Our world, work, and lives are increasingly complicated and complex. The American Psychological Association and a recent Gallup Poll showed that stress levels are up from even the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Evidence suggests that reflecting on personal values provides protection from the adverse effects of stress.* Assessing our values and understanding how to “behavioralize “them is more important than ever.
Daring Leaders live into their values. When tough conversations arise or difficult decisions need to be made, these values support and anchor us as leaders. While we all say offhand that we know our values, have you ever explicitly defined your values? Have you thought about the behaviors that support them?
Being connected deeply to our values gives us courage to speak up or stay standing when we might otherwise want to look away or back down. When I am clear on my values, looking away or backing down is no longer an option. It’s not enough to just know what our values are, we have to know what they look like in terms of specific behaviors and practices in our lives.
Through the values exercise outlined in the Values Guide I realized Equality and Connection are my two strongest values. After looking at how these values show up in my personal and professional life, I examined the questions outlined in the values guide and decided how I wanted to intentionally live into these values in my professional life.
Here are a few behaviors and practices I want to intentionally cultivate to help me live out my values in my professional life:
- Equality
- Hire, celebrate and empower leaders of all backgrounds.
- Support other female leaders and entrepreneurs by standing in my values and charging what I’m worth.
- Ensure the planning process gives voice to all stakeholders in an organization.
- Create and support access to the Dare to Lead curriculum for emerging leaders of diverse backgrounds
- Connection
- Make time and space for true human connection in the workday, every day. Being seen and heard fuels us all.
- Create environments where people can connect deeply with others.
- Help people connect with themselves, their values, and their purpose.
Getting explicit about our values helps us make hard decisions about whom to serve, when to walk away from opportunities, and when to speak up. It also helps us to put boundaries in place to protect what’s most important, and safeguard us against burnout. To help you name your values, I created a Values Guide. This is a sampling of the exercises and work we do in Dare to Lead and Daring Circles.
As our careers and world progress, doing this work for ourselves is critical. Defining our values is an important step to ensuring our impact at home, at work, and in our communities is what we wish.
Daring Circles
This is why I am offering a new program that is designed to help daring leaders live into their values in a way that empowers and rejuvinates them. Defining our values is just one part of the Daring Circles program. Daring Circles fuses together 1×1 Daring Leadership Coaching with the 24-hour Dare to Lead™ empirically-based courage-building program. This program is grounded in peer learning and accountability. You will learn from the experiences and knowledge of others while receiving peer support as you work towards meaningful behavioral change rooted in your values.
The program also provides one-on-one coaching to support your capacity to do brave work, have tough conversations, and show up with your whole heart. You will walk away with a clear vision of how you want to live your values and lead courageously. We will explore your call to courage, “behavioralising” your values, and the boundaries you need to put in place.
Outcomes of this program include:
- Increased confidence and sense of self-worth
- Deep connection with yourself and others
- Positive change in your work and life
- Reduced decision fatigue
- A new vision for your life that leverages your passion and supports your values
Download Free Values Guide
*In a 2005 study by scientists at UCLA, individuals were subjected to a stress challenge in a laboratory setting. Those who were given the task of identifying their values and reflecting on them before the test showed significantly lower cortisol levels after the test than the control group subjected to the same test but were not asked to identify or reflect on their values.”
– Excerpt from 2019 Co-Active Training Institute “The Science of Transformational coaching” by Ann Betz