Define your values

A new year. Some of us are likely to be feeling excited about a fresh sheet of paper, whilst others might feel the sinking dread of having not achieved some of last year’s key goals and having to set new ones. If you are the latter, you may benefit from looking up our ‘fear-setting’ blog from this time last year, which looks at breaking down those barriers to the big goals to make them possible.

If you are the former and are excited about a new year’s objectives, are you confident that they are realistic, what you believe in, and draw upon your strengths? You run the risk of being less likely to achieve your targets if they are not aligned with your personal values.

But how do you even begin to define your personal values?

‘Values and Purpose’ is a core strand and first element of the Juniper Company’s unique Personal Development Programme (PDP). This programme is based on our ‘3P Framework’, the Juniper blueprint for leadership, and self-leadership excellence. This means that first and foremost, each of us needs to focus on ourselves, to really understand our core values i.e. what intrinsically motivates us and makes us ‘tick’, before marrying them up with our purpose and our contribution to wider team goals.

The next step consists of aligning the way we communicate with our colleagues in a purposeful way by using the ‘Johari’s window’ technique, a way in which we can help understand our needs and how we relate to others. We’ve found this incredibly useful as a way of improving self-awareness, from what we share about ourselves with others to what we know about our private selves and choose not to share, to our unknown selves, that we are yet to find out about. Johari’s Window enables us to pinpoint our values, which we can then connect to our goals, giving us a much more meaningful focus on our intentions. For example, one of my core values is ‘learning’, - it is, therefore, important to me to extend my learning, and set myself goals that continue my education.

For an example list of values to start from, take a look at this list crafted by Birmingham City University. Carefully choose 10 values that you relate with and then hone the list down to six that define your core sense of self. Finally, try to prioritise these six in the order that most resonates with you. The next step is to work out how to insert these values into your work life, in order to create a clear purpose and set some authentic goals. We’ll be sharing a blog on this next stage in February. Happy values defining!