Sherlock Holmes was an expert at culling clues and cracking codes to find answers to the mysteries he investigated.

Your future professional performance and in fact the whole of your life are to some extent mysteries waiting to be investigated and solved.

Here’s a great collection of practical strategies we can learn from the fictional Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr Watson to help us win at work AND be true to our values … enjoy!

What can you learn from a man, a boy and a donkey about how to win at work, AND stay true to your values?

Do you know what really motivates you and how valuable that knowledge can be? Check out the short story in this video for your first clue …

What do you stand for? What’s your hidden value? Watch the next video in the series here. I would love to hear from you, so please leave your feedback in the comments box below.

Value your life, live your values The focus of this entire site is how to win at work, AND stay true to your values. Why the focus on values? Because your values are what focus you!

So, here we go with the top twelve things you need to know about your values:

1. Your values are what motivate you. They are the bridge between your inner desires and outer reality.
   
2. Your values are your lifestyle priorities and preferences, your unique motivation code. You need to know what your values are. They silently guide your words, your decisions and your actions. Get to know them … unless you want to be led through life by a stranger.
3. Knowing your values gives you clarity – you can make decisions based on choices, rather than habits.
4. Some of your values are more important to you than others. They are your core values and usually remain consistent over a long period of time.
5. Your values are with you 24/7. There is no distinction between personal and professional values. There is however, a distinction between what is an appropriate context for living out some values.
6. Your values are not necessarily predictors of your behaviour. For example, you and I may both value leisure and play. I might (would) choose to live that value by going to the opera, and you might choose to go rock climbing … same value, different expression.
7. All people, regardless of race, colour or creed, share 5 human needs: survival, freedom, fun, belonging and power. How you attempt to meet those needs depends on your values … your lifestyle preferences and priorities.
8. Your values come from your world-view. Your world-view is a set of (mostly unconscious) beliefs you hold about how the world works, or how you believe the world should work. The formation of your world-view was influenced by many factors as you were growing up: family, culture, geographic location, socio-economic conditions, media – old and new, peers, education, religious affiliations, groups such as Scouts and sporting clubs, and significant life events.
9. Your values and your ethics are not the same. Your values will motivate you, usually unconsciously. Your ethics will constrain you, usually based on conscious choice.
10. Clarity around what you value will help you choose more compatible friendships and business partners.
11. Knowing your values helps you to be clear about what you DON"T want in your life … your values are a guide to the boundaries you have in place in your life.
12. Consciously choosing to live your values leads you towards being more of who you were created to be.

Let’s make it a baker’s dozen and give the last word to the Bible:

13. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21) Your treasure is what you value, so get to know what your values are, and learn how to live them.

What experiences have you had as a result of living or NOT living your values? Take a minute to share your response in the comments box below.

Unfold more meaning in your work to win at work without sacrificing your values

Here’s a true story about a colleague who had identified and prioritized his personal values (his unique motivation code), and how that self knowledge saved him from a potential professional disaster.

Paul, a colleague who is passionate about environmental conservation, told of the excitement he felt when invited by a legal firm who specialized in Environmental Law, to discuss a possible consulting contract. He envisioned the positive impact the partnership could have on the application of environmental legislation within the nation.

Imagine his horror when, at their first meeting to explore how they might work together, he learned that the focus of their firm was to find loop-holes in environmental legislation in defence of their clients. He declined their invitation, of course.

Can you imagine the scenario if he had not been 100% certain of his motivation code? If he had not been true to his personal values?

What if he had convinced himself that he needed the contract for financial reasons and decided to go ahead? How soon would he have experienced the first symptoms of stress? How soon would he have started coming home from work with feelings of anger and resentment, and directed those feelings towards his wife and kids? How soon before he could barely get out of bed to face another day working on that project? How soon before he was in full burnout … weeks, months? You get the picture …

We can avoid burnout by being very clear about our personal values and not engaging in work that has little or no meaning for us.

Meaning arises from values alignment

If you believe that your work contributes something of worth to an organization that offers a service or product that you value to the community, then you are likely to experience your work as meaningful and satisfying. In other words, values alignment creates a feeling of connection to the mission of your employer and your colleagues.

A healthy sense of meaning, along with a high level of engagement, plus a customer service focus, are three key indicators of high professional performance.

Was this information useful? Please post your comments, questions or suggestions in the comments box below.

Customer focus

My next post will reveal why your focus on customer service will help you to win at work.

Training changes performance, development changes lives Do you want to win at work by maximizing your professional growth? Start with this understanding of the difference between training and development … John Maxwell, one of the world’s great leadership writers, makes this distinction

“When we train people, we focus on the job. When we develop people, we focus on the person. When we train people, we’re adding value to specific things, such as what their job description is. When we develop people, we add value to everything. They not only become better in their jobs, they become better in life. Employee training is a necessity for any business that wants to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. But leaders who want to make a lasting difference also recognize that training by itself is not enough. Training people is helpful for a short time, Developing people is helpful for a lifetime. And while the result of training is changed performance ….. The result of development is changed lives.”

How to maximize your professional performance: My next post will reveal:

The 3 areas for you to focus your time, money and energy to win at work without sacrificing your values