Values at Work
A huge factor of showing up as our best self is a clear sense of our values. What happens when we feel at odds with our personal values and our organisational values? Do we need to start gathering references, polish off the resume, or take off Eat, Pray, Love style? No, no and most definitely not.
I recently worked with an incredible leader through one of my coaching programs. This was a person who had been promoted from doing the work, practicing their craft, so to speak, through to leading the team. They weren’t enjoying the new role because they couldn’t see how they were making a contribution. Their approach to leadership felt at odds to their values. However, as we started the coaching program we realised that their knowledge of their values was relatively limited and poorly articulated. Once we did a deep dive into their values, it was clear that all that was needed to build a sense of living to their values was a simple reframe. Boom- hello, purpose!
OK, it wasn’t necessarily as ‘simple’ as that- but we don’t always have to do a full 360 degree pivot in our professional lives to feel aligned. Sometimes aligning our personal and professional values is as simple as tweaking or shifting our mindset and our vocabulary around our beliefs.
Of course, in the corporate world we often have at our disposal incredible tools to help us articulate our values, not least of which are the values that the organisation works within.
Given a huge focus of my work is around supporting people to clearly articulate their values in order to shift to peak performance, I think this is an incredible resource to use as a launchpad- but only when they’re not tokenistic, but rather scaffolded by prescribed behaviours and actions.
It’s not unusual to discover that a feeling of disconnect at work, of vague dissatisfaction, may actually have nothing to do with the organisational values- rather it’s a lack of clarity around your own values. A deep, intimate knowledge and understanding about our values is a way to apply those values in the professional setting.
Taking this a step further, while we all have values, sometimes people don’t acknowledge the nuances in these- for example our values for our family life might be completely different to the values that relate to our career aspirations and that is perfectly OK! Despite what seems to be popular opinion, it’s simply not a big no-no to apply our values to the different contexts of our life. We all hold many different roles- partner, friend, parent, employee - it doesn’t stand to reason that a fixed set of values can apply across each of these roles.
My work with clients approaches values within compartments:
• Family and relationships
• Career and finance
• Spirituality
• Personal growth and development
• Health and fitness.
In context, when working with a leadership coaching client, our values work may focus on career (obviously) but it's also exploring the internal and external contribution to that value. We also do a deep dive into what the value actually means to them. Would you like an example?
Respect:
Internal - are you being respectful in your behaviour?
External - are you feeling respected within your organisation?
If the answer is yes to the first and no to the second then our clear next step is to explore this further and look at actions we could take. My coaching focus is behaviour and attitude change and so if the client answered ‘no’ to the first question, the client can then reflect on how it impacts them when they don’t align with their values. What thoughts and feelings does it bring? What would need to change within their mindset to change their behaviour?
This example highlights the fact that our perception of the behaviours we believe emulate a value is highly subjective. Translating values into behaviours and actions is a powerful way to find collective and individual meaning at work. Freedom and flexibility are great examples- one person’s flexibility is another person’s taking the p*iss, as they say in the classics! A perceived clash of values may actually be a simple lack of language, communication or understanding and may need a ‘tweak’ or redefinition. This doesn’t make it any less meaningful or any less relevant- you honestly don’t need to be so dogmatic. For example, creativity could be seen as the direct value opposite of diligence. Both could be construed as high work ethic and thus not a source of ‘natural’ disconnection but rather an opportunity to bring to life another value-centric behaviour such as collaboration or open mindedness.
Hollywood doesn’t always get it right- rarely are things so black and white that some curiosity and non-judgemental observation of ourselves and how we show up can’t reconcile a seemingly irreconcilable rift in value alignment. Are you feeling some misalignment? I’m an objective and insightful coach and I’d love to work with you!
