How To Clarify Your Values for a More Satisfying Current and Future Career
My pre-pandemic work nemesis was a thing, not a person.
The printer/photocopier was a constant source of irritation: it was always breaking!
Nothing in my job as a lecturer made me want to swear so much.
I hated having to either wait for it to be fixed or roam the halls looking for an available, working alternative.
That all ended in 2017.
As part of my coach training, I identified my top value as “being effective”. It REALLY matters to me that I do my job well - whether lecturing or coaching - and I don’t like anything that stands in my way or wastes my time when I could be doing something useful. My happiest work days are productive ones.
The (embarrassingly) simple solution was to stop using the photocopier. I replaced photocopied materials with alternative activities and used my home printer whenever I could. More costly but ten times more reliable.
A small win but a win nevertheless.
The many benefits of clarifying your values
We get stuck in familiar ways of thinking and doing. Clearly defining what matters to us, in life and career, can help us:
Solve problems and improve our current situation.
Make small and big decisions.
Recognise like-minded people and organisations.
Communicate who we are (e.g., when networking).
Show up in any situation (e.g., a challenging conversation) in a way that honours our values.
Clearly defining what's REALLY important to you can help improve your current situation, release energy to work on your career planning and development, and inform your future career choices.
Using moments in time to gain insight into your values
“Almost any life situation can be used to mine for values, but those that have a strong impact, either positive or negative, are especially productive.” Co-active Coaching: Changing Business, Transforming Lives by Henry Kimsey-House, Karen Kimsey-House, Phillip Sandahl, and Laura Whitworth.
As a coach, I’ve a range of tools and techniques that help career change clients identify their values. It’s helpful to have someone who’s trained to actively listen to what you’re saying (and not saying!) to work with you on your values but you can easily begin the process on your own. Here’s how.
What’s your version of a photocopier moment? Think back. When did you last feel frustrated at work? What was happening? What were you doing? Who was with you? How did you feel? What value or values weren’t being met in that moment?
Repeat this exercise and ask yourself the same questions about a moment at work when everything was flowing smoothly and you were “in the zone”! Or think about a moment of joy or when you felt happy. If you’re struggling to come up with an example at work, choose a moment from everyday life.
Use your career change notebook or note-taking app to record these moments of impact, negative or positive, and your responses to them. That way, you can begin to compile a list of your values. Be alert to the ones that appear to be most important to you and rank them in order. What are your top five values?
Don’t get hung up on the exact wording. What’s important is how YOU describe the value. These are your values and they will likely change over time as your life and career circumstances change.
Remember, knowledge is power
Knowledge is power when it comes to career change. Even if you ultimately decide not to change career, values clarification is an exercise that will help you in so many ways – it’s the one thing I’d do with any client.
Values are an important part of what makes you tick!
Need help working with your values in the context of your current or future career? Click here to book a complimentary, no-obligation career change consult and we’ll have a chat about how coaching can help you get crystal clear on your values so that you can create the life and career you want.
