Since the release of Business Made Simple the book, we’ve been hearing a lot about “value-driven professionals.”
What is a value-driven professional and why should you become one?
Well, first off, a value-driven professional is simply a professional who is driven by their values as opposed to a professional who is driven by their ego, to-do list, or something else entirely.
There are several benefits to being a value-driven professional, which we’ll get to in a bit.
But we believe you are here because you want to be a value-driven professional.
Congrats! Having this mindset puts you ahead of most of the workforce.
This post will detail the characteristics of a value-driven professional, why you should aim to be one, and how you can be one in your daily work life.
But first, why should anyone want to become a value-driven professional?
Why Become a Value-Driven Professional?
Imagine this – you wake up on a Monday morning. You go for your morning jog, go through your morning routine, and sit down at your computer to begin your workday.
Instead of opening your email inbox to 100s of emails and letting the most recent email dictate what you work on, you have a plan.
You know the top three things you need to complete your day, you have your day time-boxed and scheduled, and you know the first high-value task you’re supposed to do when you sit at your desk (and it’s not responding to emails).
Doesn’t that sound refreshing, fulfilling, and organized?
These are the benefits of becoming a value-driven professional.
You’ll know your worth and your work.
A value-driven professional is guided by their internal compass rather than external stimuli like emails.
That’s not to say emails are bad, we certainly need email for business purposes, but they’re not always an as high value of a task.
A value-driven professional also knows how to do more with their time than the average professional.
Do you want to be known as a value-driven professional?
Then read and internalize these 10 characteristics.
The 10 Characteristics of a Value-Driven Professional
A value-driven professional is someone who embodies the following 10 characteristics:
Based on these 10 characteristics, which do you excel in?
Which characteristics might you need to work on?
How can someone embody these characteristics in their work-life?
The next section will clarify some of the practical tips for becoming a value-driven professional.
How to Embody These Characteristics in Your Work Life
For the sake of your time (and our fingers) here are only a few examples of how to embody the characteristics of a value-driven professional.
Know how to de-escalate drama
Have you ever received a passive-aggressive email from a colleague?
We all have.
So, next time you receive an email like that, remember that value-driven professionals de-escalate drama.
This could look something like going and talking face-to-face with that colleague.
To truly embody this characteristic, don’t get defensive. Instead, try and tone the drama down and see how all parties involved can win.
This is but one way a value-driven professional can de-escalate drama.
Accept feedback as a gift
If you have an annual meeting with your supervisor, this would be an excellent opportunity to see their feedback as a gift. Especially if it is rather negative.
You’ll set yourself apart from your colleagues and show your supervisor that you’re a mature professional if you can take their feedback, say “thank you,” and apply it to your work life.
This is also applicable if you receive feedback regularly from a supervisor, say in a weekly 1-on-1.
Have a bias toward action
How many times have you been included in an email thread with strings and strings of questions? Probably more than you can count.
Questions are fine but they don’t always get the work done.
Next time you see a string of emails come through your inbox, ask yourself, “What’s an action I can take based on all this information?”
And then take that action.
Your superiors will notice, and they’ll be grateful that someone decided to do something instead of adding to the never-ending string of emails.
In Summary
Those are just a few ways that you can live the characteristics of a value-driven professional.
In this article, we discussed the value of becoming a value-driven professional, looked at the characteristics of a value-driven professional, and gave you some real-world examples of what a value-driven professional looks like in the workplace.
What are some other ways you can embody the characteristics of a value-driven professional?
Let us know and we’ll add it to this post.
Until next time, value-driven professional.
