Your personal values can be the basis from which you prioritize and make decisions in your everyday working life. By using your values as this foundation, whether for small or large decisions, you will ensure that you work from a place that honors the things that are truly important to you.
This is the way to take your leadership to the next level. Little by little you will experience how much extra energy this releases. Moving in this direction will result in more ease, simplicity and better performance.
Over the last month you have had the chance to take notes on what energizes you (Step 1) or what makes you feel good.
Step 2
I want you to look through your notes and find the common denominators. These are your personal values. Sometimes this is fast and easy; they might even have surfaced slowly as you were taking notes. If you need help on finding the common denominators you can look for inspiration in the attached list (link).
This is not an absolute science though. Sometimes you may need to do a little experimenting before you feel that you have found your unique personal values. Remember that these must resonate with you and only you. You cannot seek approval or input from others; they must be based on what is truly important to you.
List your personal values on your smart phone. Ideally you will have five personal values, but if you initially have a few more that is absolutely fine.
The next step for you is to refine these personal values and activate them in your daily work. This is done by observing and taking notes of which situations, relationships and/or activities display these values. In your notes you will end up with examples of each value.
Also, I will encourage you to start activating your personal values as a grid for your prioritization and decision making. When prioritization or decision making gets hard, your personal values are the best help you can get: Are your values honored? If you need to make a compromise on one or two, is that still meaningful?
This approach will create a work life that is meaningful, simpler and more successful. It might not initially be approved of or popular, but if you are going to move your leadership to the next level and be loyal to the things that are truly important to you, you cannot make everyone happy all the time. However, in my experience the majority of resistance that we expect from taking this turn is only in our mind.
In short, here is what to do for this month’s inquiry:
1. Find common denominators in your notes (list for inspiration) and pick 5-10 personal values.
2. Next month look for examples of your values in daily situations and TAKE NOTES.
3. Start using your personal values as a grid for decision making and prioritization.
Until next month good luck with being more conscious about your personal values and putting them to work.