How important is it that your values are aligned with those of your employer?
"Critically important. What I say to young people who seek my advice, when trying to map out a career, it to choose their employer; you pick the place where you want to work and then work hard to get into that place. Look at employers of choice, companies that people are queuing up to work for, where creativity is supported, the structures are loose and failure is okay, where you will be valued and have an opportunity to grow. With any employment opportunity, ask yourself are the values of the organisation aligned with mine, will it be good working with these people, what about their ethics and integrity? Do they support their staff well? If the answer is no, then even if they pay you really good money, you will be really, really unhappy in about six months.
Most people are too busy to invest the time and effort in understanding themselves and what their core personal values are, what's important to them. It took me until my late 30s, early 40s before I understood what I was good at. Life captures us; we're paying off a mortgage or a car, we want to travel and see the world, or the kids are at school and we think we can't change our life or give up our job security.
But I recommend everyone takes the time to figure out who the hell they are, what you are good at and what you want to do. This self-reflection gets you on the path to making informed choices and gives you a greater understanding of the options.
It's not about reading self-help books... it's about getting off your backside and doing it - doing something quite different that could be the start of your life.
When you align your career choices with your personal values you will be a better partner, brother, sister, lover, teacher, supervisor, manager. You will find yourself leading a more productive and healthier and happier life. It's worth the effort to make yourself a better person and therefore influence others to be better people."
Dr Peter McClenaghan is a Senior Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour and Leadership and a Master Coach in Leading Managing and Coaching by Values, based in the Business School at the University of New England. He consults to industry on human resources, strategic leadership, Crucial Conversations, values-based leadership development and team building. He has delivered strategic leadership programs for the Australian Institute of Management (now IML), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the ESADE Business School Barcelona Spain and the School of Economics and Business University of Tartu Estonia. Peter also presents programs in Malaysia, China and Vietnam, as well as a wide range of other public and private sector clients within Australia.
UNE offers a variety of leadership and management courses to suit your individual expertise and future career needs, including the Bachelor of Organisational Leadership, Bachelor of Business, Graduate Certificates in Business, Human Resource Management and Management that articulate into our Master of Business Administration and Master of Strategic Organisational Development and Human Resource Management. For more information, head to the UNE Business School website.
Visit Part 1 of this series for more.
