FOR AMANDA SMITH ONLY

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Assignment 1: Understanding Your Values

Due week 3 and worth 100 points.

“If you're going to build a great career, you had better have a strong foundation. It all comes back to the priorities and the values that you have in life. - Coach Gibbs

Understanding Your Values Worksheet

PART 1 IDENTIFY YOUR VALUES & GROUPS OF INFLUENCE

In the article What Self-Awareness Really Is (And How to Cultivate It) author Tasha Eurich states that “Research suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we are more confident and more creative. We make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships, and communicate more effectively.” This worksheet will help you do just that.

In the table below, each row represents a group (past or present) that has influenced your values. Examples of these groups are your family, church, sports teams, profession, groups sharing common interests, etc. Select five of these groups and list them in the first column of the table.

For each of the groups, identify the following:

1. Three (3) positive behaviors that were learned and/or encouraged by the group. For example your teacher would always expect that you were on time or that you were assertive during class presentations.

2. Three (3) values that you learned from the group. For example someone could have learned from a church group to be compassionate or to speak up when one sees injustices.

b. Choose your values from the list provided in the Your Values Matter table. Scroll to the end of this assignment to find this table.

GROUP NAME

3 POSITIVE BEHAVIORS

3 VALUES LEARNED

Ex: Church

Volunteering, Working on a team, Being on time

Accountability, respect, teamwork

(choose from the Your Values Matter table below)

Work

Accept diverse opinion, Respect others personal space, Keeping time

respect

commitment

listening

Family

Treating others as I would like being treated, money management, generosity

trust

compassion

caring

Friends

Being friendly, being accommodative, helping others

friendship

reliability

personal growth

Bowling Team

Being a team player, mental toughness, Risk assessment

achievement

continuous learning

commitment

School

Always try my best, endurance, Following rules and regulations

perseverance

coaching/mentoring

personal fulfillment

PART 2: RANK YOUR VALUES

How important is each value in your life? Using the “Understanding Your Values” table, choose 10 of your values and put each value in priority order - #1 matters most, #10 matters least. Be HONEST! It doesn’t matter how someone else would rank these values; it only matters how important they are to you! Remember, this is about SELF-awareness. Your goal is to identify the things that matter most to YOU!

In the article How to Live With Purpose, Identify Your Values and Improve Your Leadership, author Ann Loehr explains how your values give you a sense of purpose. The exercise below will help you focus on those values. Please complete the following in the table below:

1. List the values according to what matters most to you.

2. Provide a brief definition of what that values means to you in your own words .

3. Write a short sentence about the meaning of each value in the “why does this matter to me” column. (Ex: If “friendship” is one of your higher values, you might understand it [and yourself!] better by identifying WHY friendship is such a high priority for you.)

VALUES

(most important to least important)

DEFINITION

(what does it mean to me?)

WHY?

(why does this value matter to me?)

Ex: Friendship

A special bond/connection between myself and another person.

Friends are valuable to me because we provide each other with support during the positive and difficult times in our lives. Friends also provide companionship.

1. Achievement

Getting what I desire or where I want to be

Achieving gives me an urge of achieving even more, thus acts as my motivator

2. Personal Growth

Becoming better every day as an individual in everything I am involved in.

Personal growth helps me improve in my performance

3. Personal Fulfillment

The feeling of accomplishment

Personal fulfillment gives me satisfaction of who I am therefore boosting my self-confidence.

4.Commitment

Dedicating myself to cause and activities that will boost my wellbeing.

Commitment helps me go all out and follow my interests and actualize them by working tirelessly.

5. Listening

Ability to tentatively listen to advice, explanations, corrections etc.

Listening helps me pay attention to what others have to say to me thus enhancing me make more informed decisions.

6. Continuous Learning

Learning new things every day.

Continuous learning is an important value to me that helps me acquire new skills, knowledge, experiences etc. which improve my understanding of a wide range of topics and fields.

7. Perseverance

Persisting in things I do despite hardships and delayed success.

Perseverance makes me keep moving towards my goals despite obstacles I face in the process.

8. Reliability

Being trustworthy and doing what I am expected to do with high level of consistency.

Reliability promotes trust between me and others which is important for effective leadership.

9. Trust

Believing in others and myself

Trust helps me, and others communicate and share ideas freely.

10. Friendship

Interpersonal bond between me and others

Whenever I need personal advice, friends are always there for me. They motivate me and give me the courage to face difficulty situations. When I win we celebrate together and when the worst happen, they are there to support me psychologically, socially, and spiritually.

PART 3: UNDERSTANDING YOUR VALUES AND INFLUENCE

Now, review both tables. Write a reflection on how you think the groups in your life have helped you define your own values. Be sure to reference the material from class to support your response. What can you conclude?

Be sure to address the following:   

1. How has this activity provided insight into the effect your groups of influence have on your personal values?  Were you aware of the relationship between the two before doing this activity? Were you surprised by the amount of influence each group has? Explain why or why not.

This activity has really helped me realize how groups I have interacted with in my life have influenced my personal values by knowing exactly which values I learnt from where. To be sincere, I never thought my personal values have been shaped by the groups I have been in. I am surprised that each group I have engaged with, even the ones I thought were insignificant in my life, had and still have so much influence in my values. In fact, I am now wondering which values I never got from these groups because most of, if not all, the values I have were gained from groups’ influences.

0. Why is self-awareness so important in the journey to finding your purpose?

Self-awareness is an important step towards realizing my real potential and achieving it. This is since self-awareness will help me know my strengths and weaknesses. Regarding my strengths, I will know how to utilize them effectively in different situations thus getting the best results. On the other hand, knowing my weaknesses will help me plan on how to improve on them. In other words, self-awareness will allow me to adapt to my day-to-day activities and determine my limitations and capabilities. With this knowledge, I will be able to know what exactly I should aim at and achieve easily than when working towards a goal without knowing who I am. In short, self-awareness is crucial when finding my purpose as it will enable me to first know my capabilities before setting my goals. This makes it to achieve the goal.

0. How did you determine your top three (3) values overall? Was it difficult to narrow it down? Explain your reasoning.

I determined my top three values by picking the most frequent values I have learned from various groups. Although I have absorbed a lot of values, the three values appear to be the most significant values to me and therefore, narrowing them down was not that easy as I viewed most of them as equally relevant to me. however, the fact that I am naturally a result-oriented person made it a little bit easier to realize that the top three values on the list matter the most to me.

YOUR VALUES MATTER

Directions: For Part 1, choose from the list of values below.

accountability

competition

ethics

independence

recognition

achievement

conflict resolution

excellence

initiative

respect

adaptability

clarity

fairness

integrity

risk-taking

ambition

dialogue

family

job security

salvation

balance (home/work)

creativity

financial stability

humility

reliability

being the best

continuous learning

forgiveness

justice

personal growth

caring

courage

freedom

leadership

professional growth

clarity

ease with uncertainty

friendship

listening

safety

coaching/mentoring

education

future generations

making a difference

self-discipline

commitment

efficiency

generosity

openness

teamwork

community involvement

enthusiasm/ positive attitude

health

patience

risk-taking

compassion

entrepreneurial

humility

perseverance

trust

competence

environmental awareness

humor/ fun

personal fulfillment

Scoring Guide Assignment 1:  Understanding Your Values   

Criteria

Exemplary

90-100% A

Proficient

80-89% B

Fair

70-79% C

Meets Minimum Expectations

60-69% D

Unacceptable

Below 60% F

1. Identify the positive behaviors that were learned and/or encouraged in each group.

 

Weight:  15%

Identifies 3 positive behaviors that were learned and/or encouraged in each group.

Identifies only 2 positive behaviors that were learned and/or encouraged in each group.  

Identifies only 1 positive behavior that was learned and/or encouraged in each group.

Does not identify the positive behaviors that were learned and/or encouraged in each group.

Did not submit.

2. Identify the values learned in each group  

 

Weight: 15%  

Identifies 3 values  learned in each group.

Identifies only 2 values learned in each group.

Identifies only 1 value learned in each group.   

Does not identify the values learned in each group.

Did not submit.

3. Rank your values from most important to least important with your personal definition and explanation.

Weight:  25%

Proficiently ranks values from most important to least important. Proficiently describes personal definition and explanation of why those values are important.

Thoroughly ranks values from most important to least important. Thoroughly describes personal definition and explanation of why those values are important.

Satisfactorily ranks values from most important to least important. Satisfactorily describes personal definition and explanation of why those values are important.

Did not rank values or provide personal definition or explanation of why values are important.

Did not submit.

4. Reflect on how you think the groups have helped you define your values.

 

Weight:  40%

Proficiently reflects on how the groups have helped define your own values. Includes three or more references from two or more sources of course material.

Demonstrates excellent understanding of the relationship between the positive behaviors and their impact on your own values.

Thoroughly reflects on how the groups have helped define your own values.  Includes two references from one source of course material.

Demonstrates good understanding of the relationship between the positive behaviors and their impact on your own values.

Satisfactorily reflects on how the groups have helped define your own values. Includes one reference from one source of course material.

Logically, but not completely, demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between the positive behaviors and their impact on your own values.

Insufficiently reflects on how the groups have helped define your own values. Does not include any references from the course materials. Demonstrates minimal understanding of the relationship between the positive behaviors and the impact on your own values.

Does not reflect on how the groups have helped define your own values. Does not include any references from the course materials. Demonstrates no understanding of the relationship between the positive behaviors and the impact on your own values.

5. Write in a professional manner using proper grammar and spelling.

 

Weight: 5%

Writing is excellent.

Tone is professional and sophisticated. Shows logic, clarity, and consistent formatting.  

Contains no spelling or grammatical errors.  

Writing is mostly good.  

Tone is professional.

Shows logic, clarity, and consistent formatting.  

May contain few or no spelling and/or grammatical errors.

Writing is satisfactory.  

Tone is somewhat professional.  

Shows moderate logic, clarity, and/or consistent formatting.  

May contain 2-4 spelling and/or grammatical errors.  

Writing meets minimal standards.  

Tone is not professional.

Lacks one or more of logic, clarity, and/or consistent formatting.

May contain more than 4 spelling and/or grammatical errors.

Writing does not meet minimal standards.  

Tone is not professional.  

Wholly lacking in logic, clarity, and/or consistent formatting. Contains many spelling and/or grammatical errors.  

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