Your Personal Values
Copyright Jack Mixner 2006. 714 449 1040 www.mixnerstrategy.com
The place I go to look for a discussion of values is in one of Morrisey's books (Morrisey, page 27).
From a private practice point of view he suggests values of, for instance,
- Independence/freedom of choice
- Financial return
- Challenge
- Family
- Personal legacy
- Power and influence and
- Principles and ethics.
You might have different values. Another friend of mine focuses on a continuum between success and significance. He's got all the success he needs (although he still is building) and is focusing on the significance of everything he does. Other folks are trying to figure out how to give back to the community. One is in the midst of joining the Peace Corps after a long career in strategic planning. You probably will have your own list of values.
Hawley makes the case that there is a difference between being a manager and a leader based upon their value systems. A manager might be concerned with goals and objectives, while a leader focuses more on vision (Hawley, page 167).
Change is a fact of life. Values help you take into account change in your market niche. Continual learning. Taking risks. Investing in the future. All are values that may impact your future personal, and business, growth (Kang, page 199).
In business, Johnson & Johnson has one of the most comprehensive value systems of any company. During the Tylenol scare, they destroyed their whole inventory of Tylenol and started over again with tamper proof bottles. They didn't need to destroy everything. It just felt right. Within a year, they had recaptured a large portion of their once-leading market share.
A simple bulleted list of values suits me just fine. You don't need a bunch of flowery text to make this impressive.
Strategic Implication
The short list of values you create is easy to apply. If your values are all about money, you will know that you charge for everything. Sometimes you will find a project that a client wants and will pay for that just doesn't fit your value system. There's the time when you refer the off to someone else, or point out to your client that they might want to reconsider their strategy. It's still amazing to me how many times CEOs change their strategy when something just doesn't feel right - even if it is profitable.
Values underlie the entire strategic planning process. Start here in your process.
References
Hawley, Jack. Reawakening the Spirit in Work. Berret-Kohler Publishers. 1993.
Kang, Lawler. Passion at Work How to Find Work You Love and Live the Time of Your Life. Pearson. 2006.
Morrisey, George L. Creating Your Future Personal Strategic Planning For Professionals. Berret Kohler. 1992.