Bringing values into focus

We are all facing great challenges right now in our professional and personal lives. With weeks if not months of uncertainty ahead, we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory as we reinvent our daily lives.

When it feels like almost everything is changing, values are an important standard we can count on to remain steady, says Bennett Phillips, an Advantage Performance Group partner based in Nashville and co-founder of the Talent Development Think Tank.

Working from home with his wife and young sons in close quarters, Phillips introduced an exercise on values to help his family keep their relationships strong under challenging new circumstances.

As a group they decided what mattered most to them: kindness, empathy, forgiveness, personal space, respect, and responsibility.

We can do the same in our professional lives. If you are part of a team that values trust, integrity, honesty, tenacity, or anything else, why should that be any different now, especially when times of anxiety, fear, or stress can threaten our resolve?

Here is a quick exercise you can do to define or renew your team’s collective values and help everyone stay focused on what really matters regardless of what comes next.