Why understanding your values is a super power

It’s the dream, isn’t it? Finding a candidate who is values-aligned, like-minded, and a culture fit? Or, if you’re searching for your next work place, finding an organization that you believe shares your values, your mindset, and fosters a culture in which you think you will thrive?

Very few people would disagree that our working world celebrates being values-aligned, like-minded, and a culture fit. But what do these concepts really mean? And, how might we use them more consciously?

Values aligned

First things first. If you hear the term values aligned being used, or, you yourself use this term, and you can’t actually name your own, the organization’s, or the other person’s values: hit pause. 

My five core values are awareness, interdependence, creativity, joy, and balance. 

When I look for values alignment, I’m not searching for people or organizations with these exact values. Although, some overlap can be nice. I am instead on the lookout for values compatibility. And when I spot a possible conflict in respective values, I take the time to assess how disruptive it might prove to be. 

For me, possible values conflict is not an automatic deal breaker. I draw on my core value of balance in saying this. I do, however, have limits on how much conflict feels managable. One helpful signal for me of that limit being crossed is when joy or creativity start feeling blocked.  

What are your values?

I like this illustrated card deck as a playful process for naming your values, if you haven’t done that yet. I have used it with good success in my career and leadership coaching practice. It’s not uncommon for my clients to both identify as values-centred leaders, and to have never had the right container in which to name and validate their values. 

To use the concept of being values aligned more consciously, take the time to name and validate your values. This is also something you should feel comfortable asking an organization or colleague if they have done. If you find your organization or colleague has not done this work, you might share this article, or suggest they seek out a consultant and coach like me who can guide them through the process.

As a bonus, taking the time to understand your values, to check in with them in moments of challenge or opportunity, and to share them with those around you is a super power that not enough people tap into. 

Questions like, “Is this aligned with my values?” Or, “How might my value of x, y, or z guide me here?” can lead to useful insights that shape better decisions. This is useful in navigating difficult situations. And, when these questions are asked early, can even help you avoid such situations altogether.  

You’ll see this in action as we unpack the concepts of like-minded and a culture fit below. 

Like-minded

Lately, I feel like the term like-minded is everywhere. I even find myself using it. And yet, as someone who values creativity, I find myself often pausing to reflect on its popularity. 

Because of course, like many others, I bristle when I bump up against folks with views that oppose my own. Particularly when those views fuel hatred and oppression. 

At the same time, for me creativity is most alive in the emergence of new or unusual ideas, solutions, or possibilities, and like-mindedness can in some contexts be a barrier to their emergence. 

Tapping into my value of interdependence, I also wonder whether seeking out like-mindedness risks further entrenching the sense of growing division and disconnection many are experiencing in a world that I believe needs us to instead build bridges and level up our conflict literacy skills.  

The words "We like you, too :" appear in black letters on the side of a white brick wall.
Photo by Adam Jang on Unsplash

What do your values tell you about your relationship to like-mindedness?

How does the way like-mindedness shows up in the organization with whom you are assessing your own or someone else’s alignment square with that organization’s values?  

Perhaps some like-mindedness is desirable in an organization that values something like unity. But I would want to have a conversation about an emphasis on like-mindedness in an organization that says it values, for example, respect. While there are places where respect is about deference to hierarchical power, its more accurate definition involves recognizing the inherent value of each person regardless of their differences.

Rather than accepting like-mindedness as a de facto positive, try exploring its pros and cons by looking at it through the lens of your own or your organization’s values. 

A culture fit

First things first. If you didn’t already know, now you do that the concept of a culture fit is often wielded as a tool of discrimination

Now that you know better, do better, to paraphrase Maya Angelou.

With that said, I love this framing of organizational culture from organizer and artist Phil Agnew on Prentis Hemphill’s podcast Finding Our Way. In Agnew’s words: “I think cultural work is . . . how you build your organization. And how it reflects your values.” He adds by way of example: “If we’re anti-capitalist we either have to create a culture within our organizations of anti-capitalism, or own the contradictions.”

Culture, then, is ideally deeply informed by our values. And if the organizational culture we create through our policies, processes, and behaviours is out of step with what we say we value, then there is reckoning required. 

Before labeling yourself or someone else as a culture fit, it is worth assessing whether the culture under consideration is in, or out, of values alignment. And, if it is out of alignment, asking how the organization is owning the contradictions.

Before labeling someone as a fit it is worth assessing whether the culture itself is values-aligned

For example, over the course of my 20 year career I have interviewed for multiple leadership roles. In those interviews, I was assessing each organization as much as they were assessing me. One of my favourite questions to ask the interview panel members in the “Do you have any questions for us?” part of these interviews was, “What do you like the most, and the least, about working here?”

When people talked about what they liked the least, the topic of life-work balance often came up. This happened in organizations with values such as care or health. It also happened in organizations with values I see as more likely to lead to a culture of extensive overwork, such as excellence. I believe this consistency is because our broader society has normalized a culture of overwork, and organizational cultures are influenced by many factors outside of organizational walls. 

So, I wasn’t asking this question with high hopes of finding an organization where life-work balance was not an issue. What I was curious about was how the organization owned the issue. Was it acknowledged as a problem? Were there thoughtful responses in place? Were any contradictions with organizational values named?

This was important to me not just because I was assessing compatibility with my own values, but also because many of the roles I’ve held involved shaping culture change. Shaping change where something I see as a problem others do not see as a problem is, well, problematic. 

Interested in doing more work around your own or your organizations’ values?

What areas of alignment or contradiction between organizational values and culture might you surface and discuss the next time you’re interviewing, or recruiting, for a new position? What do your values tell you about the kind of culture you might want to seek out? Or, help to create, and / or change? 

Being aware of, and able to answer, these kinds of questions positions you to assess a culture fit more consciously.

Plus, they’ll help you to improve your own experience in the working world. 

Because for most people, the most important values alignment to be mindful of is your own. That’s why understanding your values is a super power. It gives you the information you need to stay conscious of the interplay between how you show up and the values you hold. 

Interested in doing more work around your own or your organization’s values? I’d love to hear from you! 

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Valery Navarrete catalyzes people and organizations dedicated to social change to make better decisions, have greater impact, and co-create deeper connection.

Click here to learn more about Valery’s consulting, facilitation, and coaching services.