Tags
Administration
Benefits
Communication
Communication Programs
Compensation
Conflict & Dispute Resolution
Developing & Coaching Others
Employee Satisfaction/Engagement
Executive Coaching
HR Metrics & Measurement
HR Outsourcing
HRIS/ERP
Human Resources Management
Internal Corporate Communications
Labor Relations
Labor Trends
Leadership
Leadership Training & Development
Leading Others
Legal
Management
Motivating
Motivation
Organizational Development
Pay Strategies
Performance Management
Present Trends
Recognition
Retention
Staffing
Staffing and Recruitment
Structure & Organization
Talent
The HR Practitioner
Training
Training and Development
Trends
U.S. Based Legal Issues
Vision, Values & Mission
Work-Life Programs & Employee Assistance Programs - EAP
Workforce Acquisition
Workforce Management
Workforce Planning
Workplace Regulations
corporate learning
employee engagement
interpersonal communications
leadership competencies
leadership development
legislation
News
Onboarding Best Practices
Good Guy = Bad Manager :: Bad Guy = Good Manager. Is it a Myth?
Five Interview Tips for Winning Your First $100K+ Job
Base Pay Increases Remain Steady in 2007, Mercer Survey Finds
Online Overload: The Perfect Candidates Are Out There - If You Can Find Them
Cartus Global Survey Shows Trend to Shorter-Term International Relocation Assignments
New Survey Indicates Majority Plan to Postpone Retirement
What do You Mean My Company’s A Stepping Stone?
Rewards, Vacation and Perks Are Passé; Canadians Care Most About Cash
Do’s and Don’ts of Offshoring
Error: No such template "/hrDesign/network_profileHeader"!
Blogs / Send feedback
Help us to understand what's happening?
Reason
It's a fake news story
It's misleading, offensive or inappropriate
It should not be published here
It is spam
Your comment
More information
Security Code
Our Values Set Our Priorities
Created by
Jim Clemmer
Content
Our values are what we value. Each of us has a hierarchy of values. This is our sense of what's most through to what's least important. Our values hierarchy is a lengthy one. It includes things like, health, family, security, wealth, cooperation, competitiveness, meaningful work, peace of mind, making a difference, friendships, innovation, status, happiness, freedom, adventure, spirituality, power, accomplishment, wisdom, love, creativity, integrity, participation, service, loyalty, pride, progress, teamwork, growth and development, helping others, physical or sensory pleasures, quality, order, control, respect, self-image, and the like.<br />
<br />
Our values hierarchy sets our priorities. It determines where we spend our time. For example, do we choose to watch TV or invest that time in personal improvement? Do we sleep longer or go jogging? Do we spend time with our family or take on that extra project with heavy out of town travel? Do we take personal glory or share the recognition with our team? Do we trade up to that larger house now or invest that extra money to reap compounded financial rewards later? Who gets invited to important meetings? Which items get highest priority on the agenda? How much time is spent with customers and those doing the serving? These are important questions because we invest our time in those areas we value most.<br />
<br />
Our values can conflict with each other. They create many paradoxes to be balanced and managed. For example, business success and family time are both high on my values hierarchy. One evening when our son Chris was about two and half years old, I was heading out the door on another trip, Chris turned in his high chair, focused his big blue eyes up at me and asked, "Are you going home now daddy?" (about six months later I called Heather from my hotel room. His younger sister Jennifer answered the phone and asked, "Are you my real daddy?" If Heather and I didn't have such a close and trusting relationship, I might begin to wonder...).<br />
<br />
The conflict between my business and family has been my biggest values conflict. Both are important to me. But at that point in my life, I was drifting toward becoming a business success and a family failure. Unless I changed, I would become "Uncle Dad" and Heather would be a single mother with a part-time husband dropping in occasionally. To change that, I put a "personal travel policy" in place that said I wouldn't be away from home on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night. I would also keep trips to no more than three nights away at one time.<br />
<br />
Over the years I have missed out on speaking, workshop, and retreat business using this approach. At times I haven't looked very responsive or accommodating to important customers (another key value of mine). But that travel change and moving my office into our house improved our family time. And my business has prospered.<br />
<br />
Jim Clemmer’s practical leadership books, keynote presentations, workshops, and team retreats have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide improve personal, team, and organizational leadership. Visit his web site, http://jimclemmer.com/, for a huge selection of free practical resources including nearly 300 articles, dozens of video clips, team assessments, leadership newsletter, Improvement Points service, and popular leadership blog. Jim's five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders, Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance, and The Leader's Digest. His latest book is Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work.<br />
<br />
Copyright © 1999-2025 by
HR.com - Maximizing Human Potential
. All rights reserved.