Leadership
The World’s Most Influential Values, In One Graphic
The World’s Most Influential Values, In One Graphic
Our basic values can inform ideals, interests, political preferences, environmental views, and even career choices.
With sweeping data covering half a million surveys in 152 languages, Valuegraphics identifies 56 values that influence human behavior. It uncovers what people care most about around the world, through a contextualized dataset.
The 10 Most Important Values
Individual motivations and values are universally organized. That said, research shows that the hierarchy of these values varies significantly.
According to Valuegraphics, here are the top 10 values we share across cultures.
Rank | Value |
---|---|
1 | Family |
2 | Relationships |
3 | Financial Security |
4 | Belonging |
5 | Community |
6 | Personal Growth |
7 | Loyalty |
8 | Religion/Spirituality |
9 | Employment Security |
10 | Personal Responsibility |
While it may not be surprising that family emerges as the most important value globally, it’s interesting to note that a number of other ‘connectedness’ values—such as relationships and belonging—emerged in the top 10. Values of loyalty, and religion/spirituality ranked #6, and #7, respectively.
At the same time, security-related values, including financial and employment security, score highly around the world.
From a business and leadership context, values are interesting in that they can guide how people and consumers make their decisions. As people interact with the world, different experiences can ‘engage’ their most closely-held values.
“If you can understand what your target audience cares about, what they spend their lives chasing, now you have an actual chance to use data to understand how to engage and influence and motivate them.”
-David Allison, Founder of Valuegraphics
The Full List of the 56 Most Influential Values
Covering 401 metrics and 370 questions, how did all 56 values break down within the extensive Valuegraphics database on a global level?
Rank | Value |
---|---|
1 | Family |
2 | Relationships |
3 | Financial Security |
4 | Belonging |
5 | Community |
6 | Personal Growth |
7 | Loyalty |
8 | Religion/Spirituality |
9 | Employment Security |
10 | Personal Responsibility |
11 | Basic Needs |
12 | Harmony |
13 | Health/Well-being |
14 | Experiences |
15 | Respect |
16 | Compassion |
17 | Social Standing |
18 | Creativity & Imagination |
19 | Trustworthiness/Honesty |
20 | Security |
21 | Education |
22 | Tradition |
23 | Balance |
24 | Love |
25 | Material Possessions |
26 | Patience |
27 | Morality |
28 | Righteousness |
29 | Friendships |
30 | Authority |
31 | Positive Environments |
32 | Happiness |
33 | Ambition |
34 | Self-Control |
35 | Self-Expression |
36 | Environmentalism |
37 | Independence |
38 | Wealth |
39 | Politeness |
40 | Generosity |
41 | Equality |
42 | Service to others |
43 | Dependability |
44 | Courage |
45 | Cooperation |
46 | Tolerance |
47 | Leisure |
48 | Influence |
49 | Intimacy |
50 | Political Freedom |
51 | Peace |
52 | Money |
53 | Unselfishness |
54 | Confidence |
55 | Freedom of Speech |
56 | Determination |
Across nine regions, the value of social standing stood at #17, while environmentalism came in at #36. Interestingly, both values of wealth (#38) and money (#52) ranked lower on the spectrum.
Meanwhile, respect (#15) and compassion (#16) values fell closer to the top.
Windows of Insight
While many similarities exist across cultures, a number of fascinating differences emerge.
Take morality, for example. Across all regions, it illustrated some of the widest variance—it was the second-most important value in the Middle East, whereas it came in near the bottom in Central and South America. Another notable outlier surrounds the value of patience. The African region placed the value within its top five. By contrast, it ranked globally about mid-way (#26) through the list.
Another fascinating discovery is how both North America and the Middle East ranked the value of authority—both ranked it equally (#17), significantly higher than the global average of #30. Meanwhile, the value of tradition saw the highest ranking in Central & South America, but the lowest in Europe.
As the world becomes increasingly complex, understanding how values impact our attitudes and behaviors can help us deepen our understanding across several avenues of life. Consumer research, marketing, leadership, psychology, and many other disciplines all fall within the broad spectrum of the influence of what humans value.
Misc
10 Ways You Can Build Leadership Communities in a Hybrid World of Work
Feeling disconnected? This infographic teaches you how to build strong leadership communities in your organization in a hybrid working world.

The world has never been more connected. Yet many of us feel more disconnected than ever before.
In particular, CEOs and managers can often feel isolated from their peers, and therefore crave a greater sense of community and belonging. This lack of social connection can have a detrimental impact on both them and their team—putting the future of their company at risk.
Leading in a Hybrid World of Work
This infographic from bestselling author Vince Molinaro dives into the ways you can build a strong community of leaders in your organization, enabling you to more successfully execute on strategy, drive growth, and deliver results.
>>Download Dr.Vince Molinaro’s Community Builder Ebook Today
The Critical Need for Leadership Communities
In today’s world, many leaders have been conditioned to work and lead in a way that is individualistic and hyper-competitive, which leads to problematic outcomes including:
- Limiting innovative ideas
- Causing overwhelm and stress
- Limiting diversity and a sense of inclusion
- Promoting a macho culture
- Creating heroes and zeros in organizations
This outdated model breeds a weak leadership culture. Even though leadership expectations are higher than ever, very few companies boast a strong leadership culture. In fact, just 15% of companies have the culture they need to succeed.
What does a weak leadership look like?
Weak Leadership Cultures
When leaders demonstrate the following behaviors, organizations are at risk of developing a weak leadership culture:
- They lack clarity around strategic priorities.
- They fail to inspire the people they lead.
- They tolerate ineffective and mediocre leadership.
- They demonstrate animosity for the success of other leads, teams, and departments.
- They work at cross-purposes with each other.
- They prop themselves up while downplaying the contribution of others.
- They don’t engage stakeholders.
- They regularly badmouth others and throw colleagues under the bus.
- They withhold information as a way to retain power over their peers.
- They act as bystanders when colleagues need help.
When these negative dynamics become apparent, organizations pay a significant price. According to a report from Qualtrics, 40% of managers see a decline in their mental health, while another study shows that 66% of leaders have checked out entirely.
It is clear that building a strong community of leaders has become critical as the world continues to become even more complex and uncertain. Let’s dive into some of the ways you can build a greater sense of belonging in your organization today.
The Characteristics of Leadership Communities
Here are the 10 characteristics and behaviors that promote a strong community of leaders. Does this describe your organization’s leadership culture?
Characteristic | Aligned Behavior |
---|---|
1. Have clarity on the strategic direction of the organization | Be determined to deliver on the most important strategic outcomes for the company |
2. Create excitement about the future | Spread optimism about the company, even through adversity |
3. Share a common aspiration to be great as leaders | Commit to their roles as leaders and help other leaders thrive |
4. Lead with a united front and a one-company mindset | Lead in the best interest of the whole organization |
5. Hold each other accountable by calling out unproductive leadership behavior | Demonstrate the courage to call out misaligned and unacceptable behaviors |
6. Celebrate success and key milestones | Ignite passion by recognizing others and showing progress towards goals |
7. Break down silos and collaborate effectively | Identify accountability gaps that weaken the leadership culture |
8. Keep internal politics and personal agendas to a minimum | Behave in a direct and transparent manner with peers |
9. Demonstrate resilience and resolve in the face of adversity | Turn to each other while navigating tough challenges |
10. Support one another and have each other’s backs | Build high-trust relationships with one another |
Most leaders want to be in an environment where there is real clarity, alignment, commitment, and mutual support—it just takes one accountable leader to make it happen.
The Benefits to Creating a Strong Community of Leaders
If done right, the effects of building a strong community of leaders can be extraordinary:
- Promotes a stronger sense of belonging.
- Allows for greater knowledge sharing.
- Encourages higher levels of performance.
- Creates a culture of accountability.
- Improves employee engagement.
Moreover, research shows that employee engagement is directly linked to a company’s culture and value system. In fact, employee engagement levels can reach up to 72% when managers work well with each other.
With the working world transforming before our very eyes, it’s time to establish a new leadership contract so that CEOs and managers can lead their organizations successfully into the future.
Do you have what it takes to be a community builder? Download your Ebook to discover practical strategies you can apply today.
Leadership
How Accountable Teams Drive Performance in Challenging Times
Roughly 80% of teams are seen as mediocre or weak. This graphic explores the strategies leaders can use to create accountable teams.

The future of work is changing, and new rules are being written before our very eyes.
Teams are more important now than ever before, but many of them are struggling to step up and drive high performance when it matters most.
Creating a Culture of Accountability
Today’s infographic from the bestselling author Dr. Vince Molinaro demonstrates how leaders can create an environment where truly accountable teams can flourish, and employees are inspired to do their best work.
>> Download Dr.Vince Molinaro’s How to Build an Accountable Team
Accountable Leaders Build Accountable Teams
Weak, mediocre teams demonstrate behaviors that can breed a toxic work environment, such as working in isolation or not demonstrating trust among other team members.
In order to combat mediocre teams, leaders must create a culture of accountability in their organization where individuals can step up and be accountable.
“No group ever becomes a team until they can hold themselves accountable as a team.”
—The Discipline of Teams, Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith
When teams take full responsibility for their actions, they manage most issues themselves rather than looking to leadership to solve problems.
Overall, accountable teams demonstrate two critical dimensions: team clarity and team commitment.
1. Team Clarity
Accountable teams should have full clarity about the business they operate in by having the ability to:
- Anticipate external trends both in and outside of their industry.
- Have clarity on the strategy and purpose of their organization.
- Understand the expectations of their stakeholders and the interdependencies that exist with other parts of the company.
- Know what needs to get done and how it needs to be done.
2. Team Commitment
Accountable teams also demonstrate a high degree of commitment needed to deliver results. They do so in the following ways:
- Have a deep sense of commitment to driving success.
- Invest time in working across the organization.
- Work to make their team as strong as it can be.
- Show a deep commitment to one another.
As a leader, these two dimensions are invaluable as a way of thinking about driving mutual accountability and sustaining high performance for their organization over the long-term.
Accountable Teams Drive Extraordinary Performance
Leaders who invest in leveling up their team and promote a culture of accountability can experience transformational benefits, such as:
- Everyone is clear and aligned on what needs to get done.
- Each team member is accountable, pulls their weight, and goes to great lengths to support one another.
- Everyone feels safe challenging one another and confronting issues head-on without fear.
- Team members leverage the unique capabilities of others.
- Everyone works hard but also manages to have fun and celebrate success.
These benefits translate to strong results within organizations. In fact, research shows that high- performing companies have more accountable teams compared to average or poorly performing companies.
The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts
Whether it’s an executive team, a departmental team, a cross-functional team, or even a team made up of external partners, organizations have become increasingly reliant on teams to achieve success and guide them through uncertainty.
Given the importance of teams in today’s ever-changing world, it is clear we need to increase our efforts when it comes to building truly accountable teams.
As a leader, you are being counted on to demonstrate accountability and create high-performing teams. Are you stepping up?
-
Misc2 weeks ago
The Top 10 Largest Nuclear Explosions, Visualized
-
Energy3 weeks ago
Mapped: Solar and Wind Power by Country
-
Politics2 weeks ago
Mapped: The State of Global Democracy in 2022
-
Datastream4 weeks ago
Visualizing Companies with the Most Patents Granted in 2021
-
Technology2 weeks ago
Synthetic Biology: The $3.6 Trillion Science Changing Life as We Know It
-
Energy1 week ago
Visualizing U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Product Imports in 2021
-
Markets4 weeks ago
Why Investors Tuned Out Netflix
-
Markets1 week ago
Visualizing China’s $18 Trillion Economy in One Chart