How values unlock what you really, really want from your working life
People often ask me where I find my certainty.
This makes me laugh because I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the years feeling anything but clear. Like most people, I learnt to gradually build my way towards a place where I can now make confident and aligned choices about how I live my life.
The turning point came for me when I opened my eyes to what I really want from my life and work, started to take that seriously and to understand that if I’m going to live this one life my way, I have no choice but to make decisions that honour my highest values.
Richard Barrett is an author, speaker and internationally recognised thought leader on the evolution of human values in business and society. He describes values this way:
Values are intimately related to our needs: Whatever we need—whatever is important to us or what is missing from our lives—is what we value. As our life conditions change, and as we mature and grow in our psychological development, our value priorities change. When we use our values to make decisions we focus on what is important to us—what we need to feel a sense of well-being.
So there’s your answer. Of course there are many things in life that I’m not certain of – but I know exactly where to look to find the truth I need!
Values open doors
To explain what I mean by ‘opening doors’, let me share the experience of one of my clients.
Confidentiality is a central pillar of coaching, so let’s call her Laura. She’s enjoyed a very successful international career in a field she cares about deeply, has some clear achievements she can look back on with pride, but is now experiencing dissatisfaction with the organization, the sector and the people she works with. When these nudges became sufficiently insistent, she got in touch.
Through our coaching sessions, it became apparent that what she was seeking at this point in her career was less about career progression for her CV and far more about feeling at ease with herself in her working life. One of the first things we worked on together was identifying her highest values.
We did this through a variety of exercises, discussion and paying close attention to what resonates and matters most to her right now. Uncovering 5 or 6 values is much easier than you might think, and once revealed, give you wings.
“When we use our values to make decisions, we make a deliberate choice to focus on what is important to us.”
Values give you wings
Through the lens of her values, Laura could see exactly why she was feeling unhappy. Her current work situation was trampling over what she prized most. By diving deeper into what each value really meant to her, we could finally get to grips with this incongruence.
This simple clarity was enough to dispel her sense of powerlessness, shine a light on where she was in turmoil, and give her a welcome boost of energy. There was now something she could DO about this!
Values make a difference when you put them to work!
Use them to make choices, create new habits and align who you are with what you do
Values gift your true north
Our next session was built on what each value meant to Laura, how fully each is expressed in her current life, and how she could create new habits and awareness to strengthen these values. Because having a nice list is simply not enough to create change!
By understanding, strengthening and then acting from each value, her sense of agency returned. She now knew WHY she was unhappy and restless and we could start to work on a strategy to do something about it. This strategy is guided by her true north – her values – so even while not knowing precisely what the end goal is by name, she is certain she is heading in the right direction for her.
Laura was now certain that making a difference in a more direct way was crucial; she also understood that integrity and transparency in management and between colleagues was essential; and she knew she was aiming for another sector and organization that honoured and activated these values on a daily basis.
To see the light dawn, the energy flow and her power return was a wonderful thing!
Values allow us to transcend the belief structures of our parental and cultural conditioning, so we can become more fully who we are, and live a more authentic life. (Richard Barrett)
Values reveal your WHY
People often ask what work we do, but far less frequently ask why do it.
Yet WHY is by far and away the more powerful and revealing question. Values help uncover what motivates you at a much deeper level than the standard answer ‘to pay the bills’.
It’s no coincidence that in the first phase of my Quickstep Career Change Programme, we focus on gaining CLARITY about values, purpose, strengths and what you love doing. Together, these answers provide rich data with which to evaluate future options for fulfilling work.
If you’re looking for work merely to pay the bills, this doesn’t matter as much, but as soon as you are intent on creating a working life that rewards you in ways that are meaningful for you – in other words, seeking fulfillment – then this approach offers empowering insight.
“We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one”
Joining the Dots!
Another way to reveal deep-set motivations is to look back over your career choices so far and reveal the golden thread that runs throughout. What were you seeking with each change and what is the common theme?
In my Joining the Dots in Your Career Transitions workbook you can start to understand some of your motivations and use them, along with work on values and purpose, to illuminate potential futures. Just leave me a YES in the comments and I’ll send you a copy – or email me: becky@freestyle-careers.com
Laura joined her career dots and was able to access a fact she had strangely forgotten: her current role was intended as a temporary stepping stone to develop relevant experience. Her intention was then to apply that experience in her preferred sector. Finding that forgotten clue was also a turning point for Laura. She was able to gain a clearer perspective of her current work and start to see a wider story unfolding.
What if she chose the next phase to reflect her values, her strengths, to create the impact and make the contribution she was seeking?
What if she could at the same time tap into what she loved doing?
At that point, Laura started to write the next and more joined up chapter in her story.
Values give you power
The clarity of knowing what your priorities are and what you value most in life is immensely energizing. That knowledge cuts through inertia and provides fuel and direction to enable you to make clear and confident choices. And from that position, you can take action to carry you in the right direction. Not following someone else’s route, but one that makes complete sense to YOU.
And that alignment is treasure indeed!
..
If you’d like to get clear about your own values, read about Values Discovery here.
