By C. Roberts, Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
This exercise is designed to help you reach a better understanding of your most significant values.
Step 1: What I Value Most…
From this list of values (both work and personal), select the ten that are most important to you-as guides for how to behave, or as components of a valued way of life. Feel free to add any values of your own to this list.
Achievement | Friendships | Physical challenge |
Advancement and promotion | Growth | Pleasure |
Adventure | Having a family | Power and authority |
Affection (love and caring) | Helping other people | Privacy |
Arts | Helping society | Public service |
Challenging problems | Honesty | Purity |
Change and variety | Independence | Quality of what I take part in |
Close relationships | Influencing others | Quality relationships |
Community | Inner harmony | Recognition (respect from others, status) |
Competence | Integrity | Religion |
Competition | Intellectual status | Reputation |
Cooperation | Involvement | Responsibility and accountability |
Country | Job tranquillity | Security |
Creativity | Knowledge | Self-respect |
Decisiveness | Leadership | Serenity |
Democracy | Location | Sophistication |
Ecological awareness | Loyalty | Stability |
Economic security | Market position | Status |
Effectiveness | Meaningful work | Supervising others |
Efficiency | Merit | Time freedom |
Ethical practice | Money | Truth |
Excellence | Nature | Wealth |
Excitement | being around people who are open and honest |
Wisdom |
Fame | Order (tranquillity, stability, conformity) |
Work under pressure |
Fast living | Personal development | Work with others |
Financial gain | Freedom | Working alone |
Step 2: Elimination
Now that you have identified ten, imagine that you are only permitted to have five values. Which five would you give up? Cross them off.
Now imagine that you are only permitted four. Which would you give up? Cross it off.
Now cross off another, to bring our list down to three.
And another, to bring our list down to two.
Finally cross off one of your two values. Which is the one item on the list that you care most about?