A resolution to clarify values
As January begins, are you a person who makes resolutions? I'm not much of a resolution maker myself, but I do use the start of a new calendar year to remind myself of my values and how my work and my life do or do not mirror those. As a career coach, I often advise clients to clarify their values as they search for a job. There are two important reasons.
Clarifying your values will help you find the most meaningful and fulfilling work. It's hard enough to balance all the demands in our lives — family needs, children's schedules, perhaps aging parents' needs, personal ambitions, housing expenses, the list goes on and on — without also juggling a misalignment of our values with an organization's values. To understand your own values, consider what the non-negotiables are in your job search. Maybe it's flex time so you can be there for that soccer game? Maybe it's a certain level of pay? Figure out what matters most to you so that you can go into a job search honestly. It's important not to have so many non-negotiables, though, that you narrow your focus too much. Spend some time identifying your strongest values. Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis have some excellent tools in The Squiggly Career book to help you clarify your values if worksheets are useful to you.
Determine an organization's values by researching the company. Read the website! Sounds obvious, but it's amazing how often we overlook the benefit of in-depth research. What does the company highlight and how do they put into action what they value? Ask the right questions to determine what a company values, and examine the data. If they offer unlimited paid time off but people aren't actually taking vacation, perhaps the value of work-life balance is more aspirational than operational. Cardigan Associates posts our values on the website, and each year I examine if we are living those values.
A focus on values can help in a world that still seems stuck in generational stereotyping. As a member of the Baby Boom generation, I flinch every time I read another comment about how Millennials or Gen Z crave flexibility in the workplace as if all of my over 60 friends do not. David Allison writes eloquently about how values define us, not the decade we were born in. You can follow him on LinkedIn or check out his company, Valuegraphics.
If your resolution this year is to get to the gym more often, I wish you great success. And if you value a company that supports employee health in every way, I wish you success in finding that place, too. Happy New Year!
