Determine Your Personal Values

Research has shown that being in touch with your personal values contribute significantly to motivation. It is very difficult to stay motivated for a job that is either contrary to, or not an expression of ones values. In fact, clarity of personal values has been shown to be more significant in determining organizational commitment than clarity of organizational values.

An Overview Of This Exercise

To maximize the value and fun of doing this exercise, you will need some private workspace where you can layout a series of cards. A tabletop or some space on the floor will do just fine. To begin the exercise, you will need to cut up the values cards. You would need 5 heading cards and 39 value cards. Lay out the heading cards from left to right in the following sequence: Always valued, often valued, sometimes valued, seldom valued, and never valued. Read each value and place it under the heading that fits the best. Remember that not all values can be equally important. If everything is important, then nothing is important. YOU MAY ONLY PLACE AS MANY VALUES IN EACH CATEGORY AS INDICATED. (5-Allways valued, 8- often valued, 13-sometimes, 8- seldom and 5-never valued) Once you have distributed the values under each heading, then place them in priority order and list them on the Personal Values Sheet.

Heading Cards
Always Valued (5) Often Valued (8) Sometimes Valued (13) Seldom Valued (8) Never valued (5)

Personal Values Cards

Job Tranquility Avoid pressure & the rat race in job role & work setting Security Be assured of keeping my Competition Engage in activities which pit my abilities against others Power & Authority Control the work Adventure Have work duties, which involve frequent risk taking Work alone Do projects by myself

job and a reasonable financial award Help others Be involved in helping people directly, either individually or in small groups

activities or (partially) without any amount of the destinies of others contact with others Physical challenge Have a job that requires bodily strength, speed or agility Precision work Work relationships Have close working relationships with groups; work as a team to common goals Location Find a place to live (town, geographical area) conducive to my lifestyle, a desirable home base for my leisure, learning and work life Affiliation Be recognized as a member of a particular organization Advancement

Change and Variety

Deal with tasks that have exact Have work responsibilities specifications, which frequently changed in require careful, content and setting accurate attention to detail High earnings anticipated Artistic creativity

Be able to purchase Engage in creative essentials and the luxuries work in any of several I wish art forms Knowledge Engage myself in pursuit of knowledge, truth and understanding Influence people Be in a position to change attitudes or opinions of other people Make decisions

Be able to get ahead Have the power to rapidly, gaining decide the courses of opportunities for action, policies, etc. a growth and seniority judgment job from work well done Friendship Develop close personal relationships with people as a result of work activity Excitement Help society Do something to contribute to betterment of the world Creativity (General) Create new ideas, programs, organized structures or anything else not following format developed by others Status Impress or gain the respect of friends, family and community by the nature and/or level of responsibility of my work

Moral Fulfillment

Experience a high Feel that my work is degree of stimulation contributing to ideals that or frequent novelty and I feel is very important drama on the job Creative expression Be able to express in writing and in person my ideas concerning my job and how I might improve it. Have opportunities for experimentation and Independence Be able to determine nature of work without significant direction from others. Not have to follow instructions or conform to

innovation Intellectual status Be regarded as very well informed and a strong theorist. Acknowledged as an expert in a given field Work on the leading edge of knowledge

regulations Exercise competence Fast pace Demonstrate a high degree of proficiency in Work in circumstances job skills and where there is high knowledge; show pace activity and work above average done rapidly effectiveness Work under pressure Community Live in a place where I can meet my neighbors and become active in local politics or service projects Public contact

Work in timepressured Work in research and circumstances, where development, generating there is little or no information and new ideas margin for error, or in the academic, scientific, with demanding or business communities personal relationships Supervision Aesthetics

Be involved in studying Have a job in which I am Have a lot of day-toor appreciating the directly responsible for the day contact with beauty of things, ideas, work done by others people etc. Wealth accumulation Have a strong likelihood of accumulating large amounts of money or other material gain through ownership, profit sharing, commissions, merit pay increase and the like Time freedom Have responsibilities I can work at according to my own time schedule. No specific working hours requires Stability Have a work routine and job duties that are largely predictable and not likely to change over a long period of time

The Personal Values Sheet

After placing each personal values card under the appropriate heading, place them in priority order. List them on this sheet below. Remember, you may only have as many values under each heading as there are numbers. Always valued 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Often Valued 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Sometimes Valued 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Seldom Valued 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8.

Never Valued 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

How To Use These Values

Your personal values are your deepest driving force. If your life and your work are not in line with your values, you simply will not be motivated. The same goes for your employees. Ask the following question after you have done this exercise: Did any of my personal values surprise me? Was the process easy or difficult? As I look at my life, especially my work life, is there any congruence between what I say my values are and the structure, focus and content of my current job? If not, what changes would I want to make. Do this activity with your employees. It will help them understand one another better. If you decide to do this as a team, let them share their values with one another. Let them compare the always valued and "never valued lists. See if you can notice the differences and similarities. Let them give each other feedback. Remember there are no better values. Ask them not to judge each other. If you understand the personal values of each employee, it will be so much easier to know what makes them tick

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