Valuing Values

Values govern all human behaviour.  Our values provide an important component in our cognitive information filtering process and so are largely operating at the unconscious level.  At the very deepest level, our values guide our outcomes as people functioning in our own individual environments.  Values are linked to other parts of our filtering mechanism, our Meta Programmes and as such dictate what we move towards and what we move away from.  The importance to our daily lives is significant as they provide that kinesthetic push that occurs just before we get motivated and move into action.  If the action is not supported by our values, then our motivation strategy will become weakened, less effective or fail to operate completely.  Our values provide our moral compass.

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We organise our belief systems around our values at a very deep level.  These clusters form our core beliefs which operate almost entirely at the unconscious level, defining and shaping who we are and the basis of our personality.  Working together, our values and belief systems form our attitudes on a certain subject, how we view the world and what feels right or wrong.  At a very deep level, our values shape our identity.

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In considering how our values affect our behaviour, we should look at two types of value:

• Values that are powerful resources.

• Values and beliefs about our model of the world and how it functions.

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Together, these values determine our state in the moment that determines our behaviour.  When our values are in conflict with each other or with our environment, then incongruence occurs.  Values grow and change over time and are closely connected to environmental changes and the problems that these changes present to us for resolution. Learning about values and how they operate is a must for anyone who works with NLP in either a corporate or personal capacity. Values are of critical importance to any coach, therapist, trainer or consultant because they drive all human behaviour. If you are seeking to understand and coach modification of a behaviour, then you must understand the values systems that are providing the energy for that behaviour. Once you fully understand values and how to work with them, you can unpick a behaviour far more easily than attempting to initiate change without this key understanding.

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Our values affect every element of our lives.  Let’s have a look at some examples:

Corporate values: Businesses often publish a set of values which demonstrate to the world what they feel they are about as a company.  The corporate values set is often created by top tier management and then communicated down through the organisation.  Imagine for a moment how an employee who does not share these values begins to feel.  They may feel a disconnect or uneasiness at work and not know what exactly it is that doesn’t resonate.  These people will move on from the organisation pretty quickly and won’t ever know why.  The corporate value effect means that the recruitment process is critical and that the values of a potential employee in the context of career are elicited at the earliest possible point in the process.  

When Corporate Boards and teams become dysfunctional, it is often because values conflicts exist amongst the members.  During our NLP Master Coach Practitioner Programme, we will share with you a comprehensive model for working with corporate values.

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Health and Fitness:  People who consistently struggle with their personal fitness and health, including weight control and breaking free of addictions like smoking and alcohol, often do not have values and beliefs systems which support their goals.  It is incredible how many people do not have values for health and wellbeing within their top five core life values.  This is the main reason why the changes that they make with their personal trainer or weight management consultant never continue over the long term, they default to their identity as dictated by their values.  Only by changing their values can those changes become permanent and self-sustaining.  Eliciting and changing values is a specific process which is part of our NLP Master Coach Practitioner Programme.

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Coaching with Values:  Coaching in business, sport, wellbeing and personal change can be elevated to new levels of excellence when the coach has a well-formed picture of a person’s values hierarchy in the context of the coaching.  As coaches, we consistently strive to add the most value possible for the coachee and by recognising their values and potential conflicts within those values we can create alignment, congruence and the resources necessary to move people closer to their desired goals.  Every coach would benefit considerably by working with values, to move the coachee to a new way of thinking, a modified view of their environment and the resources to solve the problems within that environment.  

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Coaching a business professional who wants to move from their current role in a well-structured organisation to an entrepreneurial, self-governed role would be very difficult if the coachee was not coached to move from a very corporate values set to the necessary values set which provides all the personal resources they will require to create and run their own business.  Our relationship with money, for example, is values driven and if success and money don’t feature highly in your values set, then working for yourself will ultimately fail.    In the same manner, coaching a sports person with no success or determination or energy or discipline within their hierarchy will result in a performance level that falls somewhere short of excellence.

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Our NLP Master Coach Practitioner Programme will ensure that you have a firm grasp of values and how to work with them and you will have ample opportunity to put YOUR own values hierarchy under the microscope and identify sources of conflict and denied energy that you can then release.  This is often an illuminating experience and opens the door to new possibilities and success.  

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Understanding values will launch your capability as a business leader, consultant, coach, individual and competitor to new levels, enabling you to move towards you goals along a far smoother path.

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