How easy is it for you or your colleagues to repeat the company’s values? Probably not very easy without looking. Maybe you hope that everyone in the organisation works according to the values. That the values ​​support the vision.

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And here lies an essential point. The vision is what we talk about, preferably believe in. Meanwhile, values ​​are equal to our behaviour and actions. What we do is rooted in what is fundamentally significant to us. You can see it as you ‘walk the talk’, where you act consciously according to what you say.

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But why does it happen time and time again that we can neither fully remember nor live by them?

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The company’s vs. your values

The values ​​of the company are not personal values. One or two of them ​​may reflect with us, but some of them do not immediately play a role in our approach to our work. The lack of relevance is not primarily based on ignorance of the company’s values, but on a lack of knowledge of our own personal values ​​and how they affect our behaviour.

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For example, having a high integrity in the service is therefore expressed in a myriad of ways. One employee subconsciously lives the value via courtesy, while another goes to the customer with honesty and a third with moderation. There can be as many interpretations of a value as there are employees in the company.

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Explore your values

When we are not aware of our own values, then we are also not aware of what is most important to us, and we therefore act unconsciously. We may buckle legs for an otherwise good vision.

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Values ​​initiate action. The question is just whether it happens consciously or unconsciously. When we work to find what is valuable to us, the goal for the individual is to sharpen his or her awareness of what is essential and be able to prioritise accordingly. Knowing what is important to you ​​can help you to handle e.g. difficult situations or be calm under pressure because you are aware of what is important to you and what your strengths are.

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If you are not quite sure what your important values ​​are, then you can go exploring, by looking back at events, turnarounds in your life that have made you who you are today. It can be good things that you would like to do again, or some that have given you something in your mental suitcase, but you do not want to repeat it.

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When we rediscover the emotions, the conversations, and the learning we have made through life, we get good insights to our values.

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Do you instead look at a colleague and think something along the lines that that reaction seems completely out of proportion? Most people respond because there is something important at stake, which could be e.g., loyalty or transparency. Spend a little time being curios while listening to what value he or she is trying to live by. Both of you could get a better understanding of you as well as the situation.

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When the company’s and your values ​​go hand in hand

Let’s be honest, it’s probably not going to happen that your and your company’s values ​​are going to be completely synchronous.

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It is more likely that you will find and agree on the common behaviours that support the values ​​that are in the company to achieve your shared goals. Each person can then link their own, personal values ​​to the behaviour.

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We can change the external values ​​set by the company. However, they rarely become something we remember, live by, or feel a great ownership of. It becomes pseudo-values. By working with a desired common behaviour and helping the individual colleague to link his or her own values ​​to that behaviour, we work every day to achieve the organisation’s goals. But it requires a managerial investment that goes beyond the content of the annual appraisal talks.

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Once we know what is important to us, we can draw on that to ‘walk the talk’ together and do what we say more wholeheartedly. And we can create companionship, higher job satisfaction and ultimately a better bottom line.

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Do you want to learn more?

Have you been in situations where you were in doubt or experienced an internal conflict due to e.g. multiple options? Here you can advantageously work with your own values ​​through coaching and philosophical conversations, which help you define what is important to you.

If you in the team or organization would like to work with your values ​​together, the way you talk about what is important to you, then you can read more here about how such a process can take place.

Contact me today to hear more about your options.