What do you value? Can you name your top 5? This is not a test, I’m jingling your chain to get you thinking about what’s important to you. We’re all so busy, tugged in many directions, taking a pause to think about your values can help you re-center.
Your values represent who you are at your core, right? It’s the things you believe deep down are important in your life and work. Knowing your values helps you set priorities, make decisions, feel right about what you’re doing.
Do your direct reports and co-workers know what you value? Do you know what they value? If you were to make this a topic of discussion, what might you learn about each other?
Try this: Ask yourself at the end of the day what you’ve done that indicates the values you hold dear. Think about your conversations, messages you wrote, stories you told. And what you’re like under stress. Do others see you staying true to your values?
Sometimes we hold our values close to the vest because we don’t want to counter what is being said or done by others. Pay attention to how often that’s happening. Long-term, depending on how often you feel compelled not to stay true to what’s important to you, it can impact your wellbeing, your creativity, and more.
Here are a few examples of top 5 values from leaders in a variety of settings:
Intelligence, Humor, Curiosity, Uniqueness, Creativity
Authenticity, Generosity, Collaboration, Justice, Love
Honesty, Fairness, Competence, Dependability, Respect
If you’re unsure of what your Top 5 Values are, or would like some help updating them, I’m glad to share with you my list of 70, which you can whittle down to your 5.
