Ever thought about your own Personal Values?
The core things that are of greatest importance to you in your life and everything you do?
In our not-for-profits, we talk about Organisational Values often…but how many of us have actually thought about our own Values?
Those fundamental things that (consciously or otherwise) underpin everything we do.
And that, if compromised in some way, usually leave us feeling varying degrees of discomfort.
Personally, I think about my own Values quite often. They are something I revisit regularly – and I tweak them every so often if I think they need a refresh…but generally they don’t really change terribly much.
The reason I think about my Values on a regular basis is that I want to ensure I do my best to consciously bring them to everything I do – both personally and professionally.
I do this so that I know the decisions that I make and the actions that I take are going to be consistent with what truly is most important to me. Which in turn usually ensures I come away from even difficult or challenging situations knowing that I have done my best and what is true to me. And so I can sleep at night!
So, ‘What are they?’, you might ask…
Well, my personal Values have always revolved around pretty much the same themes, and my latest iteration of those are these:
Quality – I always strive to do my best, be my best, and look for opportunities to improve along the way.
As a ‘recovering perfectionist’ this is one that I must admit I do have to manage so that it doesn’t take over my life! But from ‘attention to detail’ to ‘going the extra mile’, I generally want the things I do to be as good as possible – whether that is working with a client, or wrapping up a present (hands up all the OCD present-wrappers!)
And as a self-confessed continuous improvement junkie, I am always looking for ways to do things more effectively and more efficiently. This is also a big focus of the approach I take when supporting clients too – how can I help them get better outcomes with the same inputs?
Integrity – I do what’s right, I am reliable, and I follow through with my responsibilities.
Unfortunately doing what is ‘right’ isn’t always necessarily the same as doing what is easy/popular/best for ourselves…just take a look at politics as an example.
But I find the notion of ‘doing what is right even when no one is watching’ is a pretty good guiding tenet.
I know when I was a kid the label ‘reliable’ always felt a bit ‘beige’…but now I know that reliability and being responsible can be our superpowers.
How many times have we all experienced unreliable service providers that don’t turn up when they say they will? It seems sometimes that all you have to do in business to be ahead of the pack is to be reliable!
And I know I’d happily pay a bit extra for someone who I know will do what they say they will, when they say they will.
Relationships – I take the time to connect with people, and to learn a bit about them and what’s important in their lives.
I love to connect with interesting people – and my sense of curiosity usually finds something interesting about most people. So I find these traits have lead me to networking widely throughout my life, and creating connections with lots of amazing people – both through my work and personally.
They also serve me well when working with clients, especially in my one-on-one coaching and mentoring work.
Compassion – I strive to see the humanity in even the more challenging of people, and I try to remember they are doing the best they can with the resources they have.
This is something I have come to understand the true importance of, in more recent years.
Whether it is compassion to others or compassion to myself, I find starting from this view point makes it that little bit easier to deal with challenging situations with others.
But it also makes it a little easier to not be quite so hard on yourself, too. And to put personal boundaries in place if and when you need to. (It has probably helped to tame my internal perfectionist a little as well!)
Fun – I try to find ways to bring a little light and laughter to even the more serious aspects of work and life.
Fun is something else I have been embracing more lately, although I have always followed the FISH! Philosophy, and in particular its principle that, while we might have to take our work seriously, we don’t necessarily have to take ourselves so seriously.
One particular way that I strive to integrate fun into my work more these days, is to focus on working as much as possible with clients who I enjoy being with and supporting – this surely has to be one of the best benefits of working for yourself.
So what are your Personal Values – have you ever thought about what they might be?
Maybe you might find it useful to think about them and identify your own, to help guide you in making decisions and acting in ways that align with your core priorities in life too…?
If you have enjoyed this little insight into what makes me tick, you might like to check out my other A Bit About Me blogs HERE.
And if you think I can help you or your not-for-profit to get clearer about, and aligned with, your or its Values, do get in touch with me at megan@mjbconsulting.net.au, or book in a zoom Discovery Call with me HERE to talk about what you need.
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