Knowing About Your Top Personal Values Can Change your Leadership and Your Life

In over 13 years as a Leadership Coach, people often ask me what are the most important interventions or reflective practices that are key to achieving lasting behavior change.  Though there are many great coaching exercises, my answer is always the same.  Know your top personal values.  When people really take the time to review their values it can instigate some of their biggest behavioral shifts.  Discovering our personal values (and acting in more alignment with them) can and does have profound impacts on peoples’ lives and work. 

When asked, most people will probably be able to list what they think are their top values.  However, since they have never really gone through an exercise to really determine what these actually are, this is just a hunch.  Probably a good hunch…but still a hunch nonetheless.   

So why you may be asking are personal values so powerful?  Well the truth of it is without having clarity on these, it’s a bit like a boat unanchored in a vast ocean.  With no clear direction and at the mercy of the elements, whether it be fine and sunny or wild and windy.  Knowing our values helps us weather whatever comes our way in life and helps us navigate towards the horizon.  In essence, knowing our personal values gives us a compass so that we can follow our ‘true north’ star and head towards what is most meaningful and important to us in our life and in our leadership. 

Values give us direction and purpose so we know what we are heading for and why.  Knowing this helps shape the decisions we make, the goals we pursue, how we want to show up in the world and what our boundaries are.

Our values represent the very essence of who we are . Though our values are highly subjective, what  we all have in common is that they should be both energizing and motivating for us.  When we connect with our core personal values, we tap into our ‘want-power’, an energy source driven by our intrinsic self, with no need for external rewards or punishments.

So What is a Value?

A value is defined as

“personal strengths or qualities of action a person most wants to express in their goals and daily actions”

Some examples include…Love / Family / Freedom / Growth

Goals vs Values

People can sometimes get confused between goals and values so below is a table that highlights the difference.

Goals can be achieved Core Values are never done – they guide us when we strive for goals and after achieving our goals
Goals are destinations Core Values are directions
Goals are something we “do” Core Values are something we “are”
Goals are set by us Core Values are discovered

What the Research says….

There has been much research in the fields of Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology that has shown that knowing and acting in alignment of our top values can have a positive impact on the following…

  • Increases your intrinsic motivation

  • Increases your goal striving & achievement & performance

  • Increases your wellbeing

  • Increases your sense of meaning & purpose

  • Increases your goal satisfaction – by helping you choose goals that are most important and meaningful to you

  • Increases your satisfaction with life

  • Helps you know your ‘why’

Authentic Leadership

In Leadership, knowing and acting in alignment to your core values is essential if you are to be experienced as Authentic Leaders. Which in turn increases employee retention and engagement.  Making your values clear to those you work with can also help develop your ‘brand’, increase trust and psychological safety.  Some of the benefits of knowing your values as a Leader are listed below;

  • Fuels courageous leadership and decision making

  • Enhances a sense of purpose and meaning

  • Provides an inner compass – helping you to make the tough decisions

  • Supports larger/later gains rather than smaller/sooner wins

  • Enhances own and others’ motivation & commitment

However be warned, if you share your top values but don’t act in alignment with them…it can actually destroy your team’s trust and undermine psychological safety.

So do yourself a favour ….and discover/review your top core values! ... A free downloadable ‘Values’ exercise has been included on this page to help you.

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