What do you value?

Whether as an individual, a family, an organization or a business, having a set of core values provides a guide as to what you are determining is truly valuable to you...a grid or filter to run key decisions and directions through before taking action. Jim Collins has this to say about values:

“...values come before goals, before strategy, before tactics, before products, before market choices, before financing, before business plans, before every decision. Values come first, and all else follows-in business, in career, in life.”

So, what do you value?

At the organization where I serve on the leadership team, we talk about being a values-driven organization. We have clearly identified those values that will guide our actions and be our filter. And it brings a sense of integrity to our work.

But I have also experienced the following about values:

Values are Hard

In the world we live in, it feels like values are constantly being challenged. And it’s tempting to do what is easiest.

Values are Inconvenient

As a nonprofit, one of our organizational values is to support and strengthen the local economies in which we work. At one point, we had to say no to a donor because the donation would have violated this value. The decision was right but it made life harder in the short run.

Values are Worth It

Values can bring clarity, provide a sense of stability, and also a framework for focusing on those things that truly matter to us and our organizations.

So once again, what do you value?