and teams.

While it’s not always easy, from a personal growth point of view, one of the great things about being put in a leadership role – one where other people are looking to you for clarity, guidance and motivation – is that it forces you to think about how you model the behaviour you’re looking for in others with your own actions.

For me, this process of reflection eventually led me to think more deeply about my personal values (the things on which my words and actions were built). Over the years, I’ve distilled these down to a set of six that I regularly refer to.

More recently, I’ve developed the habit of foregrounding these values when I interact with others, including them in places like my bio, cover letters, presentations and more. I’ve also found that doing so helps others better understand what I expect of myself (and what they can expect of me).

I’ve shared these values below in hopes of maybe inspiring others to start thinking about their own values (they don’t have to be the same as mine!) and how they can help them become better marketing leaders.

Curiosity

Have a willingness and desire to learn, adapt and consider new ideas is crucial to any marketer (and any leader). Whether it’s understanding your audience, adopting a new technology or being able to problem-solve any of the infinite challenges marketers face, having a strong sense of curiosity is important.

Just how important? From experience, I can definitively say that I’d rather hire someone with an incomplete skillset, but who showed a strong curiosity, over someone who arrived with the full required skillset, but show no interest in learning.

Consistency

Think about that colleague you had who delivered inconsistent results – sometimes good, something bad. Were you able to rely on them when the time came to get things done?

When you deliver consistently, you build expectations in the minds of others; and those expectations are an important component of building trust. This goes for both brands and people.

Team mindset

Having a team mindset is the antithesis of playing personal politics. It means putting the interests of your team, your department and, ultimately, your organization above your own.

When you support one another, help one another and work together, you can do more and do it better. And everyone benefits.

Integrity

When you promise something, make sure you deliver on it. When you speak, make sure you speak honestly.

Sorry to sound so preachy, but your integrity is a big part of your reputation. And your reputation will play an even bigger role in whether you succeed or fail in your life and career.

Respect for others

As a leader, ensuring respect for others can have a huge impact on everything from team dynamics to relationship-building to effective communications. Ultimately, this means you must strive to treat others as they (not you) would like to be treated.

Positivity

Positivity can go a long way in keeping your team motivated and moving forward (especially through difficult times). By contrast, a negative attitude can serve to demoralize those around you.

Maintaining a positive attitude can also become an important part of your personal brand image and help you develop better relationships with those around you, including your customers and colleagues.