By Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
To be strong
Through values and self-esteem
Praxis is a concept for living and to make
Your dreams flow
Clearing the deepest pain of the soul
From the song ‘Praxis’
By As Dramatic Homage
What two values make all your other values possible? What a potent question. The inquiry posed by Brené Brown provided the clarity I mistakenly believed inaccessible. Before her provocative question, I felt sure you could have offered me nirvana in exchange for the answer, and I could not have summoned them.
Narrowing my primary values down to five felt daunting enough, let alone two, despite a significant focus on values in my work with clients over many years.
In what ways does identifying your top two values help you? How does leaving them undetermined hurt you?
Taking it further…how do essential values leverage the performance of teams and organizations?
Why values matter.
Because you cannot betray a value you believe to be essential without weakening yourself, your team, or your organization. Conversely, you cannot uphold a value without increasing confidence, grit, and energy in yourself and others. Values are the deceivingly powerful difference between operating in alignment and instead of cross purposes.
My experience.
I laugh at myself for yet another of my blind spots. However, when compelled to identify the two values I could not do without, I easily determined them. All due to Brené’s well-crafted query. Such is the impact of powerful questions.
At a base level, I had known which two were most vital to me. My two foundational values are Courage and Curiosity. The 4 C’s in 4C Consulting stand for Courageously Curious Consulting and Coaching. They make my other core values of compassion, candor, and humor possible.
Courage and curiosity are values to which I aspire and for which I advocate in my clients. They continually show up in my coaching process. I emphasize them more. Comprehending their significance to me has made all the difference. I believe yours can too.
What does naming your top two values do for you?
Honing in on your top values simplifies everything.
When you define them, you remember to integrate them. You use them as guideposts to evaluate decisions and make choices consistently. Having values has little consequence, yet practicing values generates impact. Values represent part of your inner guidance system, keeping you on track and in integrity.
Values are verbs, not nouns. You do not have them; you live them. Aligned actions exemplify what you believe to be crucial. Your decision-making and behavior embed your values into who you are and how you interact.
Applying TWO foundational values reliably over time increases self-acceptance and bolsters self-confidence. It provides with your true north throughout your days.
Consistent behavior engenders self-trust and trust from others. As Stephen R. Covey asserts, in the Speed of Trust, the first job of a leader is to inspire trust.
“Values form the foundation of trust. Few things are worth more.”
What are the consequences of leaving your primary values undetermined?
Failing to establish your top two values causes you to spend needless energy redetermining the criteria you require to evaluate and successfully respond to any given situation. Doing so leaves you less confident and more tired, over and over again.
Your decision-making will be less consistent, induce distrust from yourself and others, undermining your self-confidence. Consequently, you lose the power of compounding, of having decisions and actions build on one another over time.
How do top values increase team and organizational performance?
Common values galvanize groups of people together through a shared culture and establish how they work with one another. They define shared principles for decision-making and conduct.
My favorite example comes from Nordstrom’s, which exemplified its two primary organizational values in a simple, catchy statement. ‘Don’t chew gum, and don’t steal from us.’
Eight words conveyed that Nordstrom associates always treat its customers with the utmost professionalism, focusing on them and their needs while exercising extreme care for the company. The values of professionalism and caring represent its pathway to success.
When everyone is clear about what matters most, they know what to expect and how to respond.
When essential values remain outside our awareness, however, we leave what is most vital to chance.
“Leaving indispensable values dispensable makes you, your team, and your company less likely to fulfill their aspirations, generate their desired impact or leave the legacies they intend.”
- Identifying the indispensable values that make your other values possible helps you remember to apply them when needed most.
- Your top two values guide your decisions and actions and keep you in integrity, eliminating the needless waste of time and energy to redetermine them each time.
- Reliably practicing foundational values over time increases self-trust and inspires trust from others
- When teams and organizations know which values matter most, people know what to expect and how to respond, strengthening a culture that builds on itself.
- When we remain unaware of our essential values, we leave what we hold most crucial to chance. Thus we jeopardize our aspirations, impact, and legacies.
If you want help unleashing the untapped potential of indispensable values for you, your team, or your organization, please reach out to me; I welcome the connection.