Identifying, defining, and refining your values is critical for you to find meaning in your life and your work. Your values represent the beliefs, feelings, ideas, and concepts that are most important to you. Your belief system forms them and defines what you stand for as an individual. They provide guidance and motivation, and they fuel your inspiration. Ultimately, one's values form the basis of one's identity.

As a leader, your identity cannot be separated from your identity as the person people look to for guidance and direction. In fact, your identity as a person becomes your identity as a leader, which, in turn, helps to create the impact on the people and organization in which you serve.

Unfortunately, many leaders and individuals, in general, fail to spend the necessary time and energy tuning into their values. They may understand values on a superficial, surface level, but they rarely dig into the beliefs, feelings, and depths of the concepts and ideas that drive the creation of their values.

For example, leaders may say that they value profits, excellence, high standards, and the ongoing success of their organizations. Or they may say that they appreciate their people and a commitment to operating ethically. These are all excellent concepts to believe in, and they can certainly drive an organization's success. But I think it is essential to take it one step further, dig deeper and become even more in tune with the values that form the core of who you are. By amplifying your internal self-awareness of the values that drive your thinking, behaviour, and decision making, you can make better choices for yourself and have a more positive impact on those around you. In the absence of understanding your values and what drives your behaviour overall you may be operating on auto-pilot, act very reactive vs. proactive and regret things you say and do as a result.

In my view, there is always another layer to explore when it comes to values, and the more attuned leaders can become with their values, the more likely they are to operate with composed self-awareness and control in order to provide outstanding leadership for their people and their organizations. Furthermore, if you can identify and live in close accordance with your values, you can improve the richness and happiness of your life both inside and outside the workplace.

How to Identify Your Values

When you think about the qualities that contribute to excellent leadership, you would probably cite some of the following:

• Integrity
• Wisdom
• Respect
• Authority
• Authenticity
• Honesty
• Passion
• Innovation
• Courage
• Humility
• Trust
• Service
• Vision
• Inspiration
• Accountability
• Confidence
• Optimism
• Fairness

These are all excellent qualities for a leader to possess, and you probably exhibit many of them regularly but, this list is just a series of words if not put into practice on a consistent basis. They may describe specific values that you agree with on an intellectual level, and they may represent the way you behave in your role, but they may not identify your values.

Let's say you value integrity—what does that mean to you? It's easy to say you value integrity because you try to act and speak consistently with a specific set of standards and principles, but can you describe why you value it? Can you illustrate what those principles are? Do you understand why those principles are so important?

Unless you explore the meaning of the word as it applies to your life and experiences, then it isn't truly a value is it?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with aspiring to speak and act with integrity, and the words I listed above all represent qualities that leaders should possess. But, as I said, there is always another layer to be explored as it relates to defining your values.

Here are some of the steps you can take to identify—and exemplify—your true personal values:

#1 — Let Go of Preconceived Notions of Your Values
Much of the time, leaders assume that because they are leaders, they must possess the values that are conducive to leadership excellence. But to honestly get in touch with one's values, it's necessary to start from scratch and let go of those assumptions.

You may be able to recite a list of words like the ones above, but that does not equate with a real understanding of your values. Yes, some of those words may happen to be consistent with your actual core values, but until you take the time to explore them in a meaningful manner, they are little more than aspirational concepts that may or may not drive your thinking and behaviour.

#2 — Consider the Meaningful Moments of Your Life
Remembering the most meaningful moments of your life can help you get in touch with your core values. Consider the past experiences, whether at work or elsewhere, that stand out in your memory. How would you describe those “peak experiences?” What were you doing? How did you feel? What was the setting? What values were you exemplifying during these moments?

Examples of these meaningful moments often involve achieving challenging goals, feeling in awe and wonder at nature, creating something artistic, overcoming adversity and experiencing critical and significant moments with family or friends. They can be as grand as experiencing the birth of a child, the ascension of a mountain peak or a noteworthy promotion. Or they can be as seemingly simple as losing yourself in a book or a piece of music. The point is that these experiences are meaningful, indelible, and unforgettable. The reason for this is that during these times, you are in alignment and living consistently with your values. That's why it's so important to identify these moments.

It's also important to consider the times in your life when you felt especially frustrated, angry, isolated, upset, or irritated. These are the times when you were probably not living in alignment with your values. As you remember these unpleasant times, try to describe what values were being suppressed or ignored.

#3 — Dig Deeper
As you consider the meaningful moments of your life, your core values will begin to reveal themselves. For instance, as you remember your promotion, it probably made you happy and fulfilled. But happiness and fulfillment are not necessarily core values. Explore your feelings and try to determine why you felt happy and satisfied.

It might look like this:

• The promotion meant that you would be making more money
• The additional income meant that you would be better able to support yourself and your family
• Supporting yourself and your family gives you a sense of pride and responsibility
• Pride and responsibility make you feel connected in a more profound way to others

The value you’ve identified through this process is not career advancement, nor is it wealth; it’s connection to others that you find meaningful, which is why, on the deepest level, the experience of the promotion was so meaningful and memorable.

You can apply this process to all the important moments in your life, and it is an excellent step towards identifying your most authentic, most deeply held values.

Translate Your Values into Leadership Excellence

The best leaders don't just pay lip service to a list of words that sound good as values. They know themselves deeply, and they understand the core values that drive them. They have explored their inner worlds and have identified the reasons why they think and behave in specific ways and realize what is important to them both personally and professionally. They also know that one's values must be in tune with one's professional approach, thinking, and behaviour. We are the same person, after all, that walks into and out of the office environment every day, aren’t we?

Identifying your values will help you understand more deeply who you really are as a human being. It will give you the grounding you need to lead with consistency and excellence. What's more, getting in touch with your values will help you connect with others on a deeper, more profound level that will only enhance your ability to lead. Your life will become richer and more fulfilling, and your leadership will reflect the best version of yourself.

Learn More about Leadership and Values

Are you interested in learning more about how personal values inform and enhance leadership? Are you wondering how you can dig deeper to identify the values that truly matter? Are you curious about how you can make the connection between your values and your ability to lead?

I want to hear from you!

Please email me at joanne.trotta@leadersedgeinc.ca to start the conversation! I’m looking forward to hearing from you.