Aligning your personal and business values

Understanding your personal values will help to clarify the situations that you find exciting and fulfilling versus the situations that are stressful and deconstructive.

By making choices in life that are aligned with your personal values, you can build a lifestyle characterised by situations that are comfortable and happy, putting you in control of your personal fulfilment. In stark contrast, the very common habit of following a lifestyle dictated by others who may have quite different values to your own can be a formula for conflict and discomfort in your life and in your business.

Such a huge proportion of our lives is spent working that it surely makes sense to aim for work that is congruent with personal values. The beauty of shaping your own business is that you are able to underpin it with a set of deeply held principles, meaning that everything you do is done with true commitment, and importantly you will be energised and motivated to deliver.

Compare your personal and business values that you set out in the previous two steps. Where are the similarities? How can these similarities benefit your business?

Are there any conflicting values? This can flag potential problems and perhaps prompt you to adjust your business strategy. It can also be a fantastic indicator for the types of employees or business partners you need to work with. Consider conflicting personal and business values carefully as they may cause personal conflict for you and if they are a vital part of your business, it is important to understand how/if you can work with this anomaly, or if you need to take action to make changes.