Integral Connections

To effectively lead yourself, you need to be clear who you are and what your core values are. What matters to you? Your values are your filter to identify and choose what fits for you in business and life. If you were to identify your top three to five core values, what are they?

Values connect you to your authentic self. They reveal who you are and what you stand for. Self-leadership begins from a place of connectedness with your authentic self. If you were truly aligned with your decisions from the inside out, what would that mean for you? What would be the ripple effect to others?

When you act and behave in alignment with your values, you achieve the outcomes you want with ease, a calm centeredness and resourcefulness. When you have this deep awareness of who you are, you can readily act in your own best interest while respecting others.

How clear are you about who you are? Being crystal clear on who you are, having a values-based vision aligned with a strategic action plan is essential to your definition of success in business and life.

Values Elicitation Exercises

Because values are such an intrinsic part of our lives, often times we are not even aware of them. Values often are one word such as freedom, love, peace, integrity, honesty. There are no ‘right’ or ’wrong’ values. They represent who you are now, throughout space and time.

Of the many ways to elicit values, here are 3 ways:

1. Notice in those moments when you get triggered or irritated. Ask yourself, ‘what is important to me in this moment?’ Anything that creates an emotional response has an underlying value.

2. What is your favourite animal and why? Then ask yourself ‘and why else?’ And ‘why else?’ Notice which of the values stand out more. The aim is to find your recurring top most important value and to notice how you speak your values.

3. Think of a context such as work, family, etc.

A) What is hell for you? Drives you crazy? Are triggers? Make this playful. Brainstorm a list of 20 things such as everyone at work has to drink cold coffee, no bathroom breaks, all mistakes are announced over the intercom, etc.

B) Take your top five, think of the opposite and write down one value word. i.e. no bathroom breaks = respect. More often than not, we only become aware of our values when they are violated.