The Importance of Core Values

Your core values are the deeply held beliefs that authentically describe your soul.

—John C. Maxwell

I recently took a personal values and awareness assessment through the Barrett Values Center. I was curious as to whether the results would reveal anything starkly different from what I would readily say about myself. The results stated that from the values I selected, I’m a person for whom meaning is important and that I have a strong set of moral standards that determine how I treat others and how I wish to be treated. This felt accurate—I could feel a soul connection there. Some additional results indicated that I: think imaginatively and have a flair for thinking of new ideas or ways of working; I’m likely to ensure information is clearly understood and expressed; I make a conscious effort to hear and consider the opinions of others; and I’m protective and considerate of others.

The results revealed became an opportunity to reflect on what roles these values play in my life—both personally and professionally. Included were self-development assignments to explore why the values selected are important and to look at the areas that may need to be strengthened or further developed.  

How often do we reflect on our values?

Are we clear on what they are and why they are essential to who we are? 

Are we living according to our core values or compromising them in our desire for success, recognition, or to win?

By choosing to embrace and practice good values every day, you choose the higher course in life. And your life goes in a direction that you will always feel good about. You may not always get what you desire, but you will always be the person you desire to be.

—John Maxwell

If we don’t function from a set of core values, then what informs our daily decisions and behavior?

A person's values are central to their sense of identity, their sense of who they are. Values stem from our deeply held beliefs and, as such, inform our behavior and our decisions—whether big or small. When our external behavior doesn’t align with our internal values, there’s discord—a disconnection between head and heart.

Core values manifest as choices based on understanding what is truly important to us and why, so our decisions stem from a place of authenticity. Every decision reinforces our core values, and as such, who we are choosing to be.

Knowing, understanding, and honoring our values brings synergy to our life purpose and direction. Determining core values can be the pathway to deep and abiding satisfaction, joy, and meaningful contributions to our community.

“I think it is possible that we may soon even define therapy as a search for values, because ultimately the search for identity is, in essence, the search for one’s own intrinsic, authentic values.”

—Abraham Maslow

As We Value, So We Lead

A leader will find it difficult to articulate a coherent vision unless it expresses his core values, his basic identity...one must first embark on the formidable journey of self-discovery in order to create a vision with authentic soul.

—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

There are many effective models that can shape and form our leadership style—conscious, transformational, adaptive, servant—all manner of approaches to bring out the best leader in us, yet no advantage can be gained from any leadership model if there are no sustaining values. Where we sometimes fall short is not behaving in a way that upholds our values.

Richard Barrett, author of Building a Values-Driven Organization, defines values-based leadership as "... a way of making authentic decisions that builds the trust and commitment of employees and customers." He says that leaders who are attuned to their core values: 1) make better choices that are comfortable for them to act on; 2) are likely to build better, more trusting, less stressful relationships with followers; and 3) are more likely to feel aligned with their 'authentic self'.

An organization’s culture is a reflection of its leader’s values. The values we hold deeply guide our behavior toward a new set of possible actions. Leaders should draw on their own and their followers' values for direction, inspiration and motivation. Clarity about your core values is essential to becoming the most effective leader you can be.

My friends, all I’m trying to say is that if we are to go forward today, we’ve got to go back and rediscover some mighty precious values that we’ve left behind. That’s the only way that we would be able to make of our world a better world.

—Martin Luther King Jr.