Acting on core values

"....think about yourself, and reflect on what differences distinguish you and would help you in living and acting on the basis of your core values."


Above is my task for this post and after some thought I narrowed my core values down to professionalism, honesty, ethical behavior, and kindness. Those are in no particular order and this will be a short post due to external stress. This has been an interesting question this week.


Professionalism, at its core, means that one does their job without prejudice, bias, malice, or to poor standards. I think that professionals have a duty to execute their responsibilities to the best of their abilities despite personal hardship or external situations. This is NOT to say that one has to "play hurt" or put aside their own lives for a job. Certain things such as divorce, death, child birth, health issues, and financial stressors are going to affect a person and that's to be expected and persons in those situations should be supported (kindness). However professionals don't let things such as a bad mood, or personal biases interfere with their work. This relates to emotional intelligence and that is something I've spoken on before. A leader must know his or her self first.


Honesty and ethical behavior are intertwined. Honesty is an ethical trait but I think it stands alone as it is the basis for all other ethical behaviors. If one isn't honest it their dealings with others than one cannot be operating in an ethical manner. One must also be honest with one's self. This will allow you achieve a certain level of emotional intelligence and from there you can become a more effective leader.


Kindness speaks for itself. Leaders do have to make choices that may cause injury, distress, or worse to followers and this is an unfortunate aspect of leadership. However, leaders should be kind where possible and I know I try to be kind to others as. Like most humans, I am not always successful but I strive for kindness in the hopes that it makes me a better person.


Living and acting on these values is important and becomes easier once they are internalized. When I am going through times of stress and anger I reflect on these things and see if I am acting consistently with these values and the answer isn't always yes.