Personal Values

The world is full of people that have stopped listening to themselves or have listened only their neighbors to learn what they ought to do, how they ought to behave, and what the values are they should be living for. ~Joseph Campbell

I underwent an exercise this week. Not a physical exercise as I have been struggling with bronchitis and physical exercise, under the haze of bronchitis, ends in fits of spasmodic coughing. No, this week I underwent an arduous mental exercise, an exercise that required me to dig deep and probe the inner sanctum of my being. This desire to dig deep sprung from a combination of my last blog, Heart of Listening, a video of a Harvard professor discussing the importance of values in the leadership arena, and my tendency to try and understand that which really makes me tick.

This week, the exercise I undertook, was to identify my top 3 business values, those things in my work world that I simply will not comprise upon as my life intersects with the lives of my direct reports and other people I encounter in the business world. I found a list of common values on line and started the process of identifying those that fit with me personal philosophy of Servant Leadership.

This wasn't an easy process for there were many values on the list that I found personally intriguing, many values that, while close, did not capture the essence of how I view the world. An example is the value of "Cultural Sensitivity". I am very interested in learning about and working with other cultures as I believe, the diversity of views can bring a unique solution to a problem space. But, being culturally sensitive does not fully capture the value I espouse because, to me, it is a superficial understanding of another point of view. I want a much deeper understanding. I changed the value to "Cultural Integration" but, while in my mind a deeper understanding than sensitivity, it still did not capture my desire to be fluent in other cultures. 

My desire to be fluent led me to the phrase "Cultural Fluency" which accurately captures the depth of my desire to connect with people at the core of their cultures so I can understand what truly makes them tick. This felt much better but I got to thinking that there might be another value that is the basis for my desire to be culturally fluent. This led me to a more encompassing value of "Respect for Others". If I have respect for others then I will naturally try and understand the world as they understand the world.

I went though this painstaking mind exercise until I was able to settle on my top three business values each containing four sub values that further refine my vision of my personal values. The resultant value set is:

Integrity (Honesty, Openness, Trust, Candor)

Integrity means making the correct choice between the harder right or the easier wrong. It means making that right choice no matter what your boss thinks, no matter what your peers think, no matter if you will lose your job. Integrity encompasses adherence to ethics and morals. Integrity is something one either has or does not have. There is no middle ground for integrity. One slip up in being trustworthy and the chance of someone trusting in you again is unlikely to happen. One can't tell the truth most of the time and still be called an honest person for, once caught in a lie, words are forever tainted. Candor is honesty expressed with skill. People deserve candor, deserve to hear hard truths so they have a chance to adjust to the ever changing needs of the workplace. Hard truths are, by their very nature, difficult truths to hear. These difficult truths can be expressed with coldness or, if one has respect for others, with empathy and compassion.

Respect of Others (Concern for Others, Individuality, Connection, Cultural Fluency)

Life is all about people. Nothing happens in my business world irrespective of people. All decisions affect the lives of others in some way. My goal is to make those decisions with a concern for the people I manage and with a concern for anyone else affected by my decisions. It is my goal to address a persons individuality by putting them in a position that will both make optimal utilization of their skills and include work they find interesting. My work includes working with people of diverse cultures from around the world. Working with them means understanding their unique point of view. To understand this, I attempt to be much more than culturally aware. My goal is to be culturally fluent, to be able to move between cultures seamlessly enabling me to connect with people at a fundamental level. Cultural fluency requires that I continually grow.

Personal Growth (Commitment, Leadership, Knowledge, Maximum Utilization of Time)

One can never rest on one's laurels in the business world nor in one's personal world for that matter and sustain growth, sustain success. To rest on laurels is to quit, is to check out of life, to sit in the back seat and let an unknown driver determine your destination. I owe it to the people I manage to continually grow in my knowledge and my abilities as a leader allowing me to effectively propel them and the company into the future. I owe it to the people I manage to ensure they grow into the future as well. Sometimes this means pushing them out of their comfort zone. Personal growth does not happen by accident. I can't sit in front of the TV and expect to magically become a better manager, a better leader, a better anything. Personal growth REQUIRES discipline. It requires commitment of the precious resource of time, to carve out regular, inviolate time slots dedicated to the pursuit of growing my skills and abilities. It requires creating a personal vision for the future and crafting a plan to attain that vision.


I printed these value in big bold letters and posted them in my cubicle directly across from my desk such that my eyes see them whenever I look up. The are strategically placed such that my eyes fall upon them whenever someone sits across from me for a one on one meeting. They are placed there so I am constantly reminded of my values, so I am reminded of what I stand for in the event I would stray from my mission, so I am reminded daily what I stand for as a unique individual. I need this reminder for as Malcom X said:

If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything. ~Malcolm X

I am not willing to risk falling for anything when the future is waiting to be created.