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Personal and Professional Values
Bringing your work and your world into greater harmony
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Business New Haven
12/10/2001
By: Sheila A. LaSella
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It is one of those words that we toss around casually, and once given some thought realize that it only holds a vague meaning for us - values. We hear it in many different contexts: family values, the value of your house, the value of a dollar.
Values guide us consciously and unconsciously during our day as we make choices that determine the future. If you value taking risks and the potential of high returns that may predispose you to invest in the stock market. If you value a safer alternative to financial security then a conservative mutual fund will be your choice. While we may not overtly identify our values every time we make a decision, they tend to have a far-reaching effects on our life path.
Simply put, values are those things, tangible and intangible, that are important to us. They are the principles and standards that shape our lives.
Organizations have values often in the form of a mission statement. This clearly defined set of principles guides the organization toward its goals and keeps the train on the tracks.
What about you? Do your values provide a map with clear landmarks to guide your career, or do you drive aimlessly hoping that favorable conditions will magically manifest themselves?
Now may be the perfect time to re-examine your values. You've been laid off, the economy is sluggish and business is slow - you have more time on your hands. Not to mention the ideal conditions Mother Nature provides during winter for personal reflection.
While knowing what's important in your life may seem like a no-brainer, it may not be as simple as you think. Are you really satisfied with your professional life, or is there a nagging feeling like something just isn't quite right, but you can't put your finger on it?
One way to clarify your values is to seek the professional advice of a career coach or career counselor. They will help you identify your values through a variety of methods and provide an objective viewpoint in the decision-making process.
Professional coaching provides a pressure-free setting where you can explore your options and receive support for making changes in your career. This guidance can also be sought from a mentor, friend or family member, but objectivity will be key in exploring and focusing on your values.
“Unfortunately, people are like boats going down stream without a rudder,” says Charles Bove of Comprehensive Career Services in Hamden. “They end up going wherever the tides, currents and winds take them. This is probably not the best way to attain a goal. You need a plan. If you don't have a plan you will end up in a place you don't want to be and no one is successful that way.”
Without a plan and clear steps to the goal, we may find ourselves experiencing inner conflicts that often go unnoticed until they manifest physically. There are many traps along the way that bind us to values we don't believe in, which eventually may cause problems.
There is the social trap that gives us a prescribed formula for how to live our lives but often isn't in line with our vision. There is the money trap that satisfies material desires, but neglects the heart. And there is the status trap that gives us an image we thought we had to live up to, but often is an empty shell.
When clients first come to Bove they focus on gaining awareness of the current situation. “Some people come in and know that they're unhappy, but they're not sure what they should be doing,” he explains. “They're just floundering in life and miserable and it doesn't have to do with the salary they're making or the field they're in. It has everything to do with the person's value assessment of what they should be doing.”
Along with consultations, clients can expect to take assessment tests in a number of areas including lifestyle values, work values and personal values. This is all part of the process in developing awareness of your values and creating a career plan based on those values that will shape your future.
The cost per session is approximately $100. Depending on what your needs are and how complicated your life is, you may need anywhere from two to ten sessions.
For Karen Porterfield, a project-management consultant with ICS Group in Norwalk, the desire to benefit people and assist them in creating less complicated lives is what shapes her professional value system.
Before moving to Connecticut in September 2000, Porterfield worked in development and fundraising for not-for-profit organizations in Washington, D.C. During this time she experienced the common frustration of functioning in low-revenue environments and also recognized that she needed to learn management tools in order to be helpful to others.
As a result of this recognition, she pursued an MBA. “Business school was not on my radar - I was a religion major and an art history minor,” says Porterfield. “Business was on the other side of world. But I knew that I had a knack for thinking in terms of organizations. I needed to practice and learn it and then I needed to share that.”
One of the values of ICS Group is to help build the competency of good project management practices in organizations and promote self-sufficiency.
“We are teaching people and organizations how to better manage their work, Porterfield explains. “This makes people's lives easier. We're not just promoting efficiency in organizations but we're reducing wear and tear on people.”
While identifying personal and professional values may address one side of the issue, integrating the two and attaining balance in these areas presents a different challenge.
Porterfield believes it lies in not separating the personal from the professional. “I have to give everything I have,” she says. “This is a combination of professional experience, academic training and all of the basic human care and understanding that I have. Whether I'm listening to an executive talk about the incredible challenges in the industry, or teaching a workshop to basic level workers in organization- it all comes together.”
Along with trying to orchestrate different skills and abilities to keep values aligned, forgiveness plays a large part in the picture.
“There's a lot of forgiveness required in the professional world,” says Porterfield. “I can't always live up to my expectations to be beneficial to others. I'm learning to let go many times during the day when I'm not that helpful or when I say the wrong thing.”
The artistic world is where Pete DiGennaro, director of the Aerie Sound Studio in New Haven, lives out his values.
DiGennaro has been making a living as a professional musician for five years. In addition to owning a sound studio, he works for Wesleyan University's Center for Fine Arts and the Neighborhood Music School as a dance accompanist and composer.
The Aerie Sound Studio has been running for two years and is where he composes original music for film, video and dance. Arranging and recording parts for other artists and recording small ensembles, mostly for classical music, also takes place at the studio.
Following the heart is a predominant theme for DiGennaro. “I do what I do because I have to,” he says. “There is no decision. When I did other things I felt like I was biding my time in order to [be a musician]. It's who I am.”
DiGennaro seems to fall into a small category of people who have discovered their niche and value an unconventional career where high earning potential is rare, but who nevertheless pursue their dream.
In day-to-day affairs, DiGennaro values a straightforward approach to his art and his business.
“I value honoring people's abilities for who they are and what they do,” he says. “I use people appropriately rather than putting them in a situation they aren't ready for, don't like or aren't quipped to handle.”
Honesty is a value DiGennaro says he would never compromise. “I'm honest with where I am with my career,” he explains. “I taught [piano] for a long time and peaked out. I had to step away. Instead of ignoring it I talked with other teachers. It was a very honest thing to do.”
In terms of balancing personal and professional values and keeping them in focus, morals often keep people on track and out of trouble.
“If I feel like I'm tempted to charge someone more than I should, I take a hard look at it,” DiGennaro explains. “I believe in doing the right thing when my head or ego wants to do something else.”
While identifying personal and professional values and taking steps to put them into action is certainly a proactive way to manage one's life, there is the danger of falling into idealism.
Don't expect to find a situation where all of your values will be met - there is no such place. Perfectionism is not a value; it's an obstacle.
Prioritize what is important to you and what you simply cannot compromise and then be prepared to adopt the value of letting go.
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