Ep. 050 Gavin Wells, COO FX, LSEG

🎙️ Finding Meaning, Coaching with Depth, and the Work of Values with Gavin Wells

In this expansive and deeply thoughtful episode, I’m joined by Gavin Wells — leadership coach, former army officer, financial services executive, and author of the paper Finding Your Values: Why You May Want To — and Why It Shouldn’t Be a Lonely Task.

Gavin’s journey threads through military leadership, global business, coaching psychology, and personal introspection. What emerges is a powerful, researched-based perspective on how values give us not only meaning — but direction, dignity, and resilience.

In this episode, we explore:

• 🧭 Why values aren’t just words on a wall — but internal compasses that shape our decisions

• 🔍 The academic roots of values research, from Maslow to Rokeach to Stelter

• 💬 What happens when your behavior is in conflict with your values — and how that dissonance shows up

• 🧠 Why most people don’t know their values — and why it’s worth the deep work to find them

• 🔨 The research behind Gavin’s paper — including 12 discovery methods and real-world coaching insights

• 🤝 What values-based coaching requires from coaches: vulnerability, trust, structure, and congruence

• 🏢 How organizational values relate to — and sometimes clash with — individual ones

• 🌟 A powerful reflection on legacy, leadership, and making space for meaning at work

Whether you’re a coach, a leader, or someone exploring your own core beliefs, Gavin brings clarity and warmth to a topic that deserves far more depth than it usually gets.

📄 Read the paper: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-83189-014
📲 Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn: Gavin Wells | LinkedIn