Leading from Your Values
Illustration: martinjanecek / Adobe Stock
The Conscience Code provides ten steps to help you fight for your values. But what if you don’t know what your values are in the first place?
To advance our careers, G. Richard Shell, author of The Conscience Code, urges us to lead from our values. In my last post, The OG Midlife Crisis, I talked about my frustrations in my past life as a young man working for a corrupt boss. Even though I knew which of my values were worth fighting for, I was not yet skillful enough to fight for them effectively. If only The Conscience Code had been written twenty years earlier!
What does it mean to lead from our values? In the spirit of Aristotelian virtue ethics, Dr. Shell writes that once we identify our core values and then act on them regularly and repeatedly, these values become virtues. Our virtues constitute our character, and, in the long run, our character creates our destiny. Shell provides ten clear steps to help us fight for our values, such as facing the conflict, finding an ally, and channeling our personality strengths. Since competing values are inevitable in life, I encourage you to add The Conscience Code to your reading list sooner than later. But what if you don’t know what your values are in the first place?
Even if you think you know your values, you may find that in moments of crisis, those professed values can conflict. For example, you might value providing for your family, but what if your job asks you to work excessive overtime, thereby keeping you from the very family you value? One of the first activities that we do with new Leadership for Life clients is a values clarification exercise. Which values guide your decision-making? Which ones take priority? We also examine which of your values were consciously chosen and which were inherited from family, peers, or the prevailing culture. Just because a value may seem noble, say, to your parents or on social media, doesn’t mean it’s right for you. This is what it means to lead your life.
To get started leading your life, take the VIA (Values in Action) self-assessment referenced in my earlier post, Character Matters. If you’re ready to go deeper, I’d be happy to discuss options with you in a free consultation.
The Conscience Code by G. Richard Shell (HarperCollins Leadership, 2021)