The Importance of Values
Are you aware of what you value most about your work? People’s values can differ significantly, making it essential for supervisors to understand what matters to their employees. When an employee’s values strongly diverge from those of the organization, there’s a higher chance they may feel disconnected, leading them to either seek new opportunities or become disengaged while staying due to limited options.
Supervisors need to be clear about the organization’s values and also take time to reflect on and understand their own personal values.
Step one: Identifying Your Values
The list below reflects some common values. Choose the ten that are most important to you as a person (meaning that they apply both at work and at home). You can customize the wording, or add your own to the list.
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Ability to make decisions and implement them |
Ability to persuade and influence others |
Achieving excellence |
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Achieving fame and recognition |
Adventure and excitement |
Behaving ethically |
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Being challenged by pressures and deadlines |
Being organized and dependable |
Being skilled and capable |
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Building a family |
Building meaningful relationships with others |
Competition with others |
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Contributing to society |
Cooperation with others |
Demonstrating expertise |
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Diversity in daily tasks |
Doing something meaningful |
Efficient and effective |
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Enjoying what you do |
Environmental rights |
Establishing a reputation |
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Expressing creativity |
Feeling excited and stimulated by life |
Feeling independent |
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Feeling of belonging and community |
Feeling of inner harmony |
Feeling of patriotism |
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Financial security |
Financial wealth |
Free speech/human rights |
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Freedom to set your own pace and goals |
Having a feeling of security |
Having power and control |
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Having privacy |
Helping those in need |
Religion and/or spirituality |
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Leading others to success |
Moving at a fast pace |
Moving at a slow pace |
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Being productive |
Reliability |
Self-development |
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Sense of accomplishment |
Serving the public |
Spontaneity |
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Truth and integrity |
Working as part of a team |
Working individually |
To maintain effectiveness, it’s important not to spread your focus too thin. Start by reviewing the ten values you’ve chosen and identify the five that hold the most significance for you. Be decisive and cross out the others. This exercise is about zeroing in on what truly matters to you.
Next, narrow your list even further, down to just three core values. These are the principles that lie at the heart of who you are. Cross off the other two and draw circles around the three that represent your core values
Step Two: Define Your Values
Now, outline what success for each of those values would look like.
Step Three: Put It All Together
Finally, bring the three statements together into one paragraph. You may feel that you need to go back and re-evaluate your values, or you may want to re-work some sentences to create what is meaningful to you.
That’s OK! Above all, this should be a reflection of your innermost thoughts and a roadmap for how you would like to conduct your life and your work.
