Emma and Ellie chat about values and how powerful finding similarities between them can be.
Values are one of those things we don’t always stop to think about, but they influence almost every decision we make. They’re the beliefs and principles that guide how we treat others, approach challenges and inform what we stand for, both in our personal lives and at work. When we’re clear on our values, decision-making becomes easier, relationships become stronger and we have a much better sense of purpose. That’s why values shouldn’t just be laminated words on a wall, but something we should try to live every day.
When we think about our own personal values, a few stand out. For Emma, these are fairness, honesty and kindness. For Ellie, these include respect, accountability and pride. These values shape who we are and how we want to show up every day.
One interesting thing is that two people can value the same thing but use completely different words to describe it. For example, one person might say they value kindness, while another says compassion. Someone else might choose integrity, while another prefers honesty. The words may be different, but the meaning behind them is often remarkably similar. This is something we noticed when chatting about our values.
It’s always worth looking beyond the labels and thinking about what a value really means to you. It can make it much easier to see how your personal values connect with your workplace values, even if they’re described differently, when you look for where they overlap. More importantly, knowing our values helps us to find common ground with the people around us, creating stronger relationships, better understanding and a shared sense of purpose.
Our workplace values help define not only what we do, but how we do it. Our values at Rambutan are:
- passionately accountable
- genuinely interested
- enthusiastic and lively
- trusting and respectful
- straightforward
- daring
When we compare our personal values with our workplace values, it’s easy to see the connections. Fairness and respect naturally align with trusting and respectful. Honesty fits with being straightforward. Kindness is reflected in the way we’re genuinely interested and care about the bunch and our clients. Pride links with being both enthusiastic and lively, and daring in everything we do, wanting to do the best we can, not just for ourselves, but the people around us too. And accountability and being passionately accountable speaks for itself! Our personal values don’t disappear when we walk into work. Instead, they shape our culture and the impact we have every day.
Values aren’t just something to think about during an induction or an annual review. They’re part of every conversation, every decision and every interaction. When our personal values and workplace values align (and we appreciate any differences and diversity that makes each individual unique), we create stronger relationships, better teams and a culture where people genuinely enjoy coming to work. After all, organisations don’t create great cultures, it’s the people within them that do.
If you’re not sure about what your values are, reflecting on what’s important to you in day-to-day life and interactions is a great place to start in identifying them. Another interesting lens to look through is to consider situations where you feel uncomfortable. This is because there’s often a misalignment or conflict with your values at play. For example, if you feel uncomfortable when someone’s rude to a waiter in a restaurant, it might mean that you value kindness or respect. If kindness or respect had been present in that scenario, it’s likely you’d have felt more comfortable. Working through different scenarios can help you to figure out what means the most to you. If you struggle to pinpoint a particular word that accurately represents what you value when doing this, Brené Brown, in her work ‘Dare to Lead’ has compiled a useful list of values as a ‘starter-for-ten’.
What are your key values?