When Values Lead, Safety Follows

This week, we had the opportunity to sit among some of the most caring leaders we’ve ever met in the oil and gas industry during our LEVEL UP: Safety Leadership for the Modern Turnaround Leader program. This immersive, high-impact training is designed to equip front-line leaders with the tools, trust, and clarity needed to lead with confidence, especially in high-stakes shutdown and turnaround environments.

We didn’t just talk strategy. We got real. We discussed what it truly means to lead with integrity, to earn the trust of your crew, and to remain grounded, especially in high-pressure, high-stakes environments. And the common thread that ran through every conversation? Core values.

At TAP, we talk a lot about how leadership is less about your title and more about how you 'show up'. But what informs that? What guides your decisions when there’s no policy manual or checklist? The answer is your core values.

Your values are the undercurrent of your leadership. They’re what shape how you communicate, how you build trust, how you handle failure, and how you celebrate success. If you haven’t slowed down long enough to define them, you’re likely leading in a way that feels off or worse: you’re adopting someone else’s values without realizing it.

Our core values are at the heart of who we are as individuals and shape the way we lead.

If you have not explored who you are and have a deep understanding of what’s most important to you, how can you expect to know where you’re going or how you’re going to get there?

Trying to reach goals that aren’t aligned with your values creates a kind of internal friction. It feels like burnout, procrastination, or constant second-guessing. That’s because your head is chasing something your heart isn’t behind. Living in a state of incongruence leads to frustration and stagnation.

We often see this with leaders. They’re motivated, capable, driven, but still feel stuck. Why? Because their goals and their values are playing for different teams.

If you want to get unstuck, it might be time to pause the hustle and ask yourself:

• What do I actually care about?
• What’s driving me, and what’s draining me?
• Are the goals I’m chasing truly mine, or someone else’s version of success?
• What would it look like to set goals that reflect my values, not just my ambition?

Because when your goals reflect what matters most to you, momentum feels different. It’s not forced. It’s focused.

This isn’t just personal development fluff. It’s essential for sustainable leadership.

Because great leaders don’t just bark orders or deliver results, they embody their values. They communicate them. They lead by them. And they use them as a compass for every decision, from the boardroom to the job site.

Great leaders recognize that acknowledging their true selves and living authentically will not only lead to personal satisfaction but also to genuine influence, profound respect, and lasting impact.

When we lead with our hearts, we truly begin to care. When we care, we create safer cultures where people look out for each other, speak up when something’s wrong, and take pride in doing things right. These aren’t just “soft skills”, they’re critical leadership skills. They reduce incidents, increase trust, and build teams that not only survive under pressure but also thrive.

If you’re off track, don’t double down on effort; get aligned. Real leadership begins with knowing what drives you and using it to make better decisions.