What Do You Value?

 

Values are…

"The principles without which life wouldn't be worth living." - Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright

Values are…

"…the core of who you are. They influence every aspect of your life." - The Truth about Leadership by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

Values are…

A key to creating new habits. - Better Than Before: What I learned About Making and Breaking Habits - to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life by Gretchen Rubin

Values are…

The foundation of your organizational culture, along with your actions. - Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Values are more than words on a motivational poster near the restroom.

Values are a deeply personal expression of who we are and what we hold most dear. They are a key contributor to our worldview. They are what we fight for most ardently- even if we don't realize it - even when it causes us pain. When we feel stuck or don't know what to do, often it is because two of our deeply-held Values conflict. When we feel demotivated or frustrated often it is because our work - or our leadership - is stifling or contradicting our Values.

When we live and work in alignment with our Values, we feel good about what we are doing because our actions and activities are deeply meaningful. And - more importantly to supervisors the world over - when our team members' Values are in alignment with corporate values, when they derive personal meaning from their work toward a corporate goal or outcome, they work better together and accomplish more with less supervision and specific direction.

Because of this, Values are one of the four pillars of unique Genius in the Activated Genius Model* of personal and organizational performance.

Uncovering your Values is the first step in accessing your vast human potential. And helping your teams uncover their individual and shared Values is the first step in accessing the vast natural resource already at your organization's disposal. It is the first step toward doing more, becoming more, achieving more than you ever thought possible with the people you already have vetted, hired, and trained.

The hard question is: Do you want to?

Do you want to understand your (and your team's) Values?

The benefits are clear. But understanding your team at that level also comes with a risk, a responsibility. What if you find out their Values are out of alignment with your organizational goals? What if you realize you have the right people in the wrong positions? What are you going to do if the information you gain makes it clear that you need to lead a major change?

Activating the Genius within your organization is an incredibly powerful tool. And it also can be incredibly disruptive in the short-term.

I value experiences over things. Silliness over seriousness. And gigantic birthstones that I am certain I could wear as a ring if I just up my gainz hard enough.

I submit to you that it will be worth it. That the long-term benefit will outweigh the very real near-term pain. But I can't guarantee it. And I'm biased. I believe in this model. I believe that Values are a pillar of our Genius. And I believe that Activating our Genius is how we will answer the demands that our industries, our environment, our governments, and our world are placing upon us.

Yes, I have evidence and experience to back that up, but my belief also might be deeply colored by my Values: Courage. Optimism. Contribution. Silliness. Creativity. Growth.

What do you believe? What is your unique Genius? What do you Value?

And what are you going to do about it?

*The Activated Genius Model is based on my experience and extensive research into leadership and organizational performance. The model is defined by four pillars of Genius: Values, Motivation, Strengths and Inclination, activated by a strong foundation: Communicated Vision, Dedicated Leadership, Effective Structure and Process, and Adequate Resources.

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References:

Better Than Before: What I learned About Making and Breaking Habits - to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life by Gretchen Rubin

Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright

The Truth about Leadership by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner