At Y Scouts we are leadership search Sherlocks (say that three times fast) who employ a covert approach to candidate engagement. We reach out to prospective hires with general details on the functional area and company purpose, but we wait to share company name and specifics until after we spend time on the phone learning about the individual’s goals and values.

Our covert discovery process creates space for authentic conversations focused on learning. We begin our introductory calls by asking what people enjoy most about their work, the specific values that influence their leadership philosophy, and what comes to mind when they think about an ideal next role.

Centering our search process on the human behind the resume provides an opportunity to understand what values leaders prioritize. Values alignment between a leader and an organization reveals if conditions are ripe for that leader to have their biggest positive impact in that specific company.

So what are the non-negotiable values that we hear most often from social impact leaders?

We looked through our initial call notes for 50 different social impact leaders to find out. This sample of leaders includes professionals across sectors, industries, and areas of functional expertise.

• Prioritize Integrity, Honesty & Transparency

• Do the Right Thing

• Develops Others

• Growth Minded

• Innovation Hungry

• Future Focused

• Concern for the Greater Good

• Feedback Appreciators

• Solution Oriented

• Gratefulness

• Storytelling (connecting people to the why behind the work)

• Relationships Over Transactions

• Relentless Learning

• Curiosity

• Community Centered

This list serves as a quick pulse check to see if the values at your company will resonate on a personal level with the high-performance talent you need. Make sure the core values on your company website yell to the talent you hope to attract, “Come do your best work here with us.”