What are some effective strategies for aligning personal and organizational values?

Aligning your personal and organizational values can help you achieve greater satisfaction, performance, and impact in your work. However, this is not always easy, especially in diverse and complex settings. How can you identify, communicate, and align your values with those of your organization and its stakeholders? Here are some effective strategies for developing your cultural competency and creating value alignment.

1 Assess your values

Before you can align your values with others, you need to understand what they are and how they influence your decisions and actions. You can use various tools and frameworks to assess your personal values, such as the Values in Action Inventory, the Schwartz Value Survey, or the Cultural Values Assessment. These tools can help you identify your core values, rank them by importance, and compare them with others.

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2 Explore your organization's values

Similarly, you need to learn about the values of your organization and how they are expressed in its vision, mission, goals, policies, and culture. You can do this by reviewing its official documents, observing its practices, and engaging with its leaders and members. You can also use tools like the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument or the Denison Organizational Culture Survey to measure and analyze your organization's values and culture.

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Matt Engle

Business Strategy | GovTech | Duke MBA
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Gaining insight into your organization's values requires research and engagement. Review foundational documents like the mission statement, annual reports, codes of conduct, and diversity policies to understand espoused values. Observe how values are enacted through office rituals, leadership behaviors, and employee interactions. Dialogue with executives and team members to learn what principles are prioritized day-to-day. Surveys like the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument can provide measurement data to analyze the current and preferred cultural values. Immersing yourself within the organizational culture and listening to diverse stakeholders will reveal both explicit and implicit values to align with.

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3 Communicate your values

Once you have a clear sense of your own and your organization's values, you need to communicate them effectively and respectfully. You can do this by using value-based language, sharing stories and examples, and giving feedback and recognition. You can also use techniques like active listening, empathic dialogue, and appreciative inquiry to understand and appreciate the values of others and build trust and rapport.

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Matt Engle

Business Strategy | GovTech | Duke MBA
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Communication and EQ skills are key to bridging values. Share personal stories that convey your principles and what motivates you. Listen actively to learn what matters most to colleagues and the organization. Give value-based feedback and recognition when you observe others' values enacted. Ask insightful questions with empathy and appreciate diverse lenses. Use value-laden terms and vocabulary when collaborating to inspire shared meaning. Creating psychological safety to engage in honest yet respectful dialogue allows for openness about tensions between values. The goal is to understand and humanize values, not impose or judge them. With compassion and courage, alignment becomes possible through earnest, caring communication.

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4 Align your values

Finally, you need to align your values with those of your organization and its stakeholders. This does not mean that you have to agree or conform with everything, but rather that you can find common ground, respect differences, and leverage diversity. You can do this by seeking win-win solutions, collaborating on shared goals, and creating value for all parties. You can also use tools like the Value Alignment Matrix or the Value Proposition Canvas to map and align your value propositions with those of your organization and its customers.

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5 Evaluate and adapt your values

Aligning your values is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process that requires constant evaluation and adaptation. You need to monitor and measure the outcomes and impacts of your value alignment, both for yourself and your organization. You can use tools like the Balanced Scorecard, the Value Creation Index, or the Triple Bottom Line to assess and report on your value alignment. You also need to be open and flexible to changing your values or your organization's values as the context and needs evolve.

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6 Develop your cultural competency

Aligning your values is also a way of developing your cultural competency, which is the ability to interact effectively and appropriately with people from different cultures and backgrounds. You can enhance your cultural competency by increasing your awareness, knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to cultural diversity and inclusion. You can also use tools like the Intercultural Development Inventory, the Cultural Intelligence Scale, or the Global Competence Aptitude Assessment to measure and improve your cultural competency.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are some effective strategies for aligning personal and organizational values?

1

2

3

4

5

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1 Assess your values

2 Explore your organization's values

3 Communicate your values

4 Align your values

5 Evaluate and adapt your values

6 Develop your cultural competency

7 Here’s what else to consider

Cultural Competency

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What are some effective strategies for aligning personal and organizational values?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Assess your values

2 Explore your organization's values

3 Communicate your values

4 Align your values

5 Evaluate and adapt your values

6 Develop your cultural competency

7 Here’s what else to consider

Cultural Competency

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

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