Living by Values!

Everyone has values.  Although from some of the programs on television nowadays, just what those values are is a question.  

Recently I read a great book by Ken Blanchard, Managing by Values, that is written for business people primarily, but the life applications I got out of it were equally beneficial to anything I discovered on the business front.

By committing to a common purpose and shared values, any family can adopt a way of living out life that allows all those who the family impacts to WIN! One of the things I regret as a parent was not helping my children earlier in life lay out a life plan centered around certain core principles.  Sure, my wife and I did and still do parent around a set of values like, always be honest and always give your best, but tying this in to a WRITTEN life plan early I believe would be better than good.

Most everyone reading this has some sort of vision for their life; What you want your future to look like and be like.  That future becoming a reality or not is directly impacted by the values we live by daily.  Ex. It would be difficult to have a future where we are debt free if we don’t have a value of stewardship.  Valuing stewardship and having a value of stewardship ARE two different things.  So, when I say LIVE by values, I mean HOW you live, not ideas or intentions to live by.

When I first started Kellar Lawrence Real Estate, one of the FIRST things I did was put on paper the VALUES we would LIVE BY.  What I discovered when writing them down is that they reflect my own personal life’s values.  

There will be challenges to your values.  Almost daily in fact.  But I can say that I personally have NEVER regretted living by my core values.  I can however say that I do have regrets in life and many of those are when I deviated or compromised on those values.   

In his book, Managing By Values, Ken Blanchard says the most important thing in life is to decide what is most important. Excellent advice for sure.  Let’s take it a step further and add… and live that way.  I have met other people who have written life plans that include core values, mission statement and real bold vision.  But, most people I ask about this do not have any such thing written out.  They may have it in their heads, but I think we all know that when we write it down, it’s much more likely to happen. Plus, we can adjust as we go.  

Let’s say that we are on a quest to GROW, personally and professionally.  Well, that will mean CHANGE.  It is impossible to grow and stay the same, stay the same and grow.  So, if we want to GROW, we must adapt CHANGE as a core value.  That may translate in to a value like Continual Improvement or Embrace Continual Improvement.  

We can also use the word ALIGNMENT here.  We already know from watching the downfall of people in our world that our personal life must be in alignment with our stated core values.  When we see or hear about someone’s values, and then experience behavior that runs contradictory, it’s tough to watch.  And if we personally get out of alignment with our stated values, it’s tough to experience.  There are consequences for a life NOT lived by values.  

If you like the idea of a written plan for a life lived by values, or you know someone who can benefit from such a thing, consider picking up a copy of Ken Blanchard’s book, Managing by Values and read it or pass it on.

For the record here are the CORE VALUES as written in our business constitution at Kellar Lawrence Real Estate:  

Second mile service: Go Serve Big!!!
Empower and Inspire Others
Results Driven
Value Relationships by Expressing Gratitude
Expect the Best Always

You can see that the first letter of each value spell out SERVE.  Our belief is that a great business is FOR others.  So, it’s not about what we want FROM people, it’s what we want FOR them.   And as I mentioned, a business is really a reflection of its people and their values.  We are committed to LIVING by Values!

Go Serve Big!!!
Kellar Lawrence